S.H.A.R.E.

Letter From Birmingham Jail

2012-01-15T21:25:00.000-08:00

In the shadow of the temple of the American heart, where the memory of the Great Emancipator is enshrined forever, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. experienced the greatest moment of his remarkable life. On that sultry August day in 1963, one hundred years after Abraham Lincoln spoke of his desire that America would experience a miraculous new birth of freedom, Dr. King spoke words of hope as well. His resounding voice spoke like unto a clarion call, one which trumpeted truth and asked the nation to lift it's eyes and see the coming of the Lord in justice and peace. He challenged his countrymen to see beyond the present temporal reality and look forward to a time when the prophet's dream and the founder's vision would be united as one in a visible manifestation of eternal brotherhood.
The road to that reflective and crowning moment was long and arduous - many years of toil and sacrifice were required to lift a people to heights unknown - to a union more perfect yet ever improving. The voice, at age thirty nine, was ultimately silenced on an April evening in Memphis in 1968, but the soul was never stilled. Writing from a prison cell in Birmingham, Alabama five years before his death, Dr. King challenged Christian leaders to contemplate the true meaning of justice and the lengths to which they would be willing to go to stand for truth and righteousness. His written words rival any of his spoken ones regarding the never ending task at hand and the mountainous obstacles to overcome - may they be emblazoned upon every American conscience forever:

16 April 1963
My Dear Fellow Clergymen:
While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.

Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants--for example, to remove the stores' humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained. As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community. Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self purification. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves: "Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" "Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?" We decided to schedule our direct action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic-withdrawal program would be the by product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the merchants for the needed change.

Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's mayoral election was coming up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the run off, we decided again to postpone action until the day after the run off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct action program could be delayed no longer.

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.

One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: "Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness"--then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an "I it" relationship for an "I thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.

I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber. I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: "All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self respect and a sense of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil."

I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the "do nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle. If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as "rabble rousers" and "outside agitators" those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologies--a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: "Get rid of your discontent." Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist. But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . ." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some -such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle--have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as "dirty nigger-lovers." Unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful "action" antidotes to combat the disease of segregation. Let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a nonsegregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago.

But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.

When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.

In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.

I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: "Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother." In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: "Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern." And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.

I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: "What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?"

Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators."' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom. They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. They have gone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to jail with us. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment. I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands. Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.

It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."

I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?

If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.

I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood, Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Cried Every Day This Week

2012-01-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

'Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted. My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.' Job 42:1-2,5

There are moments in one's life that are so filled with awe that one is hushed before them, humbled by their significance and honored to have had them rush past in power.

There are monuments in one's life, not tangibly visible with the eyes of the flesh, but discerned and seen only with the eyes of the heart.

There are memories in one's life that are special, that will be remembered forever, that have an impact that lasts and remains to forever transform the man who experiences them.

In the last four days, I have been blessed beyond measure to witness such moments, stand before such monuments, and press such memories into the diary of the heart, never to be forgotten and always to be cherished.

Seeing the power of God intersect lives and the truth of eternity brought to bear upon time leaves the seer with a perspective that is so new and so radically different that one cannot be but impressed with its enormity.

As followers of Christ, we often live a routine of normalness that causes us to be made immune to the miraculous, even to the point that we never expect to be visited by His divine omnipotence.

We often become so comfortable with the ways of this world, so settled here and in love with the temporal, that we settle for comfort, sin, and mediocrity and convince ourselves all is well.

And then God moves and all is changed.

To see God work in power through one faithful, obedient servant who loves with a love that hurts, because he is so burdened that he must die to self and live for God in total surrender and see others die and live as well, is beautiful beyond words.

Such an example of one striving to imitate God is convicting. I now know how far I need to go and yet, I know in my heart that God has saved, called, equipped, and purposed my life, and the life of every child that is His, to do exactly the same.

To see young people, whom the world disparages, discards, and destroys, coming to Christ in total honest surrender is a sight I thank God He has allowed me to witness. We are reminded in such times that God is still sovereign in this place and He is calling a generation, or at least a remnant of it, to storm the gates of hell and plant His flag upon the ramparts of the earth.

And they will do it. I believe this completely because I know my God and that nothing is impossible with Him.

And that generation, this generation, and particularly, the young people of Mount Airy Christian Academy now have seen His power, felt His love, and knows it is real, forever, and for them.

They know He is their God, not just their parent's, or teacher's, or friends', but theirs.

And they know the choice is theirs. They know they need to take steps of faith, steps of commitment, steps that are not their own and in a direction they choose, but trusting steps that are in the direction that God has chosen for them to walk.

To do so, every member of this portion must first allow Him to reside unopposed upon the throne of their hearts, with nothing else remaining therein.

Nothing.

Has the heart been broken and self completely poured out upon the altar of offering? Not until then can God create within us a new vessel in which he can pour out His Spirit unto overflowing, allowing every precious life to fulfill His purposes in power.

Is it all gone? Is it? Even ourselves? If it is, if you are, then, and only then, in the nothingness, you will discover that you have everything.

You will have Him, honestly, completely, and forever. That not only will be all you need, but it will be all you want.When that happens, the power will go forth in you, through Him, and the world will be changed.

Surrendered, emptied, fully sacrificed and consumed lives for God have always been the lives that have left a legacy, that have made a difference, and that have lived forever, announcing to the hurting that healing is in His wings, to the unloved that love is in His heart, to the lost that He forever seeks them unto finding and to the dying that death has been destroyed.

I cried every day this week, and the paradoxical truth is I can never remember being happier.

There were expressions of fear from many that the fire will not last, that it will be smothered and stilled. Fear not. The only way it will go is if we remove ourselves from the altar and choose not to be that acceptable sacrifice unto Him.

He Himself is a consuming, eternal fire, the Scriptures remind us, and He is in every believer, making us truly alive, living for Him, burning forever in power.

Stay right where you are!

It is only when we are fully engulfed in Him that the dross can be burned away and we can stand wholly, purely, completely, alive like never before, in resurrection, joyful life, ablaze to the glory of God.

I See You

2011-11-23T08:16:00.001-08:00

As I sit to write on the eve of another Thanksgiving Day, my thoughts do not, this time, move to the historical significance or occurrences of this most special of remembrance days. That type of detached study is for another time.

Instead, my musings on this day are much more personal. I have much to be thankful for, so much so, that it would take multiple postings and myriad journeys into the journal of my memory to mine and mention them all.

Suffice it to say that God has done a great work in the hearts of many in the last year and sixty days, through the life, suffering, and restoration of one young man - our son Andrew. All of you are no doubt aware of his recent injuries and subsequent long walk upon a difficult but rewarding path of recovery and renewal.

As I have observed him along the way, I have seen him walk through an enormous valley of struggle and brokenness unto the soaring mountains of unbroken love and blessing. As he continues to climb, ever closer to the summit, I watch in wonder, seeing with the eyes of my heart, a panoramic scene of grace appear upon the canvas of God 's love.

Simply, I see you.

I see you, touching my son with hands of compassion in a hospital, nursing and nurturing him, mending a broken human vessel, healing and rehabilitating body and spirit, trusting God to renew the soul.

I see you, kneeling in prayer, with thousands of others, reaching into the heavens, pleading, calling down upon my boy the power of the Almighty. Know, in seeing it fall upon him, I have remembered it is according to His will, at your request.

I see you, a mother, everywhere present with him, offering love like I have never seen before, a pillar of strength for the weak and a voice for the silent, the selfless love of Christ manifested in human form.

I see you, brother and sister, broken for the one you love with all of your fearful heart, yet whole and firm, filled with hope and determined to do and pray, as only you can do and pray, for him.

I see you, new friend, knowing the story and the challenges, yet remaining steadfast in your love, care, and aid, bringing joy, hope, and trust again to my boy.

I see you son, in near death unto renewed life, always hopeful and determined to look and move forward, always forward and upward, to the heights. I have no words to describe the inspiration you are to me and the pride I have in being your father.

I see you, Lord, in all of these, your hands, your heart, your strength. I stand in awe of You and all of this, the manifestation of love in such vivid power that evil and hate disappear before it, swallowed up in the victory that is ours, all of ours, together in You.

I stand, and fall before You, amazed and silent, stilled by your Presence and Greatness.

I rejoice friends, in all of God's blessings this Thanksgiving, again. I just wanted you to know that in them, I see you, in Him, and will for all eternity.

I love you all, forever.

Class Guidelines

2011-08-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings in Christ!
My name is Mr. Norm Rust and it is my honor and privilege to serve as your child’s history teacher at MACA for the 2011-2012 school year.

     Upon graduation from the University of Maryland Baltimore County with a B.A., cum laude, in History in 1985, the Lord has graciously opened doors of opportunity, allowing me to teach a wide variety of history, religious studies, and biblical studies courses in church, camp, home school, cooperative, and tutorial settings.

     History course offerings have included: American History to 1877; American History from 1877; American Civil War History; World War II History, American Military History, Constitutional History, American Presidential History; World History, Comparative Religions; Comparative Worldviews; and US Government/Christian Worldview.

     Having been saved by His grace in 1976, I learned upon entering college how vitally important it was for all believers, but particularly young people, to be rooted and established in the absolute truth of Scripture and to understand the transformative power inherent in living and proclaiming a Biblical worldview - to live boldly and courageously for Christ.

     I truly believe that our nation, which has been blessed with a miraculous and awe inspiring heritage of freedom, is at a crossroad in virtually every way, and that this generation will be called to do a great and vital work in the glorious cause of liberty. Galatians 5:1 reminds us that, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free," and then challenges us to "stand firm then, not letting ourselves be burdened again with a yoke of slavery." Similarly, 2 Corinthians 3:7 states that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

     By looking intently and enthusiastically at the lessons of God's sovereign and providential hand upon the past, it is my humble and earnest prayer that each student will be constantly reminded, inspired, and challenged to be good citizens of His kingdom and of our nation both now and in the future. America's story teaches us that a long line of heroes winds its way back, through the halls of our history. To ignore those lives and to be ignorant of the lessons of the past is to not recognize the hand and will of God in all things - a very dangerous thing indeed.

     Many have given definitions of history, a number of which we will discuss this year. I prefer to describe it as God "bringing eternity to bear upon time." It is for us to see it as such, so that we might not look around, or within, for the source of our blessings and lives, but up, always.

     I look forward with much anticipation, expectation, and faith, trusting that the Lord will do a great work in the hearts and minds of each student this year, using each one as an humble and powerful instrument in His hands and unto His glory!

     Please feel free to contact me at any time with any thoughts, ideas, questions, or concerns you may have. It is my prayer that God will allow us stand firm together in Him, knit together in perfect unity as we serve Him together this year!

    May God continue to richly bless you all as you so faithfully serve Him.

In His Matchless Power,

Mr. Norm Rust
History
Mount Airy Christian Academy

Class Guidelines: History 2011-2012

I Corinthians 14:40 - “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

Instructor: Mr. Norm Rust

Classes: American History
               World History
               US Government
               Heroes of American History

Room: 306

Phone: 410-242-1329

Voicemail extension:    410-489-4321      ext. 321

Email: norman.rust@mabcmd.org

In addition to all rules and guidelines in the MACA school handbooks, it is my desire to see the achievement of the following goals, guidelines, and rules for the above classes during the 2011-2012 school year:

Achieve the Three “R’s” and “keep the keeps” at all times and in all classes:

RESPECT the LORD - Each student and your instructor will commit to honoring the Lord in all of our actions, attitudes, and achievements throughout the year. This is done best by striving, in thought, word, and deed to do one’s very best in terms of academic excellence, honoring of the Word, and in striving unto Christlike character.

1 Corinthians 10:31 -   “…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

RESPECT the CLASS - each student and your instructor will commit to learning the remarkable and valuable lessons of history so that we might live powerfully and effectively for Christ in the present and be challenged to impact the future through the advancement of the gospel and standing for truth, always. Each one will strive to work together in unity so that the class will truly appreciate how the gifts, talents, abilities, and personalities of each member makes the class a productive whole.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - “Therefore, encourage one another, and build each other up, just, as in fact, you are doing.”

RESPECT one ANOTHER - each student and your instructor will commit to striving to develop and grow in humility and servanthood, following the example of Jesus Christ himself who came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. We will commit to learning from the lessons of so many who have gone before us, blazing a trail of faith and courage so that we might run the race God has set before us. In all we strive to learn and do this year, may it be to exalt Christ and esteem others better than ourselves.

Philippians 2:3-4 - “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but to the interest of others.”

**Note** At times we may view dvd’s or other source material. Items shown will always be topic appropriate and no inappropriate content will be shown. At times, certain content involving military themes may have language or content that is not appropriate, yet an action or theme is very instructional - in such instances, I will strive to always use the clear play player when available and regardless, will always seek to honor Christ and His Word in the process.

I have a wide range of history books from my personal library that students will be encouraged to borrow and read for extra credit and personal enrichment. A few books, particularly those of a military nature, may have some language that may be somewhat offensive. If you would like your children not to have access to books of that nature, please let me know and I will note your desire in the appropriate student’s file.

Keep the Keeps:

Keep one’s hands to oneself at all times

Keep oneself under control in words and actions at all times

Keep one’s eyes to one’s own paper at all times

Keep taking notes and staying attentive and organized

Keep asking questions and seeking answers

Keep an open mind and a teachable spirit

Keep oneself accountable at all times

Keep communicating with your teacher

Keep bringing your teacher candy bars

Keep loving history forever and pass it on

                                                                    MACA History Class Compact

STUDENT COMMITMENT:

I, as a history student at MACA, do commit:

1. To arrive to class each day focused and prepared to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and to not be conformed or molded into the pattern of this world’s principles, but to be transformed by the Word of God through the renewing of the mind and yieldedness of the heart.

2. To, while in class, honor the Lord in all that is said, done, and thought, being respectful of Him, one another, and the subject at hand.

3. To always seek to build up, not tear down, doing unto others as one would have done unto you.

4. To be grateful for the opportunity to attend MACA, where God is glorified, His Word honored and exalted, and where truth is your foundation.

5. To strive to see God’s sovereign hand over all of history and upon every nation and individual life.

6. To learn the lessons of history so as to honor God, uphold truth, flee from evil, and live boldly and courageously for Christ, always.

7. To strive to do the very best one can in all that is required and to help, encourage, and challenge others to do the same.

8. To commit to growing in faith and following hard after God, so that one might, at the end of the school year, be a better citizen of God’s kingdom, a better steward of His world, and a better ambassador for Christ
wherever life may take you.

TEACHER COMMITMENT:

I, as a history instructor at MACA, do commit:

1. To be prepared every day to make history exciting, relevant, and fun, all the while teaching the lessons of history so that they might reveal eternal principles and inspire and challenge students to apply and live in accordance with Biblical principles and worldview.

2. To do all that I can to encourage, train, equip, and challenge each student to excel spiritually and academically unto excellence and Christlikeness.

3. To strive to be a Godly example to each student in all things, always.

4. To create a respectful and Christ honoring environment in the classroom where each student is built up in the faith and appreciated in person, gifts, talents, and abilities as unique blessings from God.

5. To let students pie me in the face at least twice during the school year.

Like a Mighty Stream

2011-08-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

"We will not be satisfied, until 'righteousness rolls down like waters, and justice like a mighty stream.'" American hero Martin Luther King Jr repeated those words of the Hebrew prophet on August 28, 1963, some 2,500 years after Isaiah had penned them.

The statement is a powerful one, and one that has been correctly echoed by every champion of the right, from the beginning of iniquity until this very day. Yet, it is a plaintive cry as well, mournful, filled with angst and unfulfilled desire.

It speaks of one not yet satisfied, because justice has not yet thundered down in perpetual power and cascaded over the falls of human sin to form a pure and undefiled reservoir of truth and fairness.

Mary McCarthy once said, 'An unrectified case of injustice has a terrible way of lingering … like an unfinished equation.'

And so it does.

As I was contemplating, with struggling acceptance, the most recent turn of events in our family's walk with God and man, I was reminded of three things in particular.

First, I was reminded of the suffering, patience, faith, perseverance, determination, and restoration of God's friend Job and, in the reflection of that great and good man, I realized I was also seeing the image of my own son.

He perhaps doesn't realize, and his humble spirit would never allow him to acknowledge the fact, that he, like the man from Uz, is an extraordinary man of faith and courage.

How strong is the man, who, although broken almost completely in body, never once, not once, through the entire process of suffering and pain, was ever broken in spirit?

How strong is the man, who works beyond exhaustion, bringing strength from weakness in so extraordinary a way, that one sees him go from using all his power to lift his head, stand on his feet and hug his Mom, to running for miles and climbing mountains again?

How strong is the man, who while others all around him speak of anger, or injustice, or revenge, quietly and calmly looks forward, always forward, refusing to dwell in the land of the clenched fist; instead, finding and embracing in forgiveness even the hand that struck him down?

The inspiration he has been, and continues to be, to literally thousands of people, fills me to overflowing with joy and reminds me constantly of the blessing and honor that God has bestowed upon me in being his Dad.

Next, I was reminded of the prophet's voice again, over twenty five centuries ago, a sound that echoes through the corridors of time unto us, reminding the world of the reality of sin and the power of confession and the redemptive work of God:

Isaiah 59:1-21

1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,

nor his ear too dull to hear.

2 But your iniquities have separated

you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you,

so that he will not hear.

3 For your hands are stained with blood,

your fingers with guilt.

Your lips have spoken falsely,

and your tongue mutters wicked things.

4 No one calls for justice;

no one pleads a case with integrity.

They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;

they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

5 They hatch the eggs of vipers

and spin a spider’s web.

Whoever eats their eggs will die,

and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.

6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are evil deeds,

and acts of violence are in their hands.

7 Their feet rush into sin;

they are swift to shed innocent blood.

They pursue evil schemes;

acts of violence mark their ways.

8 The way of peace they do not know;

there is no justice in their paths.

They have turned them into crooked roads;

no one who walks along them will know peace.

9 So justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not reach us.

We look for light, but all is darkness;

for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.

10 Like the blind we grope along the wall,

feeling our way like people without eyes.

At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;

among the strong, we are like the dead.

11 We all growl like bears;

we moan mournfully like doves.

We look for justice, but find none;

for deliverance, but it is far away.

12 For our offenses are many in your sight,

and our sins testify against us.

Our offenses are ever with us,

and we acknowledge our iniquities:

13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD,

turning our backs on our God,

inciting revolt and oppression,

uttering lies our hearts have conceived.

14 So justice is driven back,

and righteousness stands at a distance;

truth has stumbled in the streets,

honesty cannot enter.

15 Truth is nowhere to be found,

and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The LORD looked and was displeased

that there was no justice.

16 He saw that there was no one,

he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;

so his own arm achieved salvation for him,

and his own righteousness sustained him.

17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,

and the helmet of salvation on his head;

he put on the garments of vengeance

and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.

18 According to what they have done,

so will he repay

wrath to his enemies

and retribution to his foes;

he will repay the islands their due.

19 From the west, people will fear the name of the LORD,

and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.

For he will come like a pent-up flood

that the breath of the LORD drives along.[a]

20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,

to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”

declares the LORD.

21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Sir Francis Bacon once stated that 'the place of justice is a hallowed place,' and, similarly, the great Cicero noted that 'justice is the crowning glory of the virtues.'

Indeed, but justice is not always, perhaps not often, realized in this fallen place. Human sin and deception render it nigh impossible. As Tolstoy once wrote, 'Sin is a human business, but to justify sin is a devilish one.'

To read Isaiah's words above is to see the mind of God regarding such a world, one so lacking in truth and righteousness. There is no question that He takes note of all, with a grieved and hurting heart, and one day, one day, all will be made right:

Zechariah 8:16-17

'These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the LORD.'

Finally, I was drawn to the cross, again, to ponder the awesome nature of that moment, when God intersected history in saving grace and, in omnipotent power, brought eternity to bear upon time.

Kneeling there, looking upward, seeing my Savior in my mind's eye, broken and bleeding for me, I realized that God knows full well our struggles in this unjust world.

How could He not, when the greatest injustice in all of history was experienced by His own Son, in that place? The perfect, sinless Son of God experiencing the power, penalty, and punishment of sin, unto suffering, shame, separation and death.

Totally unjust. Perfectly undeserved. Willingly endured. For a world of lost sinners, the Righteous One was slain. In that act of sacrifice, the reality of the rebellion and injustice of all was juxtaposed against the faithfulness and justice of God alone.

And the world gasps, still, in awe at the sight of such a love.

Through injustice, through suffering, and through death, the Just One was revealed as the justifier of all those hurtling through the hate and darkness of this strange place, toward the love and the light of home.

