Tag: God bless America

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America Fresh Oil New Wine Healing Living It Out In Real Time Spiritual Warfare The Bible The Big Event The Life of Faith The Mysteries of God The Secret Place Through The Looking Glass

A Tired Mind Revisited

It was almost three years ago when I penned this blog, which was based on a sermon I had preached a few years before. During this election year, we have much to consider when picking our candidates, and I thought this blog post was a good reminder — and a warning — of where we have come from, where we are, and what it will take to return to the path of righteousness.

With that, I give you Confessions of a Tired Mind…

Next week, we will celebrate our nation’s 237th birthday. I find it ironic that, just yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that chips away yet another stone in the foundation of Godliness that this country was built upon. As I witness the erosion of the greatness of America – a land that I love and still believe to be great – I must admit to you…

I’m tired.

IMG_1905I’m tired of the LGBT agenda that is being forced upon the American people. Understand me when I say that I don’t believe that anyone should be threatened, abused, or discriminated against because of their lifestyle. However, I do not believe that churches should have to hire someone that promotes a lifestyle contrary to our biblical world view, or be forced to affirm perversion as a “civil right”. While members of the LGBT community should not be oppressed or mistreated, neither should those of us who believe that their lifestyle is a sin be forced to agree with their choices. If you can’t “legislate morality from the (court) bench”, you shouldn’t be able to legislate immorality either.

I’m tired of abortion being called a choice when it means the death of an unborn child. Where was the child’s choice in the matter?

Pine Ridge1I’m tired of we, the American taxpayers, being robbed to support leftist causes and wasteful governmental agencies. It infuriates me to see our tax dollars go to failed and failing “green” companies (remember Solyndra) and other “pet
projects and programs”, as well as paying for silly videos, lavish parties, and non-sensical conferences for corrupt government agencies. Contrast this waste with the poverty in places like the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and it is even more maddening.

I’m tired of government leaders apologizing for America to third-rate terrorist countries and dictators. I still believe in the greatness of our nation, and don’t believe that is something we need to apologize for.

I’m tired of the assault on our Judeo-Christian heritage, history revisionism, and the mocking of every accomplished conservative by a leftist media that holds up semi-literate celebrities as icons of virtue and wisdom. While the truth of God’s Word may not be popular to some, it is still truth… and that is something I will not apologize for.

I’m tired of “reverends” who value political correctness over biblical authority.

I’m tired of the abuse of our welfare system. I believe that the aged, infirmed, and disabled need our help. Their needs are legitimate. However, the abuses of the entitlement system have to end. As the late Adrian Rogers once said…

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.”

In addition, I’m tired of a government that will not take care of the brave men and women of our military who have kept us safe for decades on end. I’m tired of people who are here illegally, as well as countries that hate us, being shown more respect — and being better taken care of financially — than our veterans.

Coptic ChristiansI’m tired of Islamic terrorists being called moderates. When I was young and growing up in the South, there was a religious organization that committed acts of terror in the name of God. They were called the Ku Klux Klan. Yet, the church rose up against them and said, “You’re not Christian… You’re wrong.” It’s time for any moderate Muslims to rise up, call these terrorists for what they are, and affirm the right for Israel to exist in peace.

But you know what? While I may be tired, I still have hope.

IMG_5209I am still proud when I hear the sound of our National Anthem being sung at a sporting event.

I am still humbled when I see a brave soldier in uniform in the airport, coming from or going to the far reaches of the world to defend freedom.

I am still moved at the sight of our flag, “Old Glory”, waving in a warm summer breeze.

I still believe that our nation is not beyond hope when I hear the words…

If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. ~ II Chronicles 7:14

I believe in the greatness of America. I believe that if we turn our faces in repentance toward God, He will heal our land, and give us “a new birth of freedom”.

Long may our land be bright,
With freedom’s holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.

God bless America!

(Adapted from the message, “Freedom’s Holy Light – Part 1”)
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America Fresh Oil New Wine 2014 Healing The Big Event Through The Looking Glass

As We Remember

Flags & Graves2

Today, we in America will observe Memorial Day. This day was first observed as Decoration Day, and originated after the Civil War, as a way of remembering the over 600,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were killed during that horrific conflict which pitted brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, and countryman against countryman. While the aftermath of that conflict was a  wounded nation brought back together, and many other brave American men and women have since fallen in wars and conflicts around the globe, we as American citizens must be ever mindful of the price that was paid, and ever vigilant as watchmen to protect the freedom for which they died.