In that, I can, and will rest, awaiting the certain rush of the waters and the stream...

And Can It Be?

And can it be, that I should gain

An interest in the Saviour's blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! how can it be

That Thou, my God, shoulds't die for me?

'Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies:

Who can explore His strange design?

In vain the first-born seraph tries

To sound the depths of love divine.

'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,

Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father's throne above,

So free, so infinite His grace,

Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam's helpless race:

'Tis mercy all, immense and free;

For, O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature's night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;

Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!

Alive in Him, my living Head,

And clothed in righteousness divine,

Bold I approach the eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

The Continuing Debt

2011-07-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another..."

Romans 13:8

"When you were dead in your sins...God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with it's regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

Colossians 2:13 - 15

"Think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another the power over your liberty."

Benjamin Franklin

There is much talk today, and concern over, the tremendous debt that we have incurred as a nation. And rightly so. The result of our profligate spending practices are bankrupting our great country and placing her future in a very precarious and untenable situation.

Simply put, we are sinning against our own children, exchanging the short term pleasures of our own selfish desires for their very freedom. We are truly doing no less, and we should be ashamed and afraid. Ashamed at the reality of our own greed and afraid of the righteous justice of the God of Heaven.

The Scriptures remind us that God judges nations as well as individuals, (Jer. 18:7-10) and His sword, though slow to rise and slow to fall, once started downward, will be terrible and swift.

We should, like Jefferson did before us, tremble for our nation, realizing that God is just.

By God's grace, however, it is not too late. If we heed the truth of God's word, repent of our sin, and enact laws that will codify moral truth regarding this issue, the debt can be eliminated and a surplus can emerge. (2 Chron. 7:14)

But it will come at great sacrifice and cost. It will require all of us to honestly examine ourselves, to humbly repent of our sin, and commit ourselves to the common good and our posterity, placing all, and others, above self.

In short, we must live out, in miraculous reality, the power of Romans 13:8. We must eradicate all debt, except for the continuing debt to love God and one another. The Scriptures remind us that the whole law, all of it, is fulfilled, if one loves the Lord his God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loves his neighbor as himself. (Matt. 22:34-40; Rom 13:8-9)

Indeed, we are told that it is only our reasonable act of service, in view of God's merciful cancellation of our sin debt, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, wholly and completely unto Him. (Rom. 12:1-2) But do we truly believe that?

Often, our words so say, but our actions are far from those words. When that is the case, tragically, our witness and our lives are ineffective and unproductive for the cause of the King. (2 Pet. 1:8)

How are we doing in terms of living out true Christlike love and obedience? How are we doing with forgiving others, in love, when they sin against us, when they owe us a debt of love, and don't seem to know, or even care?

We ask God to forgive our debts, and He has and He does, but note the challenge of the disciple's prayer: (Matt. 6:9-13) "Forgive us our debts, AS WE forgive OUR debtors..." We pray, asking God to forgive us in the same way we forgive others; but are we forgiving others to such an extent, that we are pleased with the answer to our prayer? Convicting, isn't it?

God, may we never be like the unmerciful servant of the Master's parable, who, after having been forgiven an impossible debt, refused to forgive a pittance owed him by a debtor of his own. God is displeased with such selfish ingratitude and will judge it for what it is. How absolutely humbling:

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[g]

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[h] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.^[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Matthew 18:21-35

To humble oneself and heed His call to repent and love is to experience the joy of a Father's heart for the return of the prodigal of us all, welcomed home in unconditional grace and acceptance. Once having depended on self and one's own wisdom and way, we now see the error and foolishness of such a path and run home as fast as we can:

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Luke 15:11-31

I close with a thought regarding the cross. The verse above from Paul's letter to the church at Colossae is profound in it's simplicity. We don't often think of Calvary as a place where a transaction of debt was made, but that is precisely the case. At the cross, the eternal perfect Son of God took our debt and paid, with His own precious life and blood, what we owed to the Father. In exchange, those who trust the efficacy of His payment and the reality of His resurrection life, receive not simply an account devoid of debt, but one filled to overflowing with all the riches of the Father as joint heirs with the Son. (1 Peter 1:17-21; Rom. 8:17)

In fact, incredibly, it is the debt itself that is nailed to the cross, dead forever, while we live continuously in the eternal riches of Christ Himself. Our Savior has triumphed in that day's transaction, and His victory will never end. (Col. 2:13-15)

From no limit to our debt to no limit to our surplus, in Him. Oh, that men would choose to accept the power of love that breaks the shackles of debt, and live in the glorious freedom of the surplus of God.

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

The United Cry of a Nation

2011-07-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Nothing of Importance This Day

2011-06-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

"Go now, write it on a tablet for them,inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness." Isaiah 30:8

"Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love and reverence toward Almighty God...What a Utopia, what a Paradise would this region be." John Adams, Feb. 22, 1756

"Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgement approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence for ever!" John Adams, July 1, 1776

Begun twenty five hundred years after the age of the Hebrew prophet, America's historical life has spanned two hundred thirty five years and thus she is still a young nation, one which looks forward to awakening to ever dawning horizons and climbing heretofore unachieved heights.

Her journal tells us that, at the beginning, she was borne, birthed and bundled in liberty, something no other nation child in the history of man could say. In that sense, her birth was of a virgin, miraculous nature - only in the power and purpose of Providence could such a conception have been possible. An unbiased study of the words of her founders and early settlers will tell the honest seeker that they certainly believed that truth:

“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.” John Adams

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day, the Fourth of July?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"? John Quincy Adams

" Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." Charles Carroll

“ God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” Benjamin Franklin

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” James Madison

“ At the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration [i.e., the First Amendment], the general, if not the universal sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship.” Joseph Story

“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed...No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people...Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God. . . . If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted . . . If our government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws." Noah Webster

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge in the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle..." George Washington

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Out from Jefferson's pen, which traced Whitfield's God-inspired voice, flowed the sentiments of virtually every American - the expression of their collective mind and the revelation of their mindful convictions were written across the canvas of '76 for all the world to see - 'WE hold these truths to be self-evident' - her birth announcement called all peoples everywhere to celebrate the miracle and come to the manger to see what God had wrought. The first truth, while self-evident, is also preeminent - 'that ALL men are created equal.'

A statement of Biblical truth, proclaiming universal inclusion, absolute application, and Created equality. In the sovereign will and choice of God, all of His children are created in His image and they all are recipients of His choicest gifts - the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

These precious gifts are given from above and as such they are eternal, good and perfect. Civil authority has no power in the eyes of God to give them or take them away - the sole purpose of human authority is to secure these rights - to guarantee them for all of America's progeny that all might have hope in them for all future time. Power used to destroy these rights is tyrannical in nature and complicit in it's own demise - it has abdicated it's rightful authority and it does not deserve to endure, thus, it is the duty of the governed to withdraw their consent and rescind the power they had allowed the authority to borrow.

America was originally dedicated to the eternal proposition of equality of person that affirmed the inherent value and dignity of every life. Every human being had a natural right to life, liberty, and individual possession of property and purpose - the pursuit of happiness. That foundational premise was laid in eternity past, based upon the blueprint drawn by the Architect of the Ages. It did not derive from the mind of mortal man and is not subject to the machinations of his mutable musings. It is an inviolate truth upon which rests the hope of all humanity.

Any existing flaw is neither in the Architect nor the foundation and structure of pristine principle which He has established, but in the corrupted nature of the guardians of America's egalitarian estate. In the course of her life, the young child has grown to be a beautiful lady, one who has established, defended, and advanced the blessings of liberty to millions in all corners of the world.

She has served as an inspiration and a model to all those bruised and battered souls who have yearned to breathe free - lady liberty has lifted her torch beside the golden door, beckoning the tempest tossed to her shores of opportunity and hope. The peoples of the world still look and still yearn, still sacrifice all to come to live in this God kissed land and establish a home that provides so sure a foundation of boundless hope.

That having been affirmed, not America, but her great friend, Israel, is certainly the most blessed and benevolent of nations because, in God's sovereign choice, hers are the patriarchs, the prophets, the covenants, and the Saviour of all mankind. Yet America remains second to none in terms of being the fountainhead of earthly good. Truly, America's greatness is in that goodness which she has shared with all mankind, a goodness so great that the world is warmed by it's glory.

America has been and remains, in the words of her political redeemer, 'God's almost chosen people' - 'the last, best hope of earth.' Throughout history, no other nation state has impacted the world for good like America - she has no peer as an acolyte of freedom and a model of Christian charity - she truly has been a city set upon a hill, lighting the darkness and leading the distressed toward the safety of home.

Indeed, when full consideration is given to her words and works, America is clearly seen in all of her wondrous splendor. The following facts are indisputable and a candid world must be ever grateful for them: The founding of America provided for the first time in the history of the world an unalterable basis for human freedom and equality - literally millions at home and around the world have been the beneficiary.

The New World has helped to rescue the Old from tyranny and enslavement on at least three occasions in the past century - untold millions are alive and living in freedom because of American courage and sacrifice - the sacred blood of American youth is incorporate in the soil of free nations everywhere.

More missionaries and humanitarian servants have gone forth from America than from any other land - it is not an exaggeration to say that entire nations and continents have been restored from rubble to riches through the generosity of America. More importantly, millions have come to a saving knowledge of God's amazing grace and experienced spiritual freedom from the bondage of sin because myriad multitudes of America's children have been compelled by the love of Christ to go into all the world.

Additionally, more earthly needs have been met through American kindness and provision than can be fathomed - she is truly the world's great benefactor. American ingenuity and enterprise have done more to raise the living conditions of more people in more places than any other system of economic production - millions live need filled lives as a result. Economically, militarily, politically, and religiously, this great nation has been the champion of freedom and done much to fulfill her destiny and high calling as ambassadors of liberty and love - her national legacy surpasses all others, enveloping more people than any other in freedom's sure embrace.

Nonetheless, if her living children are honest, they must admit that there are some things against her - she continues to walk the path of liberty, to be sure, yet, at times, she has strayed from the way of righteousness described above to travel byways of sin and forgetfulness. Her sin has always been most glaring and unseemly when she has forgotten God and thus missed meeting the lofty, idyllic bar of human equality. The nature of her transgression in this regard is seen most vividly in four distinct fault lines which run through the templates of her history.

First, in her treatment of the native born son - Despite many well intentioned religious and political efforts to protect the Indian, thousands, after these failed attempts at assimilation, were removed from their ancestral land, trailing behind them a torrent of tears that remind us still of the injustice.

The effort toward effecting a proper relationship between the national government and the Indian nations, while in many cases well intentioned, is certainly an example of public policy being used to justify unwise ends and unfair means - there had to have been a better way. Many were continually pushed, pursued, mistreated, neglected, brutalized and killed, largely because they were regarded with fear as savage and brutish or seen as not deserving of the equal blessings of civil and natural rights.

The question was complex and the wisdom of the solution can be argued - the greater sin, it seems, was in the breaking of the promise that, once having been resettled, the government would allow the Indian to live in peace. The promise once given should have been kept - it was not. Ultimately, in comparison to the whole, all but a very few acres were wrested from the hand of the red to rest in the hand of the white.

Similarly, the sin of American slavery, a despotic and demonic institution whose life spanned two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil, was destructive beyond human comprehension. In it's final, glorious death throes, Lincoln spoke in his second inaugural address, of the life of this death dealing institution and it's impact upon the nation:

"One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

"Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.

Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.' Martin Luther King Jr.

In these words, we hear an American prophetic voice calling, one hundred years after the liberator of his race prayed for America itself to be born again unto freedom, for the sanctifying work to continue unto eternity. May the words of both be heeded and lived.

Abortion, the murder of a human being, a precious child in the comfort of a mother's womb - is an ever spreading stain upon the soul of America and she must weep in shame and sorrow for unrealized potential and exterminated lives. It is her children she is killing and the very blood of her blood that is being shed! Over forty million, never hers to nurse, nurture, and raise in the blessings of liberty - America must tremble at the knowledge that God is the Supreme Judge of the Universe.

The blood of the innocent, like Abel's, cries out from the ground as a resounding witness and indictment upon us all - every moment, however, we stand, still unmoved, still silent, still not our brother's keeper, as one after another are wrenched through the torn veil of eternity.

Finally and incredibly, worst of all, is America's amnesia concerning the Source of all of her blessings, all of her liberty, all of her goodness and her very life itself. It is not a new phenomena:

It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and all the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophy, as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles: he can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.”
“ The evil that has resulted from the error of the schools, in teaching natural philosophy as an accomplishment only, has been that of generating in the pupils a species of atheism. Instead of looking through the works of creation to the Creator himself, they stop short, and employ the knowledge they acquire to create doubts of his existence. They labour with studied ingenuity to ascribe every thing they behold to innate properties of matter, and jump over all the rest by saying, that matter is eternal." Thomas Paine

Simply put, America has forgotten God. History has shown that when this has occured in other nations, God's judgment comes as He looses the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword. The grapes of wrath are being stored up and ultimately, apart from national repentance, they will be pressed out until His cup of undiluted fury is filled to overflowing.

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas Jefferson

America is in the process of exchanging life for death, liberty for tyranny, absolute Truth for moral relativism, the eternal for the temporal, the heavenly for the earthly, the spiritual for the material, Christianity for Humanism, God for man. Nothing short of America dropping to her knees in contrition and confession will save her from a weakened and eventually shortened life. We must emulate the proclamation issued by Father Abraham, March 30, 1863:

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation:

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord:

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and, of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

Abraham Lincoln

"Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every American school is a school of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday school, meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching?" Charles Potter, 1930

"The battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: A religion of humanity -- utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to carry humanist values into wherever they teach. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new -- the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism." John Dunphy, 1983

These examples should sober us and impel us to action, but, there is hope! There are millions in this nation who still bend the knee and raise their hearts in prayer and worship to the Sovereign Lord of heaven! It is not too late, but do you believe, as I, that as time wanes, our resolve must wax to ever increasing levels of passion and devotion to the cause? If so, let us act together, pray together, work together so that we may have an adequate answer when asked, “What did you do to preserve freedom in your generation?”

The challenge is before us, NOW - there is no time to wait, no chance to pass our responsibility on to someone else or to a later generation. Is there anything more important than securing the blessings of spiritual and national liberty for ourselves and our posterity? Is there?….

.

“It is the eternal struggle between these two principles --right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time..." Abraham Lincoln

"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. Abraham Lincoln

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men WERE free." Ronald Reagan

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated." Thomas Paine Dec 23, 1776

These immortal words, penned five months following America's national birth, were words of encouragement, challenge, and reminder to Americans at the beginning of the Source and value of her founding ideals and of her great crisis of the moment. The greatest military force on the face of the earth opposed her, occupied her cities, and threatened to destroy the revolutionary quest for freedom and self government in it's infancy. Gen. Washington's beaten and demoralized forces lay huddled close against the shores of the formidable Delaware River while enemy forces bivouaced securely across the water near Trenton. Audaciously, Washington planned a surprise Christmas night attack, one that would provide a strategically small but emotionally gigantic victory, one that inspired many soldiers to reenlist and others to join the forces of the glorious cause.

Incredibly, against all odds and hope, Washington led his men through sleet and snow across the treacherous river and on to immortality; but, before he did, he ordered the words of Paine to be read to his army, that they might be inspired to "stand it now" and see through all the gloom, the "ravishing rays of light and glory" shining upon them and stretching forth, to us. May we see them to, and be inspired to remember the God who has blessed and sustained us, that we too, and our posterity, may triumph too, "in that day's transaction."

"Yesterday the greatest Question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater perhaps, never was or will be decided among Men. A Resolution was passed without one dissenting Colony "that these united Colonies, are, and of right ought to be free and independent States, and as such, they have, and of Right ought to have full Power to make War, conclude Peace, establish Commerce, and to do all the other Acts and Things, which other States may rightfully do." You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the Causes which have impell'd Us to this mighty Revolution, and the Reasons which will justify it in the Sight of God and Man. A Plan of Confederation will be taken up in a few days. . . ."

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epoch, in the History of America.- I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by Solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfire and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

"You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. - I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. - Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means..."
John Adams, to his wife Abigail, July 3, 1776

"Gentlemen, Although it is not possible to foresee the consequences of human actions, yet it is nevertheless a duty we owe ourselves and posterity in all our public councils to decide in the best manner we are able and to trust the event to That Being who governs both causes and events, so as to bring about his own determinations." cover letter to Declaration, July 6, 1776

Truly, our founder's decisive wisdom, written on parchment, but embedded in eternal truth and longing hearts, transformed the world. The power of that transformation has extended down the corridors of two centuries of time and inspires the world still. May we, as Americans, today, be reminded of the momentous blessings our forefathers gave us, and may we live lives worthy of that blessing again.

It is the ultimate of incredible ironies, that, on the day Congress officially approved the measure for independence, the five words the king of Great Britain penned in his diary for July 4, 1776 were succinct, poignant, and, in total error:

'Nothing of importance this day.'

I Believe

2011-06-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

Friday, March 26, 2010

I Believe

I believe that a new day dawns upon the land of America, yet it's entrance is not in slowly blooming colors of brilliance, warmth and light. Every day in America had once been filled with hope, anticipation, opportunity, possibility, and freedom. This new sunrise is eclipsed by the passing shadows of cold and darkness - in the gloaming, we can see the blessings still, but darkly, in a distant past, and shrouded in uncertain mist.

I believe that the new America is a place where people no longer look back to the foundations and principles of freedom for they have been obscured by those who would deny their Source and insist that the hope of man is in himself and not his Creator. One so confused and disoriented can not look forward without feelings of foreboding and apprehension. How, after all, can one know where to go and what to do if one has no proper conception of his Maker and His purpose?

I believe that the new reality has not exploded upon us in a flash of moments; instead, it has slowly broken upon the edges of our national soul until it has flooded the very essence of freedom's heart. The secular humanist, progressive worldview has overwhelmed this land in ever increasing waves of strength and rapidity. It's waters have been warm and seductive, lulling the sleepy into a false sense of security and approbation for an ideology that seems so right.

I believe that the following questions are valid; yet disingenuous, not the true questions to ask. How could one be opposed to rescuing the drowning? How could one not be in favor of compassion and aid to those less fortunate? How could one deny that such charity is not the essence and spirit of the true American? Indeed, one would not deny that every man should seek to love his neighbor as himself and do unto others as one would have things done unto them. These principles of sacrificial love have come from holy writ, been demonstrated by Americans throughout their benevolent history, and, more importantly, by the Almighty Himself, most vividly at the cross of Christ.

I believe the true questions and answers revolve around the following: the new age wisdom would have us believe that there is no Almighty, there is no Creator, there is no cross, and there is no unique and eternal value in the individual human being. For this kind of philosopher, the power and the glory is not God's forever, but man's. Man is, to them, inherently good and mankind is able to rise in his own power and ability to a new plain, a new level of understanding, truth, and, self-righteousness.

I believe the new is wrong. The ancient, eternal truth is this: God is sovereign and rules absolutely and forever in the affairs of men. His truth is eternal and reveals to us that man is inherently sinful and in need of the Almighty's saving grace. God has, in His wisdom, chosen to give men freedom and free will that he might willingly, by faith, reach out loving arms to the God who made him and to his fellow man. For love to be love, it must always be freely offered; if forced or coerced, it is no love at all, but simply a cheap and ineffectual imitation, one whose source is tyrannical and slavish in nature.

I believe that it is not the role of human authority to grant eternal, natural rights and demand that the governed be coerced into largesse and forced into obedience. The role of government is to secure and protect divine blessings and encourage us, even in discipline, to love and support one another and to emulate the example and fulfill the purpose for which God has made us. To provide the most extensive level of individual freedom to it's citizens is to give them the greatest opportunity to do so, but for the government to increase in unchecked power and force upon the governed the will of the state is to enslave the free and deny the very Giver of freedom Himself.

I believe that America has been attacked from within for a century and it seems as if the darkness has prevailed. I refuse to believe it is permanently so. There are still millions who have not bowed the knee to the almighty State, who have not sold, to man, their spiritual blessings for material dependence from cradle to grave , and who comprise an army of Christian soldiers who will prevail not with man made weapons of war and violence, but with weapons of righteousness, peace, and truth.

I believe that with God, all things are possible, and that one is a majority with God.

I believe that God is calling us to wake up, as a church and as a nation, and to defend and advance His glorious freedom until our dying breath.

I believe we must cut through the mist and see again the great cloud of witnesses and heroes that have gone before us and given their lives for the cause and be willing to do the same.

I believe that God takes great delight in revealing His power in our weakness and in overcoming evil with good.

I believe that truth will triumph over falsehood and freedom over slavery.

I believe that the wisdom and power of God is wiser than man's wisdom and stronger than man's strength.

I believe that man's wisdom is foolishness juxtaposed against God's wisdom and that man's rejection of God reveals that wisdom as foolishness indeed.

I believe in His truth and stand today, peering into the future and humbly realize that it too has it's mists - we do not know what a day may bring forth and we struggle to know God's immediate will. But do not lose heart and do not turn away! We do know this and to this we must cling: for the believer in God, the promise of His word is that the future is filled with eternal hope, eternal truth, eternal freedom, and the eternal Light of a never ending day. That is our guaranteed destiny. For you see, my friend, in God, there is no old, and there is no new. It is always, and forever, the same to the absolute, eternal, infinite, immutable God of the universe.

I believe, without doubt or equivocation, the truth and power of 2 Chronicles 7:14:

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

I believe, truly, this is the only hope for this, the last, best hope of earth...

I believe that nothing is impossible with God and that, in His wll and with His grace, America's best days are, incredibly, yet ahead.

Do you believe this? To doubt it is to doubt the author of freedom Himself, and to think that the foundations of freedom He laid down for us are temporal, finite, and impotent.

THAT, I refuse to believe...

Profound Remembrances

2011-05-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

This past week marked the end of my first year as a teacher at Mount Airy Christian Academy. The nine months began with great anticipation and excitement. It had been my earnest prayer and hope for quite some time that God would lead me to a full time position in a Christian teaching ministry, that I might be able to humbly use the gifts He has given me to encourage others in some small way unto His honor and glory. I was praying that God would use me to that end, and that I might be able to contribute to the ministry. Little did I realize that I would be given far more than I gave.

Early in the year, a tragedy struck my family as our son was assaulted and badly injured. His brain injury was severe and caused his hospitalization and subsequent rehabilitation to last for eight months before, gratefully, he was able to return to his position as a Sr. Airman in the United States Air Force.
We are thankful to God for His continued healing and for all those who have loved us so deeply. That love was exhibited in hundreds of ways, by thousands of people, who reached out with hands of care and hearts of compassion - your deeds and deeply felt prayers were a comfort to us that words cannot adequately express and we will be forever profoundly grateful for all you have done for us. We love you all.

I was recently thinking, that not only did God heal our Andrew, He also helped us understand the power of love as it is manifested in the hearts and lives of His people. We saw an evil act, one designed to bring harm and death, transformed into a thousand acts of righteousness designed to bring health and life. We saw a broken body and battered spirits raised to newness of life and a fallen young man raised on wings as eagles, one who now walks and is not weary and runs and does not faint.

God blessed, not only by restoring our immediate family, but by bringing to our mind's eye forever, never to be forgotten, the example of true brotherly love and affection in a family far bigger and far more strong in love than we had ever known before.

"Oh, the love of God is greater still, than tongue or pen can tell!"

I am inspired and humbled by your love and honored to be your friend. To my students, I can only repeat what I have often told you - I am inspired by you every day and cannot thank you enough for all you have done for me. I hope that this year has reminded you and all of us, again and afresh, of what a mighty God we serve. His power and love are adequate to meet all of our needs and save us unto eternity.

" If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Young people, live powerfully for Christ, remember always that we serve a powerful God who has given us everything we need for life and godliness. Remember, that no matter how we feel, it is a fact, that God loved us so much that He gave His Son in death for us, that we might live forever in His resurrection power.

Wherever God takes you in the days ahead, remember to look to Him for your wisdom and courage, stand for His Truth and live unashamedly for Him. In so doing, you will honor Him, bless others, and storm the gates of hell unto victory.

The redeemed, on the far side of the cross and in the glory of the empty tomb, sing a song of deliverance, challenging death, asking it, 'Where is your victory,' knowing all the while that the temporary victor was vanquished and swallowed up in the eternal life of the Risen One.

Fear no man and no thing - you are more than victors, more than conquerors through the One who loves us. You can turn the world upside down, shake it, pour out it's dross, and fill it with the power of His Spirit, if you live out His word in obedience, not mindful of self, but ever mindful of Christ.

You have shown me, again, all of you, that God is working in and through His people to transform evil to righteousness, hate to love, and death unto life. Truly, there is no greater power and it is all of God. All of it.

We serve an awesome God. Thank you for such eternal and profound remembrances. You are, indeed, all of you, truly unforgettable.

Meeting Physical Force With Soul Force

2011-05-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Meeting physical force with soul force

Andrew and Lindsey left today. As we said goodbye and watched them go, we prayed, committing them to God again, as always, trusting Him to go before, with, and behind them, enveloping them in His loving, sure embrace. There is no place we would rather them be, and we know that it is time for them to leave this home and go to their new one, confident that God will use them in a mighty way as a testimony to His love, power, and faithfulness in all things.

God has taught us so many lessons in the last seven months, more perhaps than in all the years before. But as I sit, praising Him for His goodness and manifold blessings, three in particular come to mind.

First, He has reminded us that His nature and His will are perfect and that He can be trusted in all circumstances. We have been given the privilege of seeing in experience, anew, that His grace is sufficient and that strength is given from on high to those who reach for it in total weakness, inability, and dependence. For when we are weak, then we are strong.

Secondly, He has shown us His grace, power, kindness, goodness, compassion, and love through the prayers, gifts, and hearts of so many people - people whom we will always remember as messengers and providers of mercy. We hope and pray that we, with you as our example, will offer such help to others in need, as we were.

Words cannot express to all of you our appreciation for all that you have done on our behalf, most importantly the deeds and prayers of love that you offered to us, and to God. We will never forget you and pray that God will richly bless you all with His salvation, joy, and peace.

Finally, we have been shown that God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. It is sometimes very hard to understand the wisdom and purposes of God. Very hard, as all of you know. We are not alone in this experience. God taught us that it is not unusual to be confused and not a sin to ask Him why. In asking, we receive the answers He wants us to have, so that we can live our lives in light of His truth, knowing that we can and must trust Him, and not ourselves, always and forever.

The vicious assault that our Andrew endured and the unjust pain that he suffered was intended for evil, but God intended it for good and, when God intends, no power of man or Satan can stand. God's intention, God's purposes, are never thwarted; and so, good has been magnified and evil has been diminished before our very eyes. One act of hate certainly had it's impact - the power of sin is real and strong, but where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. This we know, and in this we rest and rejoice.

Thus, as one act of evil went forth, the Lord transformed it, as only the one true God can, into thousands of acts of love that have shown to many how great is our God and how worthy of praise! There is no greater opportunity for the world to see the reality of God and the love of God than in His transforming power in the hearts and lives of men. As Christians, we rejoice in that, but we also must pray that the blessing might not be just our own, but that even the evildoer might know it, that our God might be glorified and seen by all, always, high and lifted up in majesty. That is our prayer.

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the need for physical force to be met with soul force, that the world, while seeing the reality of injustice and sin to be sure, might see vividly juxtaposed against it, the reality of righteous, sacrificial love, and thus know, forever and always, that evil is defeated through the eternal victory of God's loving power.

In this instance, evil has indeed been met by soul force, the power of God lived out through you, to us, and we will be forever profoundly grateful for the joy and victory we have through it, with you, in Christ.

May God continue to richly bless you all as you faithfully serve Him.

We love you all.

Letter From a Baltimore Jail

2011-01-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison spend a period of time in a Baltimore jail, placed there by those who wished to silence his prolific pen and convicted soul. His voice echoed to the hills, redounding to the plains, striking a chord of freedom that would ring throughout the land.

Garrison was unequivocal in his view and conviction concerning human freedom. While my subject is of no importance by comparison, my earnestness is real.

I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation... I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch --
AND I WILL BE HEARD.

This is an open letter to the city of Baltimore and all Baltimore Ravens fans. I write this from jail myself, a jail you may feel yourself in as well. Not a jail made with human hands and temporal steel, but a jail of the mind, a jail where weariness is the guard and exhaustion the binding lock.

Simply put, in this place, I am tired.

I am tired of watching a team lose year after year, virtually every big game it plays against an elite opponent. In ten years, it has beaten New England, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis a total of one time in the playoffs. It has never beaten Indianapolis or Pittsburgh in a playoff game. Never.

I am tired of hearing players on this team crow about their talent and complain about not getting the ball, then watching them disappear or fail in crucial situations. It's interesting that they are strangely silent at those times, only to rise again to arrogantly champion their greatness when the games mean nothing and the lights are dim.

I am tired of being told by the coaches and front office about how wonderful it is to 'play like a Raven.' That legacy would mean a lot more and that nom de guerre would have greater meaning behind it if playing like a Raven included the ability to play big in big games. When you come up small in such instances again and again, the moniker loses it's luster and the talk becomes incredibly cheap.

I am tired of listening to team leaders scream, 'no retreat, no surrender' in pregame rants and dances that glorify words and honor self, then watch as the team they are leading retreat and surrender time and time again in the face of a little adversity. When placed in the crucible of championship pressure, the best teams are forged into steel and their resolve becomes unbending, while the Raven's metal melts away time and time again into the teary dross of defeat.

I am tired of fans who are satisfied with being good, but not great, with wins, but not championships, with words, but not actions. So many say, 'don't be so hard on them, don't be so negative'; instead, 'see the glass half full, not half empty.' My response is, 'No matter how you look at it, the glass is lacking in fullness is it not? I say, 'FILL IT to the brim and unto overflowing and drink from the chalice of ultimate victory!' Isn't that, after all, why you play the game?

To be satisfied with incompleteness is to be satisfied with losing, with unfulfilled potential, and that I will never happily accept. If only the team felt the same way.

I am tired of watching this team lose big games, not because of a lack of skill, but because of a lack of will, a lack of perseverance, a lack of determination to succeed. It has learned to accept, and expect losing these games, and so they do, when it means the most. Yesterday, this team, when faced with it's first real adversity, folded like a cheap tent and played, up by fourteen points, afraid, as if it were behind. It's opponent, on the other hand, again played, down by fourteen points, knowing it could be, and soon would be, ahead. And so it was.

The ability to make plays that matter flows from a will and a belief that one can. The champion sees his future destiny before him as if it is already past, then acts in the present to fulfill the dream and realize the glory.

I am tired, finally, of a team that has had multiple opportunities to realize great moments and embrace them and wrap them in victory. United States 1980 Olympic Hockey Coach Herb Brooks addressed his team before the epic contest against the vaunted, virtually unbeatable Russian machine by telling his men, 'Great moments are born of great opportunity, and that's what you have here tonight...Now go out and take it.' And so they did.

How very sad that this team has had numerous opportunities to grasp great moments and let them slip through their fingers and rest in the hands of another.

There is, paradoxically, a slim yet vast difference between victory and defeat, between greatness and mediocrity. That difference is bridged with will, determination, and heart and, once achieved, the chasm created between victor and vanquished is enormous, revealing for all to see on which side one dwells.

Baltimore currently resides on the side where the sun sets on the hopes of a town and it's team. To be sure, it can see the sunrise and the glory, but sadly, it is always just over the horizon and out of it's reach...

Of that, I am truly tired. Aren't you?

The Time That Flies

2010-12-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

^{Isaiah 40: 28-31

28} Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

As many of you know, I have not done much writing lately. I have been busy with life, and love, and learning, leaving me precious little of, as Poe called it, 'the time that flies.' I hope that 2011 will allow me more revolutions of the 'hands around the face' in an endeavor that I enjoy perhaps more than any other...

I would be remiss, however, if I were not to pause for a brief moment, as this year wanes, to compose an epistle of gratitude to you, who helped us through a terrifying moment where time stood still. Time moves so quickly, does it not? It truly does seem to fly, faster as we grow older it seems. But there are those moments for all of us when it seems to come to a terrifying halt, only to then resume, taking it's passenger, on it's inexorable march, it's direct flight, upon a new and unknown course.

That moment came for me, for us, on the morning of September 26, when I picked up the ringing telephone and my ear was met with a message of dread - our son, Andrew, had been the victim of an assault that had left him unconscious, comatose, bruised, bleeding, and broken, fighting for life 2,000 miles away.

Isaiah 43:1b-3

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
³ For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I called the family together, told them the news, and we prayed. Immediately we began the process of getting to Andrew, all the while informing you and asking you to drop to your knees to intercede on Andrew's behalf before the throne of grace.

Looking back on the past three months, which in some ways are a blur and in others a lifetime, we realize that God's sustaining power, your never ending prayers, and hands and hearts of provision have carried us all the way. Old friends, and new, people we never knew but will now never forget, were sent by God to lift us time and time again and set our feet upon the path that would take us home. To us, you are nothing less than God's messengers, angels of mercy, hope, and love.

It is truly a humbling experience to be loved and lifted thusly - it has transformed us and now our prayer is that we will always remember your kindnesses and be motivated by them to love and lift others in the same way. When one sees answered prayer right before one's eyes day after day and God working through others on your behalf so powerfully, it creates in the soul a song of thanksgiving whose melody is so eloquent, it is haunting in it's beauty and hallowed in your being - we shall never forget it nor shall we ever forget you all.

As this new year dawns, we stand strong in God's grace and your love...Andrew is doing so well - the journey God has taken him, and us, on has been life changing in so many ways; but now, we realize that those ways are not going to be to our detriment, but to our benefit. God truly has shown us that while others intended these circumstances for evil, God intended them for our good and for His glory.

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^a]">[a] have been called according to his purpose

Your part in God's work has been extraordinary - He touched your hearts and moved you to action and through your compassion, we have been blessed beyond our wildest imaginations. Together, we have lifted our eyes unto the hills and seen afresh, that our help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Because of you, we have been able to brave the storm and in it, praise Him. I reflect upon the words of Dan Innes, who wrote:

"To turn our crises into opportunities, we need to ask the question, "What might God be trying to say to me through my adverse circumstances?"

Remember, because he was in prison John Bunyan wrote his literary masterpiece, Pilgrim's Progress, and through rising above her severe handicaps Helen Keller became a great inspiration to millions.

And so it is with each of us. No matter what happens to us, God wants to use our suffering to strengthen us, to mature us, and to make us better persons.

If you are going through a time of sickness, sorrow, depression, financial setback, a broken relationship, or feel you have failed in some way, can you accept that God wants to use your suffering to help you grow and become closer to him? Can you ask him to help you see what you might be contributing to your situation, for the courage to do your part in resolving it, and through it help you to grow?

After a long winter, spring eventually comes and with it new leaves appear on the trees in all their refreshing beauty. In the summer they thrive. In the fall they die. But in dying their beauty is greater than in the spring. But the tree doesn't die. The falling leaves just make further growth possible. And that's the cycle of life-struggle, pain, beauty, growth.

Apparently, in his later years, Renoir, the famous French painter, suffered badly from arthritis. On one occasion his close friend, Matisse, questioned him, "My friend, why do you keep on painting when you are in so much pain?" To which Renoir thoughtfully replied, "The pain passes, but the beauty remains!"

For all who trust their life to God and ask him to use their struggles to help them grow, their pain, too, will pass, but their beauty will remain - forever. "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."

Be sure to invest your pain. Don't waste it. Invest it wisely in your own growth and in the growth of others."

For the innumerable acts of kindness and mercy you have bestowed upon us, we are and ever will be, forever profoundly grateful. May God richly bless you all in the days ahead and may every second of the 'time that flies' be filled with joy and blessing for you and praises for our God.

We love you all...

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

³ Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

test 2

2010-12-07T20:12:00.000-08:00

American Military History Test

1. The __________ War with France was fought between 1797-1800 a. Napoleonic b. Quasi c. Franco-American d. Colonial
2. The ________________War was fought with Muslim raiders between 1800-1805 a. Pirate b. Jihad c. Barbary d. Mediterranean
3. The War of ___________ saw Washington DC burned by the British. a. 1800 b. 1812 c. 1850 d. 1898
4. The Eastern __________________ Wars were fought between 1815-1855 a. Indian b. Canadian c. American d. Trade
5. The War of ______________ Independence in 1836 established this territory as it’s own separate republic for nine years. a. Arizona b. Louisiana c. Kansas d. Texas
6. The _________________________ was the bloodiest war in American history, fought between 1861 and 1865 largely over the issue of slavery a. Civil War b. French-Indian War c. Spanish-American War d. Philippine War
7. The Western ______________Wars were fought between 1855-1890. A. Trade b. American c. Canadian d. Indian
8. The ______________War, fought between 1846-1848 involved a dispute over disputed land and saw a large amount of southwestern territories become part of the US a. Philippine war b. Mexican c. Spanish-American d. Caribbean
9. The _____________ _______________________War was fought in 1898 and was known as ‘a splendid little war.’ a. Civil War b. Spanish-American c. East Indian d. West Indian
10. The ___________________ Insurrection was fought between 1898-1902 a. Philippine b. Caribbean c. Spanish d. Mexican
11. Who warned the US to avoid foreign conflicts and connections? a. John Adams b. George Washington c. Thomas Jefferson d. James Monroe
12. The French were angry with the Americans in 1797 because they were trading with what nation? a. Greece b. Britain c. Italy d. Germany
13. True or False - In 1797, France seized hundreds of American ships and President Jefferson ordered armed merchant vessels to attack French shipping.
14. The legacy of the Quasi War marked the rebirth of the _______________ a. US Army b. US marines c. US Navy d. US Coast Guard
15. The Barbary Coast is located on the northern coast of the continent of ___________________ a. Asia b. Australia c. Africa d. South America
16. What caused American ships to not be protected in the Mediterranean after they once had been? _________________________________________________________________________________
17. Pirates would capture American ships and hold cargo and hostage for ______________________.
18. Commodore Edward ____________led the Mediterranean Squadron against the raiders. A. Johnson be. Peterson c. Preble d. Jackson
19. _____________ declared war on the Us after president Jefferson refused to pay an increase in tribute money. A. Tunis b. Tripoli c. Algiers d. Morocco
20. The USS Philadelphia ran aground in the harbor at Tripoli and was attacked and set afire by forces under Lt. Stephen ______________ so that raiders could not use it. A. DeShazer b. Decatur d. Daniels d. Dunston
21. In March 1805, William ____________ led a group of Marines, Srabs, and Greeks across 1,000 miles of desert to attack and capture the city of Derna. A. Easterly b. Eaton c. Erskine d. Erving
22. The War of 1812 was over land disputes in the northwest territory and over _______________, this time with the British. A. gold b. trade/shipping c. slavery d. independence
23. Indian allies fought with the British in the Northwest Territroy, the most famous being the great Shawnee warrior _________________. A. Pontiac b. Tecumseh c. Chief Joseph d. Geronimo
24. True or False - Most Americans wanted to go to war with the British again to settle disputes once and for all.
25. Tecumseh fought in two major battles against American Indian fighter and governor of the Northwest territory William Henry _______________. A. Harmon b. Harrison c. Anderson d. Buchanan
26 - 28 The three main battles of the war of 1812 were:
_____________________________ - after this battle, British forces marched on and burned Washington, DC
_____________________________ - British forces stopped here and Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner
_____________________________ - This was the last major battle of the war where Andrew Jackson won a great victory despite being outnumbered almost 3-1.
29. The last major battle of the war was not even necessary to fight. Why? ___________________________________________________________________________________
30. The war of 1812 ended with the Treaty of ______________ a. Paris b. London c. Rome d. Ghent
31-32 The War of Texas Independence saw Mexican forces under gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa ______________ and Texas leader Sam _____________________.
33. On March 5, 1836, almost 1,000 Mexican forces stormed the _________________ and killed all 200 American defenders, including William Travis and Davy Crockett.
34. True or False - Ten days later, Mexican forces won again at Goliad and massacred 375 prisoners.
35. At the Battle of San _______________ Sam Houston and his men won a great victory in which the Mexican general was captured and agreed to Texas demands to sign a peace treaty recognizing Texas independence and territorial claims. A. Antonio b. Jacinto c. Juan d. Francisco
36. In Dec. 1836, the Republic of Texas became an independent nation for ____________ years a. two b. nine c. fifteen d. twenty

Bonus Questions

1. The Republic of Texas was known as the ___________ ____________ Star.
2 - 7 name the six frigates originally commissioned to reestablish the US Navy (4 C’s and a USP)
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
3. True or False - The Shawnee chief Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of New Orleans

test

2010-12-07T20:10:00.000-08:00

Civics Test

Answer Questions 1-15 by using the answers listed. You will you each answer only once:

Lawsuits Citizenship Given To Black Americans
Restricting pay raise for Congress Poll Tax
Electoral College Voting Rights for Black Americans
Voting Age Lowered From 21 to 18 Washington DC
Ended Slavery in US Federal Income Tax
Rules on Presidential Succession Placed Two Term Limit on Office
US Senate Inauguration Day
18th Amendment Alcohol
Women House of Representatives
Due Process

1. The 11th Amendment, ratified in 1795, placed a RESTRICTION ON citizens of another state or foreign country from bringing _______________ on a state in federal courts.