As we today honor those who have fallen in battle, I am reminded of a letter penned by President Abraham Lincoln to a widow, Mrs. Lydia Bixby, whose sons had died fighting for the Union army…

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Iwo JimaOn this day, as we go about our family gatherings and picnics, please take a moment to remember the solemnity of this day by offering a prayer of thanksgiving for those who gave their lives so that you could be free, as well as a prayer of comfort for those who are still grieving a loss unimaginable by most of us. Let us remember that those who gave their full measure of devotion for the cause of freedom are not nameless and faceless, but are husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and friends.

Thank you heroes, for your service and sacrifice. We owe you a debt we cannot repay.

May God bless America.

Flags & Graves

Categories
America Living It Out In Real Time The Life of Faith

Freedom’s Holy Light

Lady LibertyA sailor was on his way out of Algeria aboard a ship that contained a sick missionary. Right before the missionary died, he pointed his hand toward the distant horizon and spoke prophetically: “There lies a land there where the seas wash. There is a native people there that have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

When the sailor finally arrived home, he told his son – and later his grandson – what the missionary had told him. When the grandson grew older, he also became a sailor. He remembered the old missionary’s words, and wrote many letters and diary entries expressing his desire to see the inhabitants of that land convert to Christianity.

The land the missionary spoke of was America.

The sailor’s grandson was Cristoforo Colombo, or as we know him, Christopher Columbus.

KS77810From the very beginning, our nation had, at it’s very core, a foundation centered on faith in God. While liberals and history revisionists would like to erase every mention of God from the history books, there is no denying the reliance our Founding Fathers placed on The Almighty. Don’t believe me? Listen to them, in their own words…

“The general principles, on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their address, or by me in my answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these Sects were United…”
~ John Adams, 2nd U.S. President

“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 of the Gift of 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; that His justice cannot sleep forever…” ~ Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President

“Let us then, unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgments for these blessings to the Divine Author of All Good.”~ James Monroe, 5th U.S. President

“The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth.” ~ John Quincy Adams, 6th U.S. President

I could go on and on… and on.

The 4th verse of the song My Country, ‘Tis of Thee sums up the prayers and petitions of these great men appropriately…

KS77849

Our fathers’ God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom’s holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.

Freedom’s Holy Light still burns brightly in America…

That Holy Light which was ignited in the hearts of her Founders, kindled by the dreams of her citizens, fueled by the blood of her soldiers, and sustained in the hearts of her children. It was the Holy Flame that burned brightly during two Great Awakenings, at the Cane Ridge Revival, the Finney Awakening, in the streetlamps of Azusa Street, and in the eyes of Billy Sunday and Billy Graham. It is that Guiding Light of God’s love that guided the Pilgrims to the shores of New England, kept freedom’s dream alive in the cold of Valley Forge, illuminated the heart of Abraham Lincoln during the dark nights of the Civil War, was the fire of freedom in the face of imperialism following December 7, 1941, and was the light of hope in the darkness of September 11, 2001.

It was the fire that blazed in the forge from whence came
the timeless inscription on the Liberty Bell:

“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
~ Leviticus 25:10

So… let freedom ring.

Let the sound of freedom be heard in the cries of repentance of the people of God. Let the church rise and once again be the vessel that unashamedly bears the message of forgiveness and hope that the world needs to hear.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” ~ II Corinthians 3:17

No amount of legislation or Supreme Court rulings will change America… only the cross of Jesus can bring real change.

No amount of political correctness will change a single heart… only the love of Jesus can turn a heart of stone to a heart of flesh.

No amount of wealth-redistribution can force an ounce of compassion… only identifying with the tears of Jesus can break our hearts for a dying world.

It’s time for we as American Christians to wake up, get up, and go. It’s time for us to get on our knees and pray for a breakthrough… in the White House, the Statehouse, the schoolhouse, and the churchhouse. It’s time for us to be salt and light, look the world squarely in the face and say, “This is going to sting, but THIS is the truth, and the truth will set you free.” It’s time for us to BE the revival we have been praying for, and put our lives out there for that which He gave up His life. It’s time for us to stop asking for God to bless America, but for we as Americans to start blessing Him – through obedience, sacrifice, and holiness.

On this July 4th, I leave you with the words of President George Washington, from his Inaugural Address of 1789:

“In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States.” KS77759

May America bless God once again.

“I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” ~ Psalm 34:1