2. The 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804,brought about CORRECTIONS in what flawed system following the controversial presidential election of 1800. _________________________________________.

3. Amendments 13, 14, and 15 are often called the Civil War Amendments. Describe what each amendment specifically did:

Amendment 13 (ratified 1865) - _____________________________________________________
Amendment 14 (ratified 1868) - _____________________________________________________
Amendment 15 (ratified 1870) - _____________________________________________________

4. The 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, gave Congress the authority to IMPOSE what universally unpopular action upon each individual citizen (be specific) _______________________________

5. The 17th Amendment, also ratified in 1913, changed a particular voting process from a vote of state legislatures to a popular vote for those running for the ________________________________

6. The 18th Amendment, ratified in 1919 enacted into federal law a ban on the sale, manufacture, or transportation of what? _____________________________________________

7. The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, guaranteed equal representation and voting rights to ______________ for the first time in American history.

8. The 20th Amendment changed the date of this special occurrence, moving it from March 4 to January 20, closer to a prior year’s presidential election. _______________________________________________________

9. The 21st Amendment, ratified in 1933, was the only amendment to specifically repeal another. Which previous amendment did this one repeal? _________________________________

10. Ratified in 1951, the 22nd Amendment significantly altered the presidency. What did this amendment do? ________________________________________________________________________________

11. The 23rd Amendment, ratified in 1961 (a great year!), gave citizens in this federal area popular AND electoral college representation in presidential elections. What area or locale did this amendment impact? _________________________________________________

12. The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, stated that the _________ ____________ was unconstitutional. This had been used historically to keep certain Americans from voting.

13. Ratified in 1967 as a direct result of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, the 25th amendment finally makes clear what important RULES involving the presidency? _____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

14. The 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971, came about largely due to the impact of the ongoing Vietnam War. What did the amendment do/change regarding voting? _______________________________________________

15. The 27th Amendment, the last amendment to be ratified (1992), was first proposed as part of the group of amendments that would be known as the Bill of Rights. This amendment placed a LIMIT or RESTRICTION on what Congressional action? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. The Constitutional term for every citizen being afforded equality and fairness under the law is known as _______________________________________

17. Under the Constitution, if no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral college vote, what group/body determines who will serve as POTUS? ________________________________

Answer questions 18-33 by filling in the blank with the correct word for the definition. Each word will be used only ONCE:

Worldview Absolute Truth
Religious freedom Clause of 1st Amendment Deism
Secular Atheism
Social compact Moral Relativism
Humanism Theism
Pantheism Materialism
Natural Law/rights Civil Rights/liberties
Polytheism Monotheism

18. __________________ - a belief system whereby one understands or interprets the world
19. __________________- apart from religion/God
20. _________________ - worldview that views man as the measure of all things.
21. __________________- legal theory that states that law is set and rights are guaranteed from God and are within the nature of man and applies to all human beings.
22. __________________- belief that Truth exists which is derived from God, eternal, and applies to all people in all circumstances and situations.
23. __________________- belief that moral truth is not absolute, but relative, changing according to personal opinion, circumstance, and situation.
24. __________________- rights and freedoms given by civil authorities/government. These rights and freedoms protect the individual and guarantee equality under law. Because they are given by man, these guarantees can change and may be taken away.
25. __________________ - belief that the only thing that exists is matter and that all matter, phenomena, and causes are natural. Matter is the only substance - there is no spiritual aspect to life and no supernatural.
26. ____________ - belief in God (from Greek theos - God)
27. ___________ - belief in no God (a- no; theos - God)
28. ____________ - belief that God created all things, then withdrew from his creation and allowed all things to operate by natural process. Belief that God does not intervene directly in the lives of individuals or in creation itself.
29. ________________ - belief in one God
30. ________________- belief in many gods
31. ________________ - belief that God or gods are in all things and as such creation itself or that which is natural should be worshipped.
32. ________________ - idea that government structure should be based on a concept that those in authority are placed in that position by the consent of the governed. Government is of, by, and for the people
33. _______________________________________- ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

Answer the following based on the 7 things all the founders believed:

34. God created all men _________ in value a. equal b. rich c. lacking d. unequal
35. God gave to all men certain ___________rights, rights that cannot be taken away rightly. a. civil b. unalienable c. political d. American
36. The greatest of all individual rights is the right of ____________ a. free speech b. conscience c. due process d. gun ownership
37. All men are by nature ____________ a. corrupt b. selfish c. sinful d. all of these.
38. Power must be ___________ a. expanded b. preserved c. limited d. tyrannical in all areas because man is apt to abuse power.
39 - 40 The two pillars of freedom are the concepts or ideals of _______ ________(2 words) under law and ________, __________, and _________.

BONUS QUESTIONS

1. The Voting Rights Act (not an amendment) finally ended voting discrimination in all states in terms of voting rights, but it did not occur until a. 10 years b. 20 years c. 50 years d. 100 years after the Civil War.

2. Prior to term limits for POTUS, what US president was the only one to be elected to more than two terms in office? a. Abraham Lincoln b. Andrew Jackson c. George Washington d. Theodore Roosevelt e. Franklin D. Roosevelt f. Grover Cleveland g. Norman A. Rust Sr.

3. The Civil War amendments were a direct result of the impact of the war, in which over a. 6,000 b. 60,000 c. 600,000 d. 6,000,000 Americans died.

4. The 25th Amendment on the line of succession in the case of the death of the president came about after the assassination of ________________________ a. John F. Kennedy b. Abraham Lincoln c. William McKinley d. James Garfield

5. Wednesday was the ______________ anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor a. 49th b. 59th c. 69th d. 50th

6. The ship upon which the most lives were lost was the USS __________________ a. Alabama b. Arizona c. Oklahoma d. Nevada

I See You

2010-11-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

Simply, I see you.

I see you, brother and sister, broken for the one you love with all of your fearful heart, yet whole and firm, filled with hope and determined to do and pray, as only you can do and pray, for him.

I see you, new friend, knowing the story and the challenges, yet remaining steadfast in your love, care, and aid, bringing joy, hope, and trust again to my boy.

I stand, and fall before You, amazed and silent, stilled by your Presence and Greatness.

I rejoice friends, in all of God's blessings this Thanksgiving, again. I just wanted you to know that in them, I see you, in Him, and will for all eternity.

I love you all, forever.

Our Undying Love is Yours

2010-10-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

Psalm 100: 1-5

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

² Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his^a]">[a];
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

As I write, I think of my son, in Colorado, serving in the United States Air Force, praying for him and trusting that today has been a good day and that he is well. To most, this is not a remarkable thing at all. To most it is normal, all too normal. I believe it is a miracle that I have such thoughts and have such a son, still...

Exactly one year ago, we received a phone call from an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, whom we were soon to learn was not simply a remarkable officer and new, life long friend, but an angel sent from God. She informed us, compassionately, that our Andrew had been seriously injured in an assault, that his injuries were life threatening, and that he was awaiting surgery.

As we prayed and cried and prepared to fly to Colorado to be with him, we had no idea, really, of what awaited us at Penrose-Francis Trauma Hospital. 30,000 feet high, between God and man, we prayed, we four, along with an ever growing number of family, friends and strangers, for miracles.

A miracle is learning that each family member felt a peace of heart at the same time on the flight out, feeling simultaneously, that things were better and that God was in control.

A miracle is landing in Denver and being told that Andrew had never gone into surgery, that the neurosurgeon had, at the same time you felt that assurance above, found his vital signs to be improved and held off on the surgery, a surgery that was ultimately never necessary.

A miracle is realizing that the surgeon assigned to Andrew's case was a strong believer in Jesus Christ and as kind and compassionate as a human being could be.

A miracle is seeing your son's eyes move behind his lids rapidly, then flutter open, five days after they had closed.

A miracle is seeing your son's bruised and battered body heal before your eyes with God's power and through gifted caregivers, who are a miracle in themselves. They are truly His hands of healing on earth.

A miracle is seeing every one of your needs met by airmen, chaplains, and workers whom you never knew, and will now, never forget. It is truly a miracle to be loved by people you don't even know and have them become a part of your soul right before your eyes.

A miracle is seeing your son move is finger, give a thumbs up, and nod his head in answer to your question.

A miracle is seeing him sit, stand, take a step, and give a hug when you thought he could barely move.

A miracle is seeing the strength of a wife who loved unto exhaustion, and the love of your children that, you knew was there, but never really knew until now.

A miracle is seeing your son arrive home and smile through the pain and the suffering, never once complaining, to this very moment, about a thing. He is my hero.

A miracle is hearing your son's voice and melting as you hear him whisper, with great effort to simply make it audible, 'I love you.'

A miracle is seeing determination, and heart, and strength, from a body weakened and broken, yet strong through it all by the power of God. A jar of clay made a vessel of power in His hands.

A miracle is bringing your son home, to live out the remainder of his days for Christ, with a testimony of power when, but for a millimeter, we are told, he might never have come home at all

God has showered these miracles upon us, by His grace, every day since September 26, 2010. We, who at first were overwhelmed and undone by a terrible act of evil, are now overwhelmed and uplifted by His goodness, and your love; by the thousands of acts of compassion and benevolence that have been lavished upon us.

We can never thank Him, or all of you, Andrew's caregivers, fellow airmen, MACA family, churches, and friends, enough. Indeed, words feel so inadequate at such a time, but know, all of you, that behind our words, is an undying gratitude that will be ours toward you, forever - we will remember you all, for time and eternity.

How true the words of the proverb, 'a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.' True friends, true heroes, rush into the danger and hopelessness of others lives and love them, bearing them in arms of strength unto rescue, and safety, and peace.

All of our old, and new found, friends, please know that we are humbled beyond words at the model you have set before us - to see true love in action is both marvelous and convicting - We are in awe, inspired to be forever grateful to you, and, to be a better friend ourselves, a friend like you, to others.

We know now, truly, what Lincoln meant when he spoke of 'the better angels of our nature.' You have touched the substance of our being and the mystic chords of our memories with a melody of love, a friendship song that will resound in our hearts forever.

We have been reminded, in this lesson of suffering, that the power of evil is great, yet the power of love is infinitely greater. The inherent sin of the heart and the outward acts of evil that flow therefrom have an effect on humankind to such an extent that they have robbed us of our immortality, and burdened us, with pain and toil to a grave that they themselves have dug.

However, if one could pile all the sins ever committed high unto the heavens, while that pile would be enormous and daunting in the extreme, it could never reach the heights of God's love, forgiveness, and grace. His love and all of His attributes, like Him, are infinite, boundless, and measureless. To rest in them, in Him, is to rest in the eternal assurance and confidence of the divine infinitude. Truly an indescribable treasure and an incomparable, unspeakable gift.

The Love of God

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God sent His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song!

Could we with ink the oceans fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above
Would drain the oceans dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song!

F. M. Lehman

In that infinite blessing, we are told that the Father, in the Son, through the Spirit, extends the power of grace to us, and that all who trust in Him by faith are not only His beloved, and His child, but remarkably, immortal again, and His friend forever as well.

Having been blessed by God with friends like you, and having experienced the impact and power of your love in our lives, we now know, afresh and in experience, the power of God in our hearts. For everything, my friends, and most of all, for that, we are forever profoundly grateful and changed.

Our undying love is yours, and His, forever.

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

0 comments:

The New American Crisis

2010-07-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

" THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated." Thomas Paine

“Some paradox of our natures leads us, when once we have made our fellow men the objects of our enlightened interest, to go on to make them the object of our pity, then of our wisdom, ultimately of our coercion. It is to prevent this corruption, the most ironic and tragic that man knows, that we stand in need of the moral realism which is the product of the moral imagination”. Lionel Trilling

Webster defines socialism thusly: 1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.

A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. –Thomas Jefferson (1801)

The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened. -Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948

It is unethical for any man to tax another man's home to fund his social agenda. Friends don't do that, your enemies will. - John Taft

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -Ronald Reagan (1986)

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -P.J. O'Rourke

We must not look to government to solve our problems. Government is the problem. -Ronald Reagan

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! -P.J. O'Rourke

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. -President Ronald Reagan

The great virtue of a free market system is that it does not care what color people are; it does not care what their religion is; it only cares whether they can produce something you want to buy. It is the most effective system we have discovered to enable people who hate one another to deal with one another and help one another. –Milton Friedman

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. -President Ronald Reagan

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

I've always believed that this blessed land was set apart in a special way, that some divine plan placed this great continent here between the oceans to be found by people from every corner of the Earth who had a special love for freedom and the courage to uproot themselves, leave homeland and friends, to come to a strange land. And coming here they created something new in all the history of mankind--a land where man is not beholden to government, government is beholden to man. -President Ronald Reagan

One hundred nations in the UN have not agreed with us on just about everything that's come before them, where we're involved, and it didn't upset my breakfast at all. -President Ronald Reagan

When you guys win, you get to keep your money. When we win, we take your money. -Cy Thao, Democrat MN Rep. DFL 65-A speaking to a Republican)

I am just absolutely convinced that the best formula for giving us peace and preserving the American way of life is freedom and limited government. -Ron Paul

Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man -Thomas Jefferson in "Commonplace Book," 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764.

To the divisive forces that would take freedom away, I want to tell you something: You can have my gun. You can pry it from my cold dead hands! -Charelton Heston

America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people. -George W. Bush State of the Union Address, January 2004

I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer, just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals...The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom, and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is. -President Ronald Reagan

We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. -President Ronald Reagan

No one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words "no" and "not" employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights. –Edmund A. Opitz

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. -President Ronald Reagan

We have depended on government for so much for so long that we as people have become less vigilant of our liberties. As long as the government provides largesse for the majority, the special interest lobbyists will succeed in continuing the redistribution of welfare programs that occupies most of Congress's legislative time. -Ron Paul, Congressman (R - Texas)

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul, can always count on the support of Paul. –George Bernard Shaw

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. –John Adams (1814)

Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. –George Washington

No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. –Mark Twain (1866)

There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him. –Robert Heinlein

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. –James Bovard (1994)

The power to tax is the power to destroy. – John Marshall

There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws. –Ayn Rand

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves [favors] out of the public treasury. –Alexander Tytler

"In capitalism you are free to earn as much or as little as you like. If you want to grow your own food in your own backyard you are free to do so or you can start your own business and try to become wealthy. The point is that you decide for yourself. In communism, however, a group of elites in power decide not only what you do for society, but how much you're worth doing it." -Lee Wilson

It is sobering to reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence. –Charles A. Beard

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. –Mark Twain

I believe that every individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other men's rights. –Abraham Lincoln

Government never furthered any enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. –Henry David Thoreau

The best government is the one that charges you the least blackmail for leaving you alone. –Thomas Rudmose-Brown (1996)

In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. –Voltaire (1764)

Governments harangue about deficits to get more revenue so they can spend more. –Allan H. Meltzer (1993)

Considering history, socialism has been exposed as a failed philosophical, social, and economic system; yet, it's proponents continue to espouse it's supposed blessings. In fact, when one looks closely, beyond the hyperbolic promises and rhetorical falsehoods, one can vividly see the very clear and present dangers to freedom itself:

1) Socialism poses extreme danger to freedom of speech and other first amendment guarantees of individual liberty. The government or state is exalted as the source and basis of such freedoms. As a result, the natural law, eternal, absolute, and immutable foundation of liberty for all is undone, replaced with a positive law, temporal, arbitrary, pragmatic, expedient, relative, and mutable foundation. Government and the State then becomes the absolute sovereign authority and control. The State becomes Supreme, not God.
2) As a continuation of the above, civil government-controlled media can easily become the source of a biased and slanted means of information to the citizenry, thus abrogating it’s essential responsibility as an important check on power, regardless of which individual or party holds such power in any form.
3) In pursuit of "equality of outcome" as opposed to equality in nature or equality of opportunity as espoused in the Declaration of Independence, individual guarantees of private ownership, freedom to achieve, and material and spiritual liberties will become subservient to the power and will of the State. As a result, disillusionment, apathy, and a growing sense of entitlement will sap the citizenry of all desire to achieve and pursue the common good. From ancient times, this has been true when such policies have been put in place. They have always, without fail, led to a cultural and social decline in every instance, without fail.
4) Religious organizations will have to struggle to maintain their existence if they intend to preserve their focused missions. The first liberty, freedom of conscience, will be subjugated and ultimately eliminated as any allegiance above that to the State will be seen as a threat to it’s authority. Look no further than the crucifixion of Christ and the persecution of the church throughout time to see the reality of this.
5) Interpretation of the United States Constitution will become open-ended and subjective, rendering the document obsolete. Without this foundation in law which guarantees the natural right/law philosophy of the Declaration of Independence, all law becomes arbitrary. True security for equality of nature and opportunity will never be achieved and has never been under such a system.
6) The assumption will become commonplace that we are not created equal by God, but by the civil government. Discrimination and eventually persecution will eventually reign, guaranteeing ultimate disunity and certain enslavement in mind and person.
7) The crumbling of America's economic foundations will begin: hard work will no longer be ultimately beneficial, so why work hard?
8) The disarming of responsible Americans will be pushed for "our safety", but guns in the hands of criminals will remain uncontrolled. This has been a tenet of socialist systems throughout history, not for public safety as they claim, but to prevent the citizenry from revolting against the State. This denies the guarantee espoused in the Declaration that the citizenry has the right to change tyrannical and despotic government and implement that government which best champions individual liberty for all under God.
(9) Owning private property will become difficult, and there will be a very real possibility of eradication of property ownership. Millions have been killed under socialist regimes for this very purpose, in our lifetime and throughout the history of the 20th century. Millions have been murdered in the name and under the system of totalitarian socialism. Don’t need to look far to see it.
10) The true reign of "choice" will begin, and as a consequence, the genocide of the unborn will increase. The third and final guarantee is gone in the name of greed and selfishness. Innocent Life itself is made subject to the whim of the state and the individual, not recognized as a gift from God and to be secured at all cost by the nation who claims to be under and trusting in God and His eternal principles.

If we are to make an honest appraisal of modern America, we must admit that we, in the last century, have allowed the ever reaching tentacles of socialism to entwine the nation an the individual in it's enslaving grasp. Individual liberty and national freedom are in grave peril and it will fall to the current generation to right the course of the great ship 'America' and guide her again unto brilliant horizons and the safe harbor of a free home.

As the diminutive vessel sailed through the darkness, the small, brave band on deck strained to catch a glimpse of their new home. While the vast continent emerging before them was virtually devoid of human beings, it was filled to overflowing with the natural blessings of God -- the land brimmed with fresh

water, good soil, wildlife, timber, gold, silver, copper, coal, iron ore, oil, and more; indeed, these resources were in such abundance, that today, nearly four hundred years later, America has not nearly exhausted the supply.
These extraordinary gifts, placed at the feet of our pilgrim ancestors by the benevolent hands of a loving God, pale in comparison to His most precious provision -- freedom. While invisible, the eyes aboard the 'Arbella' surely saw it. It was, after all, what they were seeking with their heart -- they, and millions to follow, risked all to live before God in liberty of conscience, thought, word, and deed. Before disembarking upon New England's rocky shore, John Winthrop shared with his fellow Puritans the vision of his mind's eye:

"For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be a story and a byword throughout the world..."

Winthrop's hope was that they, in this new world, would serve as a 'model of Christian charity,' out of which the light of their good deeds might illuminate the earth so that all mankind might see and glorify the Father of heaven. That light, which has streamed through the decades unto us, has fired all men with the brilliance of it's dual spectrums of faith and freedom.
The great experiment our patriarchs envisioned and enacted would ultimately be a beacon -- or a byword. The new nation would serve as a lesson for all future time and places -- the realities and blessings of liberty in the governance of men were either attainable or they were not. The history of the world would suggest the latter to be true; however, no other nation, kingdom, empire, or city-state had as it's foundation a creed, an ideal, not springing forth from the mind of man, but from the very heart of God:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying it's foundation on such principles, and organizing it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."

From the time of it's approval by the assembled delegates in Philadelphia in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was recognized for it's momentous impact. In a letter to his wife, Abigail, John Adams said that the adoption day would be celebrated "with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore. As historian David Ramsey has written, "July fourth was consecrated by Americans to religious gratitude. It is considered by them as the birth day of their freedom." Truly, it is nothing less.
Thomas Jefferson, the father who begat that declaration, that synopsis of the American mind and soul, also stated, in his first inaugural address:

"Equal and exact justice to all...freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of person. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and the blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civil instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."

We have certainly wandered from the road at times and, sadly, we continue to stray onto paths of ignorance, injustice, and covetous isolation. Freedom, like the precious gospel, which sets men spiritually free, must be our constant companion along the way and shared with all we meet. George Santayana noted, of course, that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." More significantly, author Forrest Church has written, "When we forget our history, especially when we forget the principles on which our nation was founded, we are doomed to fail to live up to it. Yes, our forbears often failed to live up to their ideals. That is partly because these ideals were so lofty. The greater our aspirations, the more certain it is that we will fail to live up to them. Such failure has it's own nobility. Our ancestors set the bar high."
Indeed, that bar was shaken and virtually shattered by the pressure imposed upon it by the ungodly burden of American slavery. The man who lifted the burdensome chains from the limbs of four million human beings and from lady liberty herself was Father Abraham. With firm conviction, courageous action, and timeless eloquence, this giant among men championed the cause of freedom like no other. Speaking of his nation's charter document, President-elect Lincoln stood on the steps of Independence Hall in 1861 and spoke of it's meaning and destiny:

The Declaration of Independence, he said, "gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. If it cannot be saved upon that principle, it would be truly awful. I would rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender it."

He knew as well that the great experiment America was a powerful, yet fragile thing. Powerful, because it's auspices are derived from the Omnipotent, from eternal power and enduring principles of freedom; Fragile because such treasures are stored in and administered by jars of clay, the weak, inadequate, and depraved nature of fallen man:

He knew as well that the great experiment America was a powerful, yet fragile thing. Powerful, because it's auspices are derived from the Omnipotent, from eternal power and enduring principles of freedom; Fragile because such treasures are stored in and administered by jars of clay, the weak, inadequate, and depraved nature of fallen man:

"At what point then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us...If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be it's author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."

In his first state of the Union address, he wrote of how difficult a task lay before his beloved country -- what was required was, tragically, untold deaths and, what he later called a "new birth of freedom."

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. the occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion...Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation...We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free -- honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save of meanly lose the last, best hope of earth...The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just -- a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless."

Lincoln realized that in order to maintain freedom for ourselves, it must be offered to all. To do less would be to accept a freedom permeated at it's core with the "base alloy of hypocrisy" -- a proposition he, and none of us, should be willing to accept.
One hundred years later, on August 28, 1963, an ancestor of the emancipated stood in the shadow of the nation's temple to the Great Emancipator and spoke of a dream as yet unfulfilled, reminding his generation of work yet to be done:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of "a day when this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of it's creed. This will be the day when all God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, 'My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.' When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Every generation of Americans must be willing to strive to speed that day, to labor in 'double-time,' so that, out of such a moral drumbeat, the echoing cadence of freedom's march might redound along the corridors of time unto all peoples. We today have been reminded afresh of the paradoxical truth that freedom is both fragile and strong. Fragile when left to itself, taken for granted, and undefended by a sleeping and self-absorbed people. Strong when embraced by all, given to all, and protected by the eternally vigilant. Embodying such strength was the Father whom we have most recently laid to rest, our fortieth president.
Ronald Reagan believed that America was chosen by God for a specific purpose. He spoke often of 'a rendezvous with destiny.' "I believe," he said, "there was a divine plan to place this great continent between the two oceans to be found by people from every corner of the earth. I believe we were preordained to carry the torch of freedom for the world." His soul recognized the same cause, the same commitment, the same clarion call that Winthrop heard, held dear, and heeded. The light that shone forth was liberty's torch -- never to be extinguished or cloaked, but set upon a majestic lamp stand for a world to see and be attracted to. President Reagan, in his farewell address to the nation, spoke of this drawing power in the form of a parable and a parting.
The story involves not the small ship which sailed through our opening lines, but the massive United States Naval carrier "Midway," churning through the South China Sea in the mid-1980's. A sailor aboard, on watch, spotted on the horizon a tiny, leaky boat crammed with refugees from Indochina, hoping to get to America. A launch was sent to retrieve them and, as the refugees made their way through the choppy seas, one spied the sailor on deck and called out, "Hello American sailor, Hello Freedom Man. A small moment with a big meaning," a moment the sailor, and president, wouldn't forget -- Our children stood again, as always, for freedom. How subsequent generation live the creed, standing for freedom, matters much. In the balance is not only America's future, but the destiny of the world.
The address concluded with a look back to that early freedom man and a look to the vision of that city upon a hill. The great man spoke in January 1989. Two decades later, can we see his vision? can we still see America in such a light? Is she still, strong and bright, upon the granite ridge, a beacon of hope and a bastion of freedom for the world? I pray God it is still so.

"I've spoken of a shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans - windswept, God blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That how I saw it, and see it still. And how stands the city on this winter night? After two hundred years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady, no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places, who are hurtling in the darkness toward home."

He That Stands It Now

2010-06-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

America's historical life has spanned two hundred thirty five years and thus she is still a young nation, one which looks forward to awakening to ever dawning horizons and climbing heretofore unachieved heights. Her journal tells us that, at the beginning, she was borne, birthed and bundled in liberty, something no other nation child in the history of man could say. In that sense, her birth was of a virgin, miraculous nature - only in the power and purpose of Providence could such a conception have been possible. An unbiased study of the words of her founders and early settlers will tell the honest seeker that they certainly believed that truth.

“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.” John Adams

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day, the Fourth of July?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"? John Quincy Adams

" Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." Charles Carroll

“ God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” Benjamin Franklin

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” James Madison

“ At the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration [i.e., the First Amendment], the general, if not the universal sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship.” Joseph Story

America's unique beginning is the first reason why she is indeed an exceptional child. She was blessed with inheriting from her ancestral heroes twin towers of guaranteed liberty - the simultaneous paradox of having a burning desire for freedom and independence from all earthly tyranny and yet absolute submission and dependence upon all heavenly authority.
Her birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, written in indelible ink upon her soul, reveals to the world the heart's desire of her fathers:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Out from Jefferson's pen, which traced Whitfield's God-inspired voice, flowed the sentiments of virtually every American - the expression of their collective mind and the revelation of their mindful convictions were written across the canvas of '76 for all the world to see - 'WE hold these truths to be self-evident' - her birth announcement called all peoples everywhere to celebrate the miracle and come to the manger to see what God had wrought. The first truth, while self-evident, is also preeminent - 'that ALL men are created equal.' A statement of Biblical truth, proclaiming universal inclusion, absolute application, and Created equality. In the sovereign will and choice of God, all of His children are created in His image and they all are recipients of His choicest gifts - the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
These precious gifts are given from above and as such they are eternal, good and perfect. Civil authority has no power in the eyes of God to give them or take them away - the sole purpose of human authority is to secure these rights - to guarantee them for all of America's progeny that all might have hope in them for all future time. Power used to destroy these rights is tyrannical in nature and complicit in it's own demise - it has abdicated it's rightful authority and it does not deserve to endure, thus, it is the duty of the governed to withdraw their consent and rescind the power they had allowed the authority to borrow.
America was originally dedicated to the eternal proposition of equality of person that affirmed the inherent value and dignity of every life. Every human being had a natural right to life, liberty, and individual possession of property and purpose - the pursuit of happiness. That foundational premise was laid in eternity past, based upon the blueprint drawn by the Architect of the Ages. It did not derive from the mind of mortal man and is not subject to the machinations of his mutable musings. It is an inviolate truth upon which rests the hope of all humanity.
Any existing flaw is neither in the Architect nor the foundation and structure of pristine principle which He has established, but in the corrupted nature of the guardians of America's egalitarian estate. In the course of her life, the young child has grown to be a beautiful lady, one who has established, defended, and advanced the blessings of liberty to millions in all corners of the world. She has served as an inspiration and a model to all those bruised and battered souls who have yearned to breathe free - lady liberty has lifted her torch beside the golden door, beckoning the tempest tossed to her shores of opportunity and hope. The peoples of the world still look and still yearn, still sacrifice all to come to live in this God kissed land and establish a home that provides so sure a foundation of boundless hope.
That having been affirmed, not America, but her great friend, Israel, is certainly the most blessed and benevolent of nations because, in God's sovereign choice, hers are the patriarchs, the prophets, the covenants, and the Saviour of all mankind. Yet America remains second to none in terms of being the fountainhead of earthly good. Truly, America's greatness is in that goodness which she has shared with all mankind, a goodness so great that the world is warmed by it's glory. America has been and remains, in the words of her political redeemer, 'God's almost chosen people' - 'the last, best hope of earth.' Throughout history, no other nation state has impacted the world for good like America - she has no peer as an acolyte of freedom and a model of Christian charity - she truly has been a city set upon a hill, lighting the darkness and leading the distressed toward the safety of home.
Indeed, when full consideration is given to her words and works, America is clearly seen in all of her wondrous splendor. The following facts are indisputable and a candid world must be ever grateful for them: The founding of America provided for the first time in the history of the world an unalterable basis for human freedom and equality - literally millions at home and around the world have been the beneficiary. The New World has helped to rescue the Old from tyranny and enslavement on at least three occasions in the past century - untold millions are alive and living in freedom because of American courage and sacrifice - the sacred blood of American youth is incorporate in the soil of free nations everywhere. More missionaries and humanitarian servants have gone forth from America than from any other land - it is not an exaggeration to say that entire nations and continents have been restored from rubble to riches through the generosity of America. More importantly, millions have come to a saving knowledge of God's amazing grace and experienced spiritual freedom from the bondage of sin because myriad multitudes of America's children have been compelled by the love of Christ to go into all the world. Additionally, more earthly needs have been met through American kindness and provision than can be fathomed - she is truly the world's great benefactor. American ingenuity and enterprise have done more to raise the living conditions of more people in more places than any other system of economic production - millions live need filled lives as a result. Economically, militarily, politically, and religiously, this great nation has been the champion of freedom and done much to fulfill her destiny and high calling as ambassadors of liberty and love - her national legacy surpasses all others, enveloping more people than any other in freedom's sure embrace.
Nonetheless, if her living children are honest, they must admit that there are some things against her - she continues to walk the path of liberty, to be sure, yet, at times, she has strayed from the way of righteousness described above to travel byways of sin and forgetfulness. Her sin has always been most glaring and unseemly when she has forgotten God and thus missed meeting the lofty, idyllic bar of human equality. The nature of her transgression in this regard is seen most vividly in four distinct fault lines which run through the templates of her history.
First, in her treatment of the native born son - Despite many well intentioned religious and political efforts to protect the Indian, thousands, after these failed attempts at assimilation, were removed from their ancestral land, trailing behind them a torrent of tears that remind us still of the injustice - The effort toward effecting a proper relationship between the national government and the Indian nations, while in many cases well intentioned, is certainly an example of public policy being used to justify unwise ends and unfair means - there had to have been a better way. Many were continually pushed, pursued, mistreated, neglected, brutalized and killed, largely because they were regarded with fear as savage and brutish or seen as not deserving of the equal blessings of civil and natural rights:

"In 1830, just a year after taking office, Andrew Jackson pushed a new piece of legislation called the "Indian Removal Act" through both houses of Congress. It gave the president power to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi. Under these treaties, the Indians were to give up their lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for lands to the west. Those wishing to remain in the east would become citizens of their home state. This act affected not only the southeastern nations, but many others further north. The removal was supposed to be voluntary and peaceful, and it was that way for the tribes that agreed to the conditions. But the southeastern nations resisted, and Jackson forced them to leave.
Jackson's attitude toward Native Americans was paternalistic and patronizing -- he described them as children in need of guidance. and believed the removal policy was beneficial to the Indians. Most white Americans thought that the United States would never extend beyond the Mississippi. Removal would save Indian people from the depredations of whites, and would resettle them in an area where they could govern themselves in peace. But some Americans saw this as an excuse for a brutal and inhumane course of action, and protested loudly against removal." (pbs.org/Indian removal)

"It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation. Two important tribes have accepted the provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress, and it is believed that their example will induce the remaining tribes also to seek the same obvious advantages.The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves. The pecuniary advantages which it promises to the Government are the least of its recommendations. It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters. By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier and render the adjacent States strong enough to repel future invasions without remote aid. It will relieve the whole State of Mississippi and the western part of Alabama of Indian occupancy, and enable those States to advance rapidly in population, wealth, and power. It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community. What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization and religion? The present policy of the Government is but a continuation of the same progressive change by a milder process. The tribes which occupied the countries now constituting the Eastern States were annihilated or have melted away to make room for the whites. The waves of population and civilization are rolling to the westward, and we now propose to acquire the countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by a fair exchange, and, at the expense of the United States, to send them to land where their existence may be prolonged and perhaps made perpetual. Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of their fathers; but what do they more than our ancestors did or than our children are now doing? To better their condition in an unknown land our forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands yearly leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does Humanity weep at these painful separations from everything, animate and inanimate, with which the young heart has become entwined? Far from it. It is rather a source of joy that our country affords scope where our young population may range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing the power and facilities of man in their highest perfection. These remove hundreds and almost thousands of miles at their own expense, purchase the lands they occupy, and support themselves at their new homes from the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in this Government when, by events which it can not control, the Indian is made discontented in his ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of his removal, and support him a year in his new abode? How many thousands of our own people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to the West on such conditions! If the offers made to the Indians were extended to them, they would be hailed with gratitude and joy. And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Is it more afflicting to him to leave the graves of his fathers than it is to our brothers and children? Rightly considered, the policy of the General Government toward the red man is not only liberal, but generous. He is unwilling to submit to the laws of the States and mingle with their population. To save him from this alternative, or perhaps utter annihilation, the General Government kindly offers him a new home, and proposes to pay the whole expense of his removal and settlement." Andrew Jackson's Second Annual Message to Congress

The question was complex and the wisdom of the solution can be argued - the greater sin, it seems, was in the breaking of the promise that, once having been resettled, the government would allow the Indian to live in peace. The promise once given should have been kept - it was not. Ultimately, in comparison to the whole, all but a very few acres were wrested from the hand of the red to rest in the hand of the white.

Similarly, the sin of American slavery, a despotic and demonic institution whose life spanned two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil, was destructive beyond human comprehension. In it's final, glorious death throes, Lincoln spoke in his second inaugural address, of the life of this death dealing institution and it's impact upon the nation:

"One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

So rooted in the rock hard soil of man's sinful and selfish heart, it required the death of over six hundred thousand American children to remove it. Indeed since that sacrificial work and divine judgement, untold more have toiled, suffered and died to destroy the replanted seeds of segregation and racial prejudice - the timeless, essential work continues:

"Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.' Martin Luther King Jr.

In these words, we hear an American prophetic voice calling, one hundred years after the liberator of his race prayed for America itself to be born again unto freedom, for the sanctifying work to continue unto eternity. May the words of both be heeded and lived.

Abortion - the murder of a human being - a precious child in the comfort of a mother's womb - is an ever spreading stain upon the soul of America and she must weep in shame and sorrow for unrealized potential and exterminated lives. It is her children she is killing and the very blood of her blood that is being shed! Over forty million, never hers to nurse, nurture, and raise in the blessings of liberty - America must tremble at the knowledge that God is the Supreme Judge of the Universe.

The blood of the innocent, like Abel's, cries out from the ground as a resounding witness and indictment upon us all - every moment, however, we stand, still unmoved, still silent, still not our brother's keeper, as one after another are wrenched through the torn veil of eternity.
Finally and incredibly, worst of all, is America's amnesia concerning the Source of all of her blessings, all of her liberty, all of her goodness and her very life itself. It is not a new phenomena:

It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and all the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophy, as accomplishments only; whereas they should be taught theologically, or with reference to the Being who is the author of them: for all the principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles: he can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the Author.”
“ The evil that has resulted from the error of the schools, in teaching natural philosophy as an accomplishment only, has been that of generating in the pupils a species of atheism. Instead of looking through the works of creation to the Creator himself, they stop short, and employ the knowledge they acquire to create doubts of his existence. They labour with studied ingenuity to ascribe every thing they behold to innate properties of matter, and jump over all the rest by saying, that matter is eternal." Thomas Paine

Simply put, America has forgotten God. History has shown that when this has occurred in other nations, God's judgment comes as He looses the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword. The grapes of wrath are being stored up and ultimately, apart from national repentance, they will be pressed out until His cup of undiluted fury is filled to overflowing.

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas Jefferson

America is in the process of exchanging life for death, liberty for tyranny, absolute Truth for moral relativism, the eternal for the temporal, the heavenly for the earthly, the spiritual for the material, Christianity for Humanism, God for man. Nothing short of America dropping to her knees in contrition and confession will save her from a weakened and eventually shortened life. We must emulate the proclamation issued by Father Abraham, March 30, 1863:

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and, of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

Abraham Lincoln

While not new, the lack of an acknowledgment of God in all our ways has reached new levels - millions today would remove all vestiges of His Presence from America's life. This is perhaps best seen in the understanding that such a proclamation as noted above would not be tolerated today by those who would deny the very existence and recognition of our manifold sins and God's absolute authority. Truly, our varied sins have this in common - they all involve the forgetting of God and His truth, the denial of His sovereignty, wisdom, precepts, and blessing. America once, despite her sins, acknowledged the hand and will of God in her life and valued it above all - she is now in the process of giving it all away and allowing herself to be turned over to dark and malevolent forces. Those of you who love her, know and heed this clarion call: America is in danger of death by suicide. Who will help her? Who will warn her? Who will intervene? Who will intercede? Who will raise a voice and stand for Truth? Who will take her by the hand, walk her down the aisle, and kneel with her at the foot of the Cross, that she might remember and return to her first love? Her life and the life of her posterity hang in the balance. God is asking for someone to lead her in the Way again. Who will go for us? For her? Will you? May God raise up a generation of Isaiah's who will boldly and courageously say, "Here I am, send Me!" It is America's - it is our - only hope.

I believe our nation is at a crossroad - the current generation will either walk the path of restoration and rebirth concerning our national blessings or walk a crumbling, perilous path of eroding foundations and diminishing light. I believe the keys to which way we will turn are simple: Will we, once again, acknowledge God and His sovereignty over us? Will we, once again, acknowledge our sins, rebellion, and apathy and seek His forgiveness and restoration? Will we, once again, acknowledge the responsibility to which believers in Christ have been called?
We must remember, proclaim, and defend truth! We must not, any longer, forget, remain silent, or give ground! Either way, we shall indeed reap what we sow…
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We have been in a battle for the hearts and minds of our citizenry, particularly our young people for decades, and sadly, many Christians are still unaware or are apathetic concerning that reality. Note the following quotes and stories from those who would deny and destroy the historical record and foundations of our faith and freedom and have a strategy and desire to do so:

"Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every American school is a school of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday school, meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching?" Charles Potter, 1930

"The battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: A religion of humanity -- utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to carry humanist values into wherever they teach. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new -- the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism." John Dunphy, 1983

These examples should sober us and impel us to action, but, there is hope! There are millions in this nation who still bend the knee and raise their hearts in prayer and worship to the Sovereign Lord of heaven! It is not too late, but do you believe, as I, that as time wanes, our resolve must wax to ever increasing levels of passion and devotion to the cause? If so, let us act together, pray together, work together so that we may have an adequate answer when asked, “What did you do to preserve freedom in your generation?”

The challenge is before us, NOW - there is no time to wait, no chance to pass our responsibility on to someone else or to a later generation. Is there anything more important than securing the blessings of spiritual and national liberty for ourselves and our posterity? Is there?….

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“It is the eternal struggle between these two principles --right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time..." Abraham Lincoln

"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. Abraham Lincoln 1838

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men WERE free." Ronald Reagan

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated." Thomas Paine Dec 23, 1776

These immortal words, penned five months following America's national birth, were words of encouragement, challenge, and reminder to Americans at the beginning of the Source and value of her founding ideals and of her great crisis of the moment. The greatest military force on the face of the earth opposed her, occupied her cities, and threatened to destroy the revolutionary quest for freedom and self government in it's infancy. Gen. Washington's beaten and demoralized forces lay huddled close against the shores of the formidable Delaware River while enemy forces bivuoaced securely across the water near Trenton. Audaciously, Washington planned a surprise Christmas night attack, one that would provide a strategically small but emotionally gigantic victory, one that inspired many soldiers to reenlist and others to join the forces of the glorious cause. Incredibly, against all odds and hope, Washington led his men through sleet and snow across the treacherous river and on to immortality; but, before he did, he ordered the words of Paine to be read to his army, that they might be inspired to "stand it now" and see through all the gloom, the "ravishing rays of light and glory" shining upon them and stretching forth, to us. May we see them to, and be inspired to remember the God who has blessed and sustained us, that we too, and our posterity, may triumph too, "in that day's transaction."

"Yesterday the greatest Question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater perhaps, never was or will be decided among Men. A Resolution was passed without one dissenting Colony "that these united Colonies, are, and of right ought to be free and independent States, and as such, they have, and of Right ought to have full Power to make War, conclude Peace, establish Commerce, and to do all the other Acts and Things, which other States may rightfully do." You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the Causes which have impell'd Us to this mighty Revolution, and the Reasons which will justify it in the Sight of God and Man. A Plan of Confederation will be taken up in a few days. . . ."

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.- I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by Solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfire and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

"You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. - I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. - Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even although We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."

John Adams, to his wife Abigail, July 3, 1776

Streams of History

2010-06-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

Streams of history begin in the fountainous headwaters of God's sovereign power and perfect wisdom, yet flow through time upon the currents of human thought, ideas, and actions.

Society itself is built, humanly speaking, upon the basic belief system or worldview that prevails. To understand the present and prepare for the future, one must look to the past to learn the lessons taught by the sage and the statesman, the king, and the priest.

The ancient Greeks attempted to construct meaning and purpose through the exaltation of the city-state, the 'polis.' Indeed, the brilliant philosopher Socrates, when given the option of death or exile from his beloved home of Athens, chose death. Ultimately, however, the ideals and needs of the polis proved insufficient as a foundation upon which to build.

In the ancient direct democracy form of government, too many voices created confusion and compromise rather than singleness of purpose and a devotion to the common good. A multitude of ideals, attitudes, motivations, and forms, but foundations composed upon the shifting sands of selfishness, circumstance and situation - finite, chaotic, and impersonal...relative, mutable, and transient.

Greece was a glorious culture and endured for a time, conquering much of the world, not militarily, but in terms of her culture and ideals; however, ultimately she succumbed to the weakness of an inadequate foundation.

The Roman world adopted the glory of Greece and made it her own, procuring and amplifying the form of direct democracy to develop a republican system of representative rule; emulating the wonderful cultural and intellectual forms of art, science, philosophy, mathematics, and knowledge unto increased human accomplishment; incorporating the religion of the anthropomorphic 'deities' into mythic and far reaching proportions.

For Rome, all of this proved, as it did with Greece, to be insufficient in terms of establishing a lasting, moral platform upon which to build a society of free men. Without a commitment to the four fold pillars of absolute truth, individual freedom, universal equality, and the concept of the equal value of each person, the unalienable, incontrovertible rights of man are impossible to uphold and advance.

Such blessings unto mankind come only from the heart and mind of the Infinite and are applied from a Personal God to every living person. Finite man exalting self and impersonal, ethereal, relative concepts of right and wrong will never suffice. As with the ancients, when the absolute, personal, unique God and His Truth are ignored or denied, the society will apply to itself the title of the gods and thus make themselves the final arbiter of truth. In so doing, the eternal concept of 'right makes might' is abandoned and replaced with the tyrannical philosophy and oppressive foundation of 'might makes right.'

Indeed, the Roman Republic was replaced with an authoritative empire. Julius Caesar and the emperors to follow established themselves, and were accepted, as 'dictators for life.' The emperors declared themselves, and ruled as, gods on earth, deserving of worship as lords of all.

Christianity was born under this finite, humanistic, and tyrannical system, yet flourished and eventually prevailed as that worldview which has impacted the world and established truth, morality, and freedom more than any other entity in human history. The followers of Christ have been attacked, mocked, persecuted, and murdered for two millennia. This is so because every society tends toward the selfish, the corrupt, the finite, and the impersonal. Those in authority see the absolute teachings of Christ as a threat to their 'absolute'power and the individual sees them as a threat to their 'absolute' autonomy and personal sovereignty.

Placed in this position of living on earth among those who hold, from Protagoras, that 'man is the measure of all things,' the follower of Christ is bound by his belief in the absolute, the infinite, and the personal - in an allegiance and an obedience to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords alone. A Christian cannot rightly worship or acknowledge any other as Lord or deny the reality of the one true God; hence they are seen and sacrificed as enemies of every state, entity, or individual who would foolishly and arrogantly oppose the Sovereign One of history.

What Francis Schaeffer stated concerning Rome still holds true, "Christians were killed because NO totalitarian state or authority can tolerate those who have an absolute truth by which to judge that state and it's actions."

Rome ultimately collapsed, as does any such state, falling in decadence, selfish power, and apathetic weakness because it too had no sufficient base with which to support the burdensome weight of human selfishness and relative truth. Christianity, on the other hand, grew and flourished despite intense and even satanic opposition, because it's foundation is absolute, infinite, and all powerful, able to hold any weight and support, in freedom and liberty, an enduring and ever rising moral, ethical, and societal structure.

As Schaeffer again noted, "The strength of the Christian worldview rests on God being an infinite-personal God and His word being absolute and true for all. God has spoken in ways people could understand" and placed all of mankind, every person, whether prince or pauper, male or female, rich or poor, slave, or free, under the absolute precepts of eternal truth. "Thus, Christians not only have a knowledge about the universe and mankind that people cannot find out by themselves, but they have absolute, universal values by which to live and by which to judge the society and political state in which they live. And they have grounds for the basic dignity and value of the individual as made in the image of God."

The fundamental supports for the founding of America were these eternal supports, derived from the infinite Word and the very nature of it's Author. Our declaration of freedom was one which declared independence from an earthly monarch not worthy of allegiance because of his abuse of the unalienable, God given, rights of man. In effect, the American experiment was one which established, as much as humanly possible, individual and national freedom independent of the power of man and dependent upon the power of God.

In what could have been a purely political statement of separation and grievance, the founders placed a staement of eternal truth and everlasting ideals that were sacred and undeniable, self-evident because of the laws of nature and nature's God. The right to life, the right to liberty, the right to the opportunity to pursue and fulfill one's purpose and potential unto blessed happiness, and the recognition of the equal value of every human life can only be based upon these eternal adages of right by the all sufficient power and wisdom of God, not upon the thoughts and ideas of man and his inadequate power.

Sadly, this nation is exchanging the truths of God for the lies of men, such a sure foundation for the cracked and ever decaying foundations of humankind. If this transaction is not halted, and if America does not repent of her greatest sin, forgetting God, her lampstand will be removed and she too, like all of the inadequate, humanistic empires of old, will fall.

May we learn the lessons of history and hear the voice of conviction within that is calling us, like the prayers of the prodigal's patriarch, back to the safety and security of the only sure foundation of freedom, the heart of the Father of all. May God raise up millions to hear that call, so that this current generation might return to the true foundation and build again, a structure designed to bring praise, honor, and glory to God and blessings to all mankind.

And Dad, I Will Always Be Proud

2010-06-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

Men of the 16th Infantry Regiment seek shelter from German machine-gun fire in shallow water
behind "Czech hedgehog" beach obstacles, Easy Red sector, Omaha Beach.

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE (SHAEF)

"Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is will trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Every member of the D-Day invasion force received the commanding general's order of the day and must have read it with a mixture of pride, relief, and trepidation. Pride at being part of the largest amphibious invasion in the history of mankind, one that would attempt to breach Hitler's Atlantic Wall, allowing allied forces to storm Fortress Europa from the west. Relief at finally seeing the day arrive, after years of training and preparation. Trepidation concerning the crossing and the coming of such fateful, and perhaps final, moments.
If successful, the invasion would mark the establishment of a western front, thus forcing the once vaunted but now weakened Wermacht to fight for survival on two fronts. Victory at Normandy would mark the death knell of the Third Reich, a continuous pealing of doom and destruction that would continue unabated as allied forces stormed through the hedgerows, forests, and valleys of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany and across the steppes of Russia, toward Berlin.

Less than a year after D-Day, victory in Europe was achieved. Adolf Hitler was dead and the old world was freed from the evil tyranny of Nazism and fascism. The continent was in ruins and tens of millions were dead; yet the world celebrated the end and looked forward to a peaceful beginning, most not yet realizing the enormity of challenges to liberty ahead in the form of communism's totalitarian ambitions.
As the invasion force moved inexorably toward France during the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday June 6, none of this was on the minds of the combatants. As American and British paratroopers headed toward the dark and foreboding coast, their thoughts were more immediate and personal. Many prayed for the courage to do their duty with honor and effectiveness, concerned more for the man on the right and the left than with themselves. Thoughts of political ramifications and patriotism were perhaps in the back of their minds, but at the front was the gnawing wonder of whether they would be alive at the rising of the sun and if they would ever see home again.
Allied forces below in the choppy channel waters were engrossed in the same thoughts, sickened by the seas and by the realization that they may be experiencing their last day among the living. By day's end, the casualties figures would be staggering:

The Allied casualties figures for D-Day have generally been estimated at 10,000, including 2500 dead. To place that into historical perspective, the number of Allied casualties on June 6, 1944 are more than triple the number of deaths which occurred on September 11, 2001. In actual American casualties alone on D-Day, the number would be more than double that of September 11. Broken down by nationality, the usual D-Day casualty figures are approximately 2700 British, 946 Canadians, and 6603 Americans. However recent painstaking research by the US National D-Day Memorial Foundation has achieved a more accurate - and much higher - figure for the Allied personnel who were killed on D-Day. They have recorded the names of individual Allied personnel killed on 6 June 1944 in Operation Overlord, and so far they have verified 2499 American D-Day fatalities and 1915 from the other Allied nations, a total of 4414 dead (much higher than the traditional figure of 2500 dead). Further research may mean that these numbers will increase slightly in future. The details of this research will in due course be available on the Foundation's website at www.dday.org. This new research means that the casualty figures given for individual units in the next few paragraphs are no doubt inaccurate, and hopefully more accurate figures will one day be calculated.

Casualties on the British beaches were roughly 1000 on Gold Beach and the same number on Sword Beach. The remainder of the British losses were amongst the airborne troops: some 600 were killed or wounded, and 600 more were missing; 100 glider pilots also became casualties. The losses of 3rd Canadian Division at Juno Beach have been given as 340 killed, 574 wounded and 47 taken prisoner.

The breakdown of US casualties was 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 1928 missing and 26 captured. Of the total US figure, 2499 casualties were from the US airborne troops (238 of them being deaths). The casualties at Utah Beach were relatively light: 197, including 60 missing. However, the US 1st and 29th Divisions together suffered around 2000 casualties at Omaha Beach.

The total German casualties on D-Day are not known, but are estimated as being between 4000 and 9000 men.

Naval losses for June 1944 included 24 warships and 35 merchantmen or auxiliaries sunk, and a further 120 vessels damaged.

By days end, a tenuous beachhead had been established and over 156,000 allied military personnel had breached the defenses, but long and difficult fighting lay ahead for those who had survived D-Day. Most must have thanked God that night for being alive and offered prayers for the loved ones of those who were lost. The five landing beaches, particularly the one code named Omaha, were littered with the destruction of war and the heaps of the dead and the agony of the wounded. Many eyewitnesses spoke of this scene, wondering at the destructive nature of man and the ghastly and awe inspiring price of freedom.

Each rising tide ran red with blood and deposited more of the accoutrements of war and the bodies of the dead upon Normandy's shores. Each receding of the sea revealed a new and yet familiar landscape of loss and pain.

As visitors and veterans come today, they see none of this with the naked eye, but if they allow the mind to wax and enter the region of the heart, they begin to see the invisible, indelible images of the ghostly vision of friends, comrades, and heroes, struggling and falling, their lives waning upon the sand.

At the same time, however, are the imprints of heroic steps, courageous acts, and victorious deeds. A corpsman racing to the aid of scores of men under galling fire, fellow soldiers covering, then dragging or carrying the wounded to the relative safety of the shingle hundreds of yards away, the drowning and dying being dragged from the water and rangers climbing the cliffs. Battleships turning broadside and firing their massive shells in support of the men on the beach, their bottoms scraping the sands, they were so close. Officers leading with such valor, disdaining death and moving forward, ever forward, into the withering fire of the pillboxes and the bluffs.

Knowing that retreat was not an option, these men went forward, storming the very gates of hell itself, and incredibly, prevailed. Historian Steven Ambrose said of these men, that they "knew the difference between right and wrong and did not want to live in a world where wrong prevailed, so they suffered, sacrificed, and won the victory, and we, every succeeding generation, must be forever profoundly grateful."

One American soldier recorded many months later the account of a German prisoner who asked him why he and his comrades had come half way around the world to fight in this war. The American replied, "To rid you Germans of the fantastic idea that you are a master race."

American General Omar Bradley, commanding the invasion forces from the battleship Augusta on D-Day had considered recalling the forces from Bloody Omaha and redirecting them to other beaches, but then was informed that small unit action had succeeded, led by men such as Gen.Norman Cota and fifty three year old Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., in cresting the bluffs and opening the draws to the beach from the rear.

Gen. Bradley visited the Normandy beaches many times and always said the same thing to those in his presence. "Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero." And so they were. One soldier in his memory of the day stated, "In all my time on that hellish beach, I not once, not once, saw a coward."

I think of the words of photographer Robert Capa, who landed in the second wave of attackers at Omaha. Capa saw such carnage through his lens that fear gripped him like a vice, yet he continued to take photographs so that such bravery might be chronicled for all time.

Ultimately, he managed to reach a small vessel heading back to a landing craft and upon it he stated that he saw such heaps of dead and scores of wounded that he was speechless, awash in gore and blood. He turned to a wounded soldier near him who was despondent in that he was leaving his comrades and heading back to England, convinced he was a coward and had let his buddies down.

Capa said, "we spent the entire trip back across the channel trying to convince each other that we had done our jobs, and neither one believed the other." Capa left his 106 priceless photos in the hands of others, and, in the developing process, an overeager assistant exposed most of the images to too much heat - only eleven survive as silent echoes to the most significant day of the twentieth century.

At home, the nation learned of the invasion's beginning, and were led in prayer by their commander in chief:

My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer: Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be. And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.

Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944

Forty years later, another American president stood on the sands of Omaha Beach, in sight of almost 10,000 American boys who lie beneath the immaculate sod of the American Military Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. He spoke, in just a few short words, of the lessons of D-Day, of such moments of testing and sacrifice, when freedom rose as her sons fell and when from death, liberty came, shining brilliantly, in newness of life again:

Mr. President, distinguished guests, we stand today at a place of battle, one that 40 years ago saw and felt the worst of war. Men bled and died here for a few feet of--or inches of sand, as bullets and shellfire cut through their ranks. About them, General Omar Bradley later said, "Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero."

No speech can adequately portray their suffering, their sacrifice, their heroism. President Lincoln once reminded us that through their deeds, the dead of battle have spoken more eloquently for themselves than any of the living ever could. But we can only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they gave a last full measure of devotion.

Today we do rededicate ourselves to that cause. And at this place of honor, we're humbled by the realization of how much so many gave to the cause of freedom and to their fellow man.

Some who survived the battle of June 6, 1944, are here today. Others who hoped to return never did.

"Someday, Lis, I'll go back," said Private First Class Peter Robert Zanatta, of the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion, and first assault wave to hit Omaha Beach. "I'll go back, and I'll see it all again. I'll see the beach, the barricades, and the graves."

Those words of Private Zanatta come to us from his daughter, Lisa Zanatta Henn, in a heartrending story about the event her father spoke of so often. "In his words, the Normandy invasion would change his life forever," she said. She tells some of his stories of World War II but says of her father, "the story to end all stories was D-Day."

"He made me feel the fear of being on that boat waiting to land. I can smell the ocean and feel the seasickness. I can see the looks on his fellow soldiers' faces--the fear, the anguish, the uncertainty of what lay ahead. And when they landed, I can feel the strength and courage of the men who took those first steps through the tide to what must have surely looked like instant death."

Private Zanatta's daughter wrote to me: "I don't know how or why I can feel this emptiness, this fear, or this determination, but I do. Maybe it's the bond I had with my father. All I know is that it brings tears to my eyes to think about my father as a 20-year-old boy having to face that beach."

The anniversary of D-Day was always special for her family. And like all the families of those who went to war, she describes how she came to realize her own father's survival was a miracle: "So many men died. I know that my father watched many of his friends be killed. I know that he must have died inside a little each time. But his explanation to me was, 'You did what you had to do, and you kept on going.'"

When men like Private Zanatta and all our Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy 40 years ago they came not as conquerors, but as liberators. When these troops swept across the French countryside and into the forests of Belgium and Luxembourg they came not to take, but to return what had been wrongly seized. When our forces marched into Germany they came not to prey on a brave and defeated people, but to nurture the seeds of democracy among those who yearned to be free again.

We salute them today. But, Mr. President, we also salute those who, like yourself, were already engaging the enemy inside your beloved country--the French Resistance. Your valiant struggle for France did so much to cripple the enemy and spur the advance of the armies of liberation. The French Forces of the Interior will forever personify courage and national spirit. They will be a timeless inspiration to all who are free and to all who would be free.

Today, in their memory, and for all who fought here, we celebrate the triumph of democracy. We reaffirm the unity of democratic peoples who fought a war and then joined with the vanquished in a firm resolve to keep the peace.

From a terrible war we learned that unity made us invincible; now, in peace, that same unity makes us secure. We sought to bring all freedom-loving nations together in a community dedicated to the defense and preservation of our sacred values. Our alliance, forged in the crucible of war, tempered and shaped by the realities of the postwar world, has succeeded. In Europe, the threat has been contained, the peace has been kept.

Today the living here assembled--officials, veterans, citizens--are a tribute to what was achieved here 40 years ago. This land is secure. We are free. These things are worth fighting and dying for.

Lisa Zanatta Henn began her story by quoting her father, who promised that he would return to Normandy. She ended with a promise to her father, who died eight years ago of cancer: "I'm going there, Dad, and I'll see the beaches and the barricades and the monuments. I'll see the graves, and I'll put flowers there just like you wanted to do. I'll feel all the things you made me feel through your stories and your eyes. I'll never forget what you went through, Dad, nor will I let anyone else forget. And, Dad, I'll always be proud."

Through the words of his loving daughter, who is here with us today, a D-Day veteran has shown us the meaning of this day far better than any President can. It is enough for us to say about Private Zanatta and all the men of honor and courage who fought beside him four decades ago: We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.

Thank you.

Five Minutes of Time

2010-06-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

Sixty nine years ago today, the most significant naval battle of World War II took place on and near Midway atoll in the midst of the vast Pacific. The engagement, between naval forces of the Empire of Japan and the United States, would prove to be pivotal in determining the ultimate outcome of the war.

When considering the events leading up to and during the Midway campaign, one is awed by the impact of individual lives, decisions, and moments upon the destiny of nations. Indeed, some historians believe that such momentous outcomes hinged upon three hundred seconds, five minutes of time on June 4, 1942.

Japanese Combined Fleet commander Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto moved on Midway in an effort to draw out and destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet's aircraft carrier striking forces, which had embarrassed the Japanese Navy in the mid-April Doolittle Raid on Japan's home islands and at the Battle of Coral Sea in early May. He planned to quickly knock down Midway's defenses, follow up with an invasion of the atoll's two small islands and establish a Japanese air base there. He expected the U.S. carriers to come out and fight, but to arrive too late to save Midway and in insufficient strength to avoid defeat by his own well-tested carrier air power.

The American island base at Midway was also an attractive target, and the Doolittle Raid on Japan prompted a decision to attack there as the next major offensive goal. Midway was a vital "sentry for Hawaii", and a serious assault on it would almost certainly produce a major naval battle, a battle that the Japanese confidently expected to win.

The Japanese planned a three-pronged attack to capture Midway in early June, plus a simultaneous operation in the North Pacific's Aleutian Islands that might provide a useful strategic diversion. In the van of the assault would be Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's aircraft carrier force, which would approach from the northwest, suppress Midway's defenses and provide long-range striking power for dealing with American warships. A few hundred miles behind Nagumo would come a battleship force under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto that would contain most of the operation's heavy gun power. Coming in from the West and Southwest, forces under Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo would actually capture Midway. Kondo's battleships and cruisers represented additional capabilities for fighting a surface action.

Unfortunately for the Japanese, two things went wrong even before the Midway operation began. Two of Nagumo's six carriers were sent on a mission that resulted in the Battle of Coral Sea. One was badly damaged, and the other suffered heavy casualties to her air group. Neither would be available for Midway.

Even more importantly, thanks to an historic feat of radio communications interception and code breaking, the United States knew its enemy's plans in detail: his target, his order of battle and his schedule.

In the few weeks before the battle, the US Navy's Combat Intelligence Office, in charge of analyzing and deciphering Japanese naval radio communications, received indications hinting that the Japanese Navy is preparing for a major attack. Deciphered Japanese messages referred to the attack target only by its code name, AF. There were several possible targets for such a major attack, and knowing which one was code named AF was critical. Lieutenant Commander Joseph P. Rochefort, head of the Combat Intelligence Office at Pearl Harbor, thought that the gathered intelligence indicated that AF was Midway , but he needed proof.

In order to obtain it, he called Midway via the underwater cable phone line, which the Japanese could not tap, and asked them to transmit a message that the water desalination facility in Midway was broken, a tempting piece of false information for Japanese intelligence, indicating that the American defenders at Midway were about to suffer a severe shortage of drinking water.

Soon after, Rochefort's staff deciphered a Japanese radio message stating that target AF was suffering a water shortage problem. This was the proof he needed, indeed an extremely important piece of intelligence. It was achieved by a simple ruse, but only thanks to the endless prior work of American radio listeners and code breakers.

With this information in hand, Admiral Chester Nimitz, the American commander, could concentrate his entire smaller force in the right place, at the right time, cognizant of the enemy's plans, a rare advantage indeed for any commander. Admiral Nimitz's plan was to quietly move his three carriers into striking position, wait for Japanese Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo to launch his carrier based planes toward Midway, then launch is own carrier strike forces to destroy the unprotected and unsuspecting Japanese flattops.

At 0430 on the morning of 4 June 1942, while 240 miles northwest of Midway, Vice Admiral Nagumo's four carriers began launching 108 planes to attack the U.S. base there. Unknown to the Japanese, the three U.S. carriers were steaming 215 miles to the east. The two opposing fleets sent out search planes, the Americans to locate an enemy they knew was there and the Japanese as a matter of operational prudence. Seaplanes from Midway were also patrolling along the expected enemy course. One of these spotted, and reported, the Japanese carrier striking force at about 0530.

The Japanese planes hit Midway's two inhabited islands at 0630. Twenty minutes of bombing and strafing knocked out some facilities on Eastern Island, but did not disable the airfield there. Sand Island's oil tanks, seaplane hangar and other buildings were set afire or otherwise damaged. As the Japanese flew back toward their carriers the attack commander, Lieutenant Joichi Tomonaga, radioed ahead that another air strike was required to adequately soften up Midway's defenses for invasion.

While their aviators flew back from Midway, the Japanese carriers received several counter strikes from Midway's own planes. Faced with overwhelming fighter opposition, these uncoordinated American efforts suffered severe losses and hit nothing but sea water. Shortly after 0700, torpedo attacks were made by six Navy TBF-1s and four Army Air Force B-26s. Between 0755 and 0820, two groups of Marine Corps bombers and a formation of Army B-17s came in. The only positive results were photographs of three Japanese carriers taken by the high-flying B-17s, the sole surviving photos of the day's attacks on the Japanese carriers.

Meanwhile, a Japanese scout plane had spotted the U.S. fleet and, just as Midway's counterattacks were ending, reported the presence of a carrier. Japanese commander Vice Admiral Nagumo had begun rearming his second group of planes for another strike on Midway. He now had to reload the aircraft with anti-ship weapons, recover the planes returning from Midway and reorganize his flight decks to launch an attack on the U.S. ships. Nagumo's force barely missed having enough time.

In the hour after about 0930, U.S. Navy planes from the carriers Hornet, Enterprise and Yorktown made a series of attacks, initially by three squadrons of TBD torpedo planes that, despite nearly total losses, made no hits. Crucially, the sacrifice of the TBDs did slow Japanese preparations for their own strike and disorganized the defending fighters, bringing them down to sea level and removing the air cover for the Japanese carriers.

At 1020, elements of the carrier Hornet's Torpedo Squadron Eight, led by Lt. Commander John C. Waldron, received the agonizing order to attack despite the fact that they were precariously low on fuel. Waldron and his squadron, flying obsolete and slow flying Douglas Devastators, immediately attacked the Japanese carriers and were blown from the sky not having scored a single hit. Commander Waldron himself, on his torpedo run, was last seen standing in his cockpit, plane ablaze, like an mythic warrior riding a fiery chariot. The only survivor of the Squadron Eight attack was Ensign George Gay, who while also being shot from the sky, survived his plunge into the Pacific and watched the destruction of the Japanese carriers while floating upon the wreckage of his plane. Ensign Gay was subsequently rescued and honored by Admiral Nimitz himself.

Then, at about 1025, the entire course of the war changed. Three squadrons of SBD dive bombers, two from Enterprise and one from Yorktown, almost simultaneously screamed downward, hell diving on three of the four Japanese carriers, whose decks were crowded with fully armed and fueled planes that were just beginning to launch toward the American carriers. In three hundred seconds, five minutes, Akagi, Kaga and Soryu were ablaze and out of action forever.

After the 4 June mid-morning U.S. Navy attacks on the Japanese carrier force, only the Hiryu remained operational. Shortly before 1100 she launched eighteen dive bombers, escorted by six fighters, to strike a retaliatory blow. At about noon, as these planes approached USS Yorktown (CV-5), the most exposed of the three American aircraft carriers, they were intercepted by the U.S. combat air patrol, which shot down most of the bombers. Seven, however, survived to attack, hitting Yorktown with three bombs, seriously damaging her and stopping her dead in the water.

While Yorktown's crew worked to repair damage and get their ship underway, a second force left Hiryu, this one consisting of ten torpedo planes and six fighters. Though the U.S. carrier was moving again by 1430, back in the fight launching more fighters, the Japanese aircraft penetrated heavy air and gunfire opposition to hit Yorktown with two torpedoes, opening a huge hole on her midships port side. The stricken ship again went dead in the water and took on a severe list. Concerned that she was about to roll over, her Captain ordered his crew to abandon ship. The Yorktown was placed in tow, but was attacked and sunk by Japanese submarine action on June 6.

By late afternoon on June 4, U.S. carrier planes found and bombed Hiryu. This last carrier in the Japanese attack force was badly damaged, fires raging from bow to stern and throughout her decks. Deprived of useful air cover, and after several hours of shocked indecision, Combined Fleet commander Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto called off the Midway operation and retreated. The Admiral promised to personally apologize to the Emperor for the defeat and the Japanese people were never told of the humiliation.

Six months after they played an integral role in the attack on Pearl Harbor,four Japanese carriers were at the ocean bottom, along with all of her planes and most of her battle hardened aviators. The Empire of the Rising Sun lost it's first naval engagement in three hundred years and her great Pacific offensive was over. From this point forward, American forces would maintain and drive home offensive operations until absolute victory had been achieved.

As the reader of our history turns each page, he finds upon the parchment a continuous thread - a common theme that binds heart to heart and past with posterity. The effort that has been expended to establish, preserve, defend, and advance freedom, wonderfully exemplified by the warriors of Midway, fills every chapter with inspiration and inspires those who read to understand that the blank pages ahead are theirs to fill so that others might be inspired to learn and live bravely. In this way, we advance, in light of freedom's power, so that those who follow might fuel it's flame and raise it high for all to see.

On the morning of June 4, 1942, the fifteen planes which comprised Torpedo Squadron Eight took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in an attempt to locate enemy ships and carriers off the island of Midway in the central Pacific. It is their sacrifice that stands out, to this humble correspondent, above all others that day. Ultimately, this battle, the turning point of the war in the Pacific, would result in the loss by the Japanese of four aircraft carriers and many aircraft and gifted aviators. Never again would the naval forces of Imperial Japan be on the offensive - Japan's ultimate fate was sealed. Torpedo Eight, however, did not take part in the destruction of Japanese forces; instead, the entire squadron was itself annihilated, shot from the sky during their unescorted attack. Ensign George Gay was the only member of the squadron to survive the attack - he was rescued by American forces after spending thirty hours in the open sea. Ens. Gay survived the war, dying of a heart attack in 1994 - following his death, Gay was cremated and his ashes were spread over the Pacific in the same place from which his squadron had launched its attack and from where he had witnessed the subsequent successful attacks of American dive bombers and the destruction of three of the four Japanese carriers. His ill fated squadron is credited with helping bring Japanese fighter cover down to sea level, thus opening the way for the follow up attacks to succeed. The squadron received the Presidential Unit Citation for their heroic action at Midway. Ensign William R. Evans, twenty three years of age, a fellow pilot in Torpedo Eight, was an extraordinary young man as well, very thoughtful and contemplative as he trained for war and engaged the enemy. Ens. Evans was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions. The citation reads:

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to William Robinson Evans, Jr. (0-098626), Ensign, U.S. Navy (Reserve), for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Torpedo Plane of Torpedo Squadron EIGHT (VT-8), embarked from the U.S.S. HORNET (CV-8), during the "Air Battle of Midway," against enemy Japanese forces on 4 June 1942. Grimly aware of the hazardous consequences of flying without fighter protection, and with insufficient fuel to return to his carrier, Ensign Evans resolutely, and with no thought of his own life, delivered an effective torpedo attack against violent assaults of enemy Japanese aircraft fire. His courageous action, carried out with a gallant spirit of self-sacrifice and a conscientious devotion to the fulfillment of his mission, was a determining factor in the defeat of the enemy forces and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Shortly before he flew off toward an unknown horizon on June 4, 1942, Ens. Evans wrote to a former professor of his, a mentor whom he greatly admired. He wanted this man to know that American youth was up to the challenge and would make the nation proud. When I read his words, the page is always stained with tears of pain and joy - pain at a cost so great and joy at so noble a cause. May America always treasure such heroes and remember their selfless example always - and thank God for a blessing so rich:

Dear Friend:

...The fates have been kind to me. In war, where any semblance of pleasure is, to say the least, bad taste, I find many things that please me as I know they would please you. When you hear others saying harsh things about American youth, you will know how wrong they all are. So many times that now they have become commonplace, I've seen incidents that make me know that we were not soft, nor bitter, perhaps stupid at first, but never weak.

Many of my friends are now dead. To a man, each died with a nonchalance that each would have denied was courage but simply called a lack of fear and forgot the triumph. If anything great or good has been born of this war, it should not be valued in the colonies we may win, nor in the pages that historians will attempt to write, but rather in the youth of our country who were never trained for war, and who almost never believed in war, but who have, from some hidden source, brought forth a gallantry which is homespun, it is so real.

I say these things because I know you liked and understood boys, and because I wanted you to know that they have not let you down -- that out here, between the spaceless sea and sky, American' youth has found itself, and given of itself, so that at home a spark may catch, burst into flame, and burn high. If our country takes these sacrifices with indifference, it will be the cruelest ingratitude the world has ever known.

There is much I cannot say which should be said before it is too late. It is my fear that national inertia will cancel the gains won at such a price. You will, I know, do all in your power to help others to keep the faith... Remembering the countless happy hours I spent with all of you has been a constant source of contentment.... My luck can't last much longer. But the flame goes on and on - only that is important

Bill

'Only that is important,' indeed. May every generation of American youth fan into flame the gift of freedom that God has given this nation, and may lady liberty eternally extend it, in hope, to all the world's enslaved. 'The flame goes on and on...'

sources:

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/midway/midway.htm

http://www.2worldwar2.com/battle-of-midway.htm

The Story of World War Two, Donald Miller, pg. 119-126

neumyshare.blogspot.com

The Flickering Blaze of the Youthful Soul

2010-05-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

"Everywhere and at all times demons have been lurking in the dark, waiting for the moment when man is weak; when of his own volition he leaves his place in the order of Creation as founded for him by God in freedom; when he yields to the force of evil, separates himself from the powers of a higher order; and after voluntarily taking the first step, he is driven on to the next and the next at a furiously accelerating rate. Everywhere and at all times of greatest trial men have appeared, prophets and saints who cherished their freedom, who preached the One God and, who with His help, brought the people to a reversal of their downward course. Man is free, to be sure, but without the true God he is defenseless against the principle of evil. He is a like rudderless ship, at the mercy of the storm, an infant without his mother, a cloud dissolving into thin air.

I ask you, you as a Christian wrestling for the preservation of your greatest treasure, whether you hesitate, whether you incline toward intrigue, calculation, or procrastination in the hope that someone else will raise his arm in your defense? Has God not given you the strength, the will to fight?"

The above words are found in the Fourth leaflet of The White Rose, a resistance movement composed of primarily students at the University of Munich during the totalitarian reign of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

The Virtual Jewish Library tells the story of the White Rose thusly:

Hans and Sophie Scholl were German teenagers in the 1930s. Like other young Germans, they enthusiastically joined the Hitler Youth. They believed that Adolf Hitler was leading Germany and the German people back to greatness.

Their parents were not so enthusiastic. Their father, Robert Scholl, told his children that Hitler and the Nazis were leading Germany down a road of destruction. Later, in 1942, he would serve time in a Nazi prison for telling his secretary: “The war! It is already lost. This Hitler is God's scourge on mankind, and if the war doesn't end soon the Russians will be sitting in Berlin.” Gradually, Hans and Sophie began realizing that their father was right. They concluded that, in the name of freedom and the greater good of the German nation, Hitler and the Nazis were enslaving and destroying the German people.

They also knew that open dissent was impossible in Nazi Germany, especially after the start of World War II. Most Germans took the traditional position, that once war breaks out, it is the duty of the citizen to support the troops by supporting the government. But Hans and Sophie Scholl believed differently. They believed that it was the duty of a citizen, even in times of war, to stand up against an evil regime, especially when it is sending hundreds of thousands of its citizens to their deaths.

The Scholl siblings began sharing their feelings with a few of their friends, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, as well as with Kurt Huber, their psychology and philosophy professor.

Hans Scholl (left), Sophie Scholl (center), and Christoph Probst (right), leaders of the White Rose resistance organization. Munich, Germany, 1942 (USHMM Photo).

One day in 1942, copies of a leaflet entitled “The White Rose” suddenly appeared at the University of Munich. The leaflet contained an anonymous essay that said that the Nazi system had slowly imprisoned the German people and was now destroying them. The Nazi regime had turned evil. It was time, the essay said, for Germans to rise up and resist the tyranny of their own government. At the bottom of the essay, the following request appeared: “Please make as many copies of this leaflet as you can and distribute them.”

The leaflet caused a tremendous stir among the student body. It was the first time that internal dissent against the Nazi regime had surfaced in Germany. The essay had been secretly written and distributed by Hans Scholl and his friends.

Another leaflet appeared soon afterward. And then another. And another. Ultimately, there were six leaflets published and distributed by Hans and Sophie Scholl and their friends, four under the title “The White Rose” and two under the title “Leaflets of the Resistance.” Their publication took place periodically between 1942 and 1943, interrupted for a few months when Hans and his friends were temporarily sent to the Eastern Front to fight against the Russians.

The members of The White Rose, of course, had to act cautiously. The Nazi regime maintained an iron grip over German society. Internal dissent was quickly and efficiently smashed by the Gestapo. Hans and Sophie Scholl and their friends knew what would happen to them if they were caught.

People began receiving copies of the leaflets in the mail. Students at the University of Hamburg began copying and distributing them. Copies began turning up in different parts of Germany and Austria. Moreover, as Hanser points out, the members of The White Rose did not limit themselves to leaflets. Graffiti began appearing in large letters on streets and buildings all over Munich: “Down with Hitler! . . . Hitler the Mass Murderer!” and “Freiheit! . . . Freiheit! . . . Freedom! . . . Freedom!”

The Gestapo was driven into a frenzy. It knew that the authors were having to procure large quantities of paper, envelopes, and postage. It knew that they were using a duplicating machine. But despite the Gestapo's best efforts, it was unable to catch the perpetrators.

One day, February 18, 1943, Hans' and Sophie's luck ran out. They were caught leaving pamphlets at the University of Munich and were arrested. A search disclosed evidence of Christoph Probst's participation, and he too was soon arrested. The three of them were indicted for treason.

On February 22, four days after their arrest, their trial began. The presiding judge, Roland Freisler, chief justice of the People's Court of the Greater German Reich, had been sent from Berlin. Hanser writes:

He conducted the trial as if the future of the Reich were indeed at stake. He roared denunciations of the accused as if he were not the judge but the prosecutor. He behaved alternately like an actor ranting through an overwritten role in an implausible melodrama and a Grand Inquisitor calling down eternal damnation on the heads of the three irredeemable heretics before him. . . . No witnesses were called, since the defendants had admitted everything. The proceedings consisted almost entirely of Roland Freisler's denunciation and abuse, punctuated from time to time by half-hearted offerings from the court-appointed defense attorneys, one of whom summed up his case with the observation, “I can only say fiat justitia. Let justice be done.” By which he meant: Let the accused get what they deserve.

Freisler and the other accusers could not understand what had happened to these German youths. After all, they all came from nice German families. They all had attended German schools. They had been members of the Hitler Youth. How could they have turned out to be traitors? What had so twisted and warped their minds?

Sophie Scholl shocked everyone in the courtroom when she remarked to Freisler: “Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare to express themselves as we did.” Later in the proceedings, she said to him: “You know the war is lost. Why don't you have the courage to face it?”

In the middle of the trial, Robert and Magdalene Scholl tried to enter the courtroom. Magdalene said to the guard: “But I'm the mother of two of the accused.” The guard responded: “You should have brought them up better.” Robert Scholl forced his way into the courtroom and told the court that he was there to defend his children. He was seized and forcibly escorted outside. The entire courtroom heard him shout: “One day there will be another kind of justice! One day they will go down in history!”

Robert Freisler pronounced his judgment on the three defendants: Guilty of treason. Their sentence: Death.

They were escorted back to Stadelheim prison, where the guards permitted Hans and Sophie to have one last visit with their parents. Hans met with them first, and then Sophie. Hansen writes:

His eyes were clear and steady and he showed no sign of dejection or despair. He thanked his parents again for the love and warmth they had given him and he asked them to convey his affection and regard to a number of friends, whom he named. Here, for a moment, tears threatened, and he turned away to spare his parents the pain of seeing them. Facing them again, his shoulders were back and he smiled. . . .

Then a woman prison guard brought in Sophie. . . . Her mother tentatively offered her some candy, which Hans had declined. “Gladly,” said Sophie, taking it. “After all, I haven't had any lunch!” She, too, looked somehow smaller, as if drawn together, but her face was clear and her smile was fresh and unforced, with something in it that her parents read as triumph. “Sophie, Sophie,” her mother murmured, as if to herself. “To think you'll never be coming through the door again!” Sophie's smile was gentle. “Ah, Mother,” she said. “Those few little years. . . .” Sophie Scholl looked at her parents and was strong in her pride and certainty. “We took everything upon ourselves,” she said. “What we did will cause waves.” Her mother spoke again: “Sophie,” she said softly, “Remember Jesus.” “Yes,” replied Sophie earnestly, almost commandingly, “but you, too.” She left them, her parents, Robert and Magdalene Scholl, with her face still lit by the smile they loved so well and would never see again. She was perfectly composed as she was led away. Robert Mohr [a Gestapo official], who had come out to the prison on business of his own, saw her in her cell immediately afterwards, and she was crying. It was the first time Robert Mohr had seen her in tears, and she apologized. “I have just said good-bye to my parents,” she said. “You understand . . .” She had not cried before her parents. For them she had smiled.

No relatives visited Christoph Probst. His wife, who had just had their third child, was in the hospital. Neither she nor any members of his family even knew that he was on trial or that he had been sentenced to death. While his faith in God had always been deep and unwavering, he had never committed to a certain faith. On the eve of his death, a Catholic priest admitted him into the church in articulo mortis, at the point of death. “Now,” he said, “my death will be easy and joyful.”

That afternoon, the prison guards permitted Hans, Sophie, and Christoph to have one last visit together. Sophie was then led to the guillotine. One observer described her as she walked to her death: “Without turning a hair, without flinching.” Christoph Probst was next. Hans Scholl was last; just before he was beheaded, Hans cried out: “Long live freedom!”

Unfortunately, they were not the last to die. The Gestapo's investigation was relentless. Later tried and executed were Alex Schmorell (age 25), Willi Graf (age 25), and Kurt Huber (age 49). Students at the University of Hamburg were either executed or sent to concentration camps.

Today, every German knows the story of The White Rose. A square at the University of Munich is named after Hans and Sophie Scholl. And there are streets, squares, and schools all over Germany named for the members of The White Rose. The German movie The White Rose is now found in video stores in Germany and the United States. Richard Hansen sums up the story of The White Rose:

"Their actions made them enduring symbols of the struggle, universal and timeless, for the freedom of the human spirit wherever and whenever it is threatened."

The spirit and actions of this small group of young people inspires the world six decades later and will continue to do so as long as the struggle for freedom endures. When I have the privilege of sharing the story of The White Rose with students, I am continually impressed and awed by the power that is transferred from the pages of history to the tablet of the heart.

I have seen tears in the eyes of modern American teenagers and know that many have resolved to live their own lives in such a way as to defend truth and freedom with their life blood and bring honor to the God who empowered the students of Munich to defy a tyrant and storm the very gates of hell.

I often ask my students to walk through the corridors of time, to place themselves in the place of those who have gone before them and done great and courageous things and to ask themselves, 'Could I have done such things? Is my resolve and determination to stand for the right such that I could face the test and, in the end, be approved? Would I, in the face of grave danger and mortal peril, stand for the defenseless and assist the weak? Would I have the faith and the strength to place myself wholly and completely in the hands and the will of God, come what may?

In this instance, "Would I have been able to risk my life, to be willing to live a few short years rather than three score and ten or more, so that the world would forever see that, in the midst of the darkness of evil and hell, God's light shines with a brilliance unmatched and undimmed for all eternity?

Sophie Scholl is purported to have said, on the day of her execution,

"How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"

Indeed. This story must be remembered and commemorated for all time and told to every generation because it teaches an eternal truth: 'Freedom Requires Eternal Vigilance' and 'It is for freedom that Christ has set us free...' To be reminded that there are some things worth dying for allows us to truly see what is worth living for. The members of the White Rose were young men and women who risked and gave all of their tomorrows so that the principles of truth and freedom would be championed and defended and so that the world would forever see that in the midst of such evil and darkness, some lives were lighted with the glory of God and burned bright to light the world forever. We, who come after them, must be forever inspired and challenged to stand upon their shoulders and reach even farther to the heights and to the heavens. To do anything else, to forget them and what they did, would be to dishonor their memory and to deny the very power and blessing of God that is freedom. As American patriot Patrick Henry said long ago, in the face of another tyrant, 'Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death." That is the story of the White Rose, a story everyone who loves freedom must learn and live...

I lay no claim to age and experience but above and beyond the flickering blaze of my youthful soul, I sometimes detect the eternal breath of Something Infinitely Great and Serene. God. Fate. ..." Hans Scholl

"He that holds his peace is wise, but he that speaks, speaks not for his own time only." Rilke

Never let yourself be robbed of cheerful courage,

And hold fast your faith
On good days, as well as bad,
So will your burden be lighter,
A firm staff is childlike trust in God! –

To remind you

of your
Sophie Scholl age 10

1-14-32

What More Do We Need?

2010-04-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

1 Thessalonians 5

¹Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, ²for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁴But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. ⁵You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. ⁹For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. ¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Final Instructions

¹²Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. ¹³Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. ¹⁴And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ¹⁵Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

¹⁶Be joyful always; ¹⁷pray continually; ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

¹⁹Do not put out the Spirit's fire; ²⁰do not treat prophecies with contempt. ²¹Test everything. Hold on to the good. ²²Avoid every kind of evil.

²³May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

²⁵Brothers, pray for us. ²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. ²⁷I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

2 Thessalonians 2

¹Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, ²not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. ³Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness^a]">[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. ⁴He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

⁵Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? ⁶And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. ⁷For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. ⁸And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. ⁹The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, ¹⁰and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie ¹²and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

¹³But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you^b]">[b] to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings^c]">[c] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

¹⁶May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

We live in a sinful world. It has been so since the cataclysmic act of disobedience and rebellion against God perpetrated by our parents in the Garden. By that one choice, freedom and life immortal was traded for slavery and death.

The consequence of sin has impacted every living thing since, causing the creation itself to groan in pain and eager expectation unto regeneration. Humanity was most affected, in that it's unique, right relationship with the Creator was lost, the image of God in man was tainted by corruption, and the glory of the invisible God veiled in mists of fallen mortality. Even the God-Man, Jesus Christ, while not having a sin nature or having sinned Himself, was touched, in that His sacrifice of love at the cross was necessitated by the Fall and His Person endured undeserved suffering under it's penalty and it's power.

The strength of sin is immense. The power of iniquity has caused man to inflict upon man the smallest and largest of injustices, from a simple lack or respect or appreciation to the systematic murder of entire peoples.

The pain and suffering that has emanated from the original sin, and every succeeding sin, is vast beyond comprehension and can very easily, in light of such enveloping and overwhelming darkness, discourage even the righteous unto despair.

How, God's children often ask, can we stand against such an enemy and defeat such an imposing foe? Is it futile to try? Should we compromise with sin, acquiesce to such thinking and fall, like the majority of mankind, into the morass of apathy, indifference , and imitation?

If we had only our own power, and our hope was only in ourselves, the answer to these questions would sadly, but honestly, be on the side of surrender. God's Holy Word tells us that apart from the power of God, our faith, our preaching, and our efforts are futile, empty, and useless. If, in this life and in ourselves only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable and deserving of pity and derision.

But thanks be to God! He has given to those who come to Him by grace through faith alone, the victory over sin, death, hell, and the grave, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Since Christ is raised from the dead, the power of sin is broken and the bonds of slavery snapped by an Almighty Hand.

The above correspondence, from the Apostle Paul to the church at Thessalonica, reminds all who have ears to hear, that while the effects of sin are great, and they will increase until the very end exponentially, until evil is personified and lawlessness is unfettered and loved, they are not eternal. Sin and evil are finite entities and concepts, not infinite. The powers of darkness are not omnipotent and the presence and mind of Satan not omnipresent or omniscient.

No, only God is eternal and immutable; only God is infinite and thus, all His attributes in turn. His love is boundless and his holiness, grace, forgiveness, justice, power, and every other quality of His being measureless! All other personalities, entities, ideas, and concepts are bound within time, space, and mortality. But not God.

The greatest evil and the multitudinous sins and their effect are overwhelming to us, but nothing in light of God's infinite power to heal and restore and to destroy death itself and provide eternal, infinite life beyond the reach of sin's grasp. God removes the one, who comes in childlike faith and dependence, from the hands of the tyrant and places him in the loving hands of the all sovereign, all powerful, all loving King of the eternal freedom world he has made for us to enjoy forever.

Perhaps the greatest truth of all is shared below, again by the apostle. His words redound along the corridors of time unto us, as an echo of the Eternal Voice and a reminder of His love for us. Look closely. Do you see it? The invisible is more beautiful than anything our eyes can discern. For this, we must see with our heart and our soul. 'From the beginning God chose you! He didn't need you, Christian...He is after all, sufficient and infinite, in Himself! No, He CHOSE you...not because He needed you, but because He wanted you! Eternal encouragement! Eternal hope! I ask only this: "What more,truly, do we need?

...from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Let all God's people praise His Holy name!

Can You Fathom the Mysteries of God?

2010-04-17T19:27:00.001-07:00

7 "Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

8 They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the grave [a] —what can you know?

9 Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.

10 "If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?

11 Surely he recognizes deceitful men;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?

12 But a witless man can no more become wise
than a wild donkey's colt can be born a man. [b]

13 "Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,

14 if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

15 then you will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear.

16 You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.

17 Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.

18 You will be secure, because there is hope;you will look about you and take your rest in safety. Job 11:7-18

What do you think of when you think about God? When you consider the Almighty, do you reflect upon His majesty and long to know Him in true intimacy? The earnest seeker of God will be triply rewarded, growing in the knowledge of Jehovah, the knowledge of self, and the knowledge of the awe inspiring relationship between the two.

Do you consider Him as King of all Kings, resplendent in glory and worthy of all obedience? If you do, you most certainly consider his hand as sovereign in every part of the universe and over every aspect of your life and being. This truth should cause you to bow in humility and submission to the Most High God and to remember the awesome responsibility you have as a servant of His to know and do His will and to apply His every Word, always.

Do you consider His holiness, which sets Him apart from His creation in it's fallen state? To remember His holiness is to remember your sin in it's totality. Any man who ever caught a glimpse of the Holy and Righteous God was undone in himself and immediately knew of God's perfectness and his own vile nature. To see God high and lifted up in holiness is to finally and utterly see one's own sin. This fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the first door one must open on the way to salvation. One will never meet the Savior if he feels he needs none.

Having walked through that door, the sinner is overwhelmed to realize that before him stretches the awesome love of God in all it's wondrous splendor. That love pours from God to man, offering not just hope, but the power to bridge the awesome chasm between corruption and incorruption, between eternal death and life everlasting. This truth should remind us that, despite our sin and rebellion, God longs to draw us to Himself and secure us in His bosom forever. It is, in the words of the apostle, 'much more better by much,' to realize that God does not NEED our love and our fellowship, He WANTS us, He desires us, he longs for our return to the place he always intended for us to be.

Indeed, God never NEEDS. If God were to need anything, He would not be God, for God is all in all. Everything is His and even though He gives, in endless blessing, of His attributes and His riches abundantly, He never is emptied of anything. God is completely and eternally self-sufficient. We arrogantly and pridefully think that God needs us to do His work, to share His Word, to give Him that which is due Him. In fact, God needs nothing nor does He need us. To think that we can earn our blessings or even our own salvation is to say in some respect that God is not sufficient or able in Himself - that He somehow needs us to help Him or complete Him because He is in some way lacking. What blasphemy! To contemplate such heresy for even one moment is to display to the world an ignorance of epic proportion.

One's mind may be drawn to a multitude of attributes and truths that pertain to the Almighty - to His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness, and His justice. He extends to the undeserving and the guilty, the power of His pity and compassion. He over arches His fallen creation a rainbow of forgiveness, thus encircling the world and touching it with the greatest force in the universe. Only forgiveness can overcome sin and justify the sinner; only forgiveness can break the slave free from the chains of iniquity and the tomb of decay and death; only forgiveness can destroy hate and replace it with love, the eternal, immutable, omnipotent love of the cross and of Jesus Christ.

Who can comprehend God? The honest answer is, no one; yet, that should not compel us to despair of the trying. In the effort to know the Holy One is understanding, and joy, and peace. To attempt to know the omniscience of His wisdom, the reality of His omnipresence, and the strength of His omnipotence is to challenge the impossible. What an exercise of joy! I pity the meek and lowly souls who never seek to do the impossible and know the unknowable. But a warning! To do so in one's own wisdom and effort is futile; to do so in faith, believing that 'with God all things are possible' is the greatest experience of one's life.

All of this consideration tells us much about ourselves and is essential for our own closer walk with God. To know Him is to know ourselves and, to see the two, is to see the value of becoming one with Him through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the Way, He is the Truth, He is the Life, He is the Door, He is the Bread of Life, He is the Resurrection, He is the Vine, and we, are the branches. It is only in our relationship with Him that division becomes unity, sadness becomes joy, despair becomes hope, disease becomes healing, weakness becomes power, and death becomes life.

I often think of the immensity and power of evil and sin, particularly the sins and weaknesses in my own life and character, and, I am ashamed. But then, I remember the truth that sin, rebellion, evil, and death are finite. They had a beginning and they will have an end. God and all of His attributes, on the other hand, are infinite, boundless, without measure. His love has no measure, His forgiveness is boundless, His grace, His mercy, His holiness, His love, all are enveloped in blessed infinitude - who and what he is, he is completely, always, and forever. In that, the believer can trust, and in that, the follower can rest from his nervous and agitated labor and simply let God be God. That, child of God, is more than enough. In fact, it is 'much more better by much!'

"But God’s infinitude belongs to us and is made known to us for our everlasting profit. Yet, just what does it mean to us beyond the mere wonder of thinking about it? Much every way, and more as we come to know ourselves and God better."

"Because God’s nature is infinite, everything that flows out of it is infinite also. We poor human creatures are constantly being frustrated by limitations imposed upon us from without and within. The days of the years of our lives are few, and swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. Life is a short and fevered rehearsal for a concert we cannot stay to give. Just when we appear to have attained some proficiency we are forced to lay our instruments down. There is simply not time enough to think, to become, to perform what the constitution of our natures indicates we are capable of."

"How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none. Eternal years lie in His heart. For Him time does not pass, it remains; and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves. For those out of Christ, time is a devouring beast; before the sons of the new creation time crouches and purrs and licks their hands. The foe of the old human race becomes the friend of the new, and the stars in their courses fight for the man God delights to honor. This we may learn from the divine infinitude." AW Tozer

Restoring the Harbor of Peace

2010-04-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

America's future and the future of the church within her lies where it always has...in the hands of Providence and in the hearts of the people...God's followers will play a pivotal role in the future of this nation, for conviction,repentance and judgment must begin at the house of God or it will occur no where else; but alas, the church is fast asleep, as she has been for well over a generation.

I believe that the American dream is real, but only so much as it is linked to or based upon the foundation of God's vision for this nation. After all, the Almighty does rule in the affairs of men...Our greatest sin was articulated most succinctly by Alexander Solzhenitsyn: 'When asked what was the greatest problem of modernity, he responded, "Men have forgotten God."

I believe he was and is correct and I believe the church is the greatest sinner of all, because she, after all, should know Him best. God help us to rise from our slumber, and begin again, to storm the gates of hell. In light of the promise of God that the portals of damnation shall not prevail against her, the church should be ever charging, ever striving, to destroy the very foundations of falsehood and the father of lies, unafraid and unrelenting in her zeal.

Yet, if we are honest, we confess that in our generation, it has not been the case. The church has been unproductive and ineffectual in her witness and her work. She has been impotent despite the fact that the very power that raised Christ from the dead resides in her. This paradox can only be explained by realizing that the commands of the Lord have been ignored and disobeyed. Faithfulness has waned and rebellion has waxed.

Jesus Christ has told His followers for two thousand years, that in order to be filled and imbued with power and have that strength flow out to impact the world, one must be completely emptied of self. Self must be seen as crucified and dead and the new life now one in which Christ alone must live and labor in His eternal might.

The Christian is only strong when he is weak, when he recognizes that in himself dwells no good thing, no strong thing, no productive thing, no effective thing, no righteous thing. Nothing we have and nothing we are is of value unless we see it as dead in itself and then regenerated by Christ.

The powerful life of the true Christian is never lived in the temporal regions of mortality, but in eternity, on the far side of the cross and of the tomb. It is in the risen Christ that we look to see the invisible come into focus, where the glorious an immutable light reveals to us that immortality and power is moving from the mists and infusing the souls of men with power from on high.

Oh, that the church would simply look to the source of such might and believe the promises of eternity again. It is not our lives or words in which power resides. The Word of God alone is alive and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, able to cut to the innermost part of man.

Oh, that we, the disciples of Christ, would consume it completely and taste of both the bitter and the sweet. Oh that we would feel it work in us and that we might be filled to overflowing with it and it alone. Only then will Christ have full sway and reside unashamedly and most powerfully within us. It is then and only then, friend, when the church of Jesus Christ, when the children of God, will be prepared to march out to fulfill her destiny and win the victory in Christ alone.

The future of this nation and the future of the church in America are inextricably linked. This has always been the case. America and the principles of freedom and equality for all men are bound to the principles of Christianity as mighty cables, as mystic cords, as anchor chains securing safety and stability. The humanistic storms of the ancients and the progressively strong tempests of modernity have come and have battered the port and strained the lines unto breaking.

In the process and over time, the straining has caused a loosening, a loosening of the standards of truth and the vessels of liberty are about to slip from their moorings and drift toward a distant and chaotic place.

Oh, may the stalwart stevedores and deckhands of freedom rise to see the danger, heed the call of their Captain unto action, and let His mighty hands of Omnipotence be theirs. Only then will the storms be weathered unto abatement and the peace and tranquility of freedom and truth be restored to the harbor again.

When I Think of Calvary

2010-03-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

Luke 23:33
"And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they
crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."

When I think of Calvary, I am overwhelmed and undone. I realize that because of my sin, the Author of life gave Himself in death and bore the pain and penalty that was rightly mine. I am reminded of how unworthy I am to enjoy the blessings of God and to be adopted as a son of the Most High God.

When I think of Calvary, I think of the awe inspiring event itself, and wonder if I could have watched the events unfold. I wonder, if I were a disciple, would I have left the Lord, denied His name, or stayed with Him until the end? Would I have been a man of courage and conviction, or would I have been so filled with self that I looked inward instead of upward and at my own prideful heart and not His, pierced and bleeding for me?

When I think of Calvary, I consider all that I have in Christ and the cost required to purchase that position and those riches. I think of the shed blood and the stripes by which my healing came. I think of the ancient promise and God's faithfulness to me through His Word. Everlasting faithfulness to the unfaithful, everlasting salvation for the sinner, everlasting cleansing for one so vile. And I stand amazed.

When I think of Calvary, I consider the wonder of God's wisdom and the vastness of His power. At the cross, He was both Just and Justifier. Sin could neither go ignored nor unpunished. A holy and righteous God must remain faithful to all of His attributes. Through the eternal perfect sacrifice of His Son, he both paid the price of justice and justified the lost, all in one. By His great power alone, he could have established salvation; but, He chose to root it not in power, but in righteous justice. By that choice, and that act, He demonstrated for all future time that right makes might, not might makes right, even for Him.

When I think of Calvary, I humbly consider that Jesus Christ, for a moment in time, allowed death to have mastery over Him. The human mind can scarcely comprehend such awe inspiring truth. I think of how, for me, the Scriptures state that He, "became obedient unto death, even death on a cross." How is it, in light of that truth, I still often find myself lacking in my own obedience to Him, in even the trivial things of life?

When I think of Calvary, I stand amazed that, although God is complete in Himself and totally self-sufficient, He chose to provide a way whereby we might be found in Him and have unbroken, sinless fellowship with Him for all eternity. How often do we contemplate the fact that God didn't NEED us, He WANTED us, to be His own? The thought of it, mysterious yet true, is too wonderful for words.

When I think of Calvary, I consider the atoning, perfect, eternal sacrifice of the Lamb of God and realize that he purchased my freedom from the bondage of sin, not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. The shedding of His blood, without which there is no remission of sin, covered, cleansed, and removed my sin and the sin of all those who come to Him by faith. I truly realize, looking at the cross, that there is no greater power, no greater power, in all the universe, than that of forgiveness. All matter and all evil is finite, not infinite; potent to be sure, but not omnipotent. God and His attributes alone are infinite and only He is all powerful. Our victory is assured.

When I think of Calvary, I realize that, through suffering comes glory and that I am required to take up my own cross and carry it daily for Him. I am to ever realize that in Christ, I am crucified and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I want to know Him more and be filled with Him. I want to be emptied of self, dead to self, and alive unto God in Jesus Christ. I want to know Him intimately, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, that I might be more Christlike in all that I am and all that I do.

When I think of Calvary, I think of how His resurrection was born through His death. The life He lives now He lives on the far side of death. The sting, power, and victory of death has been destroyed. Death itself has been destroyed and life and immortality has been brought to light in the good news of His resurrection. "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone, and I know, who holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lives." The resurrection is the cornerstone of the faith and the guarantee of my endless life in His.

When I think of Calvary, I fall on bended knee, prostrate before the King of Glory, overwhelmed with His love, mercy, and grace, mindful of how inadequate I am and undeserving, yet how honored I am to be His child. I know the awesome responsibility I have to share the treasure of His love, passing it from this jar of clay to the next, trusting in the power of the Lord and His Word to work in the hearts of men. I consider the eleven, and how they moved on in light of the empty tomb, sharing the transformative and revolutionary message of God's love with fallen man and marvel at how they turned the world upside down for Christ in their generation. I am ashamed at how little I have done, but yet I gratefully remember that He is not finished with me yet. Thank the Lord!

When I think of Calvary, I consider my life and remember to keep my focus upon the invisible, upon Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, the God-man ever interceding on my behalf. I am compelled to share the message, in my life and in His words, so that others might see that, for me, "To live IS Christ, to die IS gain." Calvary is the most precious, powerful reminder to me that nothing shall ever separate me from the love of God that binds me forever to Christ Jesus my Lord. "The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can tell..." My prayer is that, when you think of Calvary, it means the same to you. Maranatha!

The Love of God

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God sent His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song!

Could we with ink the oceans fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above
Would drain the oceans dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song!

F. M. Lehman

S.H.A.R.E.

Letter From Birmingham Jail

I Cried Every Day This Week

I See You

Class Guidelines

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The Continuing Debt

The United Cry of a Nation

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Friday, March 26, 2010

I Believe

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Meeting Physical Force With Soul Force

Letter From a Baltimore Jail

The Time That Flies

Psalm 91

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test

I See You

Our Undying Love is Yours

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