4th of July - Freedom

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV)

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

July fourth is Independence Day, and all across U.S.A. people will celebrate the tremendous freedom we enjoy. Truly we are blessed! We who know Jesus Christ as our Savior have another kind of freedom to celebrate. We are free from the bondage of our sin and death.

I Corinthians 15:1-4 gives a concise picture of the freedoms we have in Christ. First, “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.” He died for one reason: to pay the penalty necessary for our sins. He took our place. Because of His death, we are made free from the death penalty of sin and stand righteous before God. This is our justification.

Second, “that He was buried.” Romans 6 tells us that through faith we died with Him and were buried with Him and are now dead to the power of sin over us. Sin no longer has dominion over us, so we can choose to live righteous, holy lives. We are free from sin’s control over us! This is our sanctification.

Third, “that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” His death alone could not save us; it was the resurrection that showed God’s acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice, and that gives power unto salvation. In Colossians 3:1 we read that we are risen with Christ. His resurrection guarantees a future in Heaven for us where we will be free from the presence of sin. This is our glorification.

From that past moment when I truly believed, I am free from the penalty of sin . . . Free from the present power of sin over me . . . And guaranteed to one day be free from the presence of sin. Now that’s cause for celebration—every day!

 Dear Lord, let us never forget the great gift of freedom that You have given to us as Your followers. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Happy birthday America 2018

John 8:36 (ESV)

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

We live in the United States. The United States of America was started over 225 years ago. That seems very old. But the ideas it was started with are still important. Americans are free to live where they want, and say what they believe, and to worship God where they would like to do so. These are BIG Freedoms. Some other countries don’t have those freedoms. Today we are celebrating Independence Day: the day our country declared its independence (or freedom) from rule by others. It takes hard work and sacrifice to keep our country safe and free. These may include: Veterans, persons in the armed forces, first responders, statesmen, citizens, etc.)

When our county started, the people then fought a great war for America. They were victorious in that fight! and they started a new country here, the United States of America. They had a new flag for their new country. Each thing in our flag means something special. The stars represent the number of states we have now. The stripes represent the number of states America started with (13, 7 red & 6 white). Even the colors of the flag mean special things.

 RED – COURAGE

 WHITE – PURITY

 BLUE – FAITHFULNESS

As we know there was a man named Jesus, who was and is the Son of God, who came to earth many years ago, way back before America was started. Jesus came to set us all free. He came to set us free from sin and death. He was COURAGEOUS because He stood up to evil and did what was right. He was PURE because He was the Son of God and because He never did anything wrong. He was FAITHFUL to do what He came to do, even though it was very hard. And in the end He was victorious and WON over sin and death.

HE came to set people FREE, not only in this country, but in every country all over the world. He came for all people who would believe in Him, no matter where they lived or when they lived. He came for all people everywhere!

Jesus came to save us! He came to set us free!

Dear Lord,  We come to You this July 4th, grateful for our country and grateful for the men and women who gave their lives so that we might be free. We proclaim our allegiance to our country and total dedication to You. May Your name be praised and celebrated throughout our country on this our joyous national holiday. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Happy Fourth of July! May restoration begin with us!

Psalm 33:12 (ESV)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Throughout the United States today, everyone will be celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence -- a document through which leaders of the colonies in the New World broke free from the King of England.

The declaration begins: "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."

While revisionist historians are working hard to remove any trace of Christian/Biblical ideals from the foundations of America, today's celebration finds its basis in a foundational document which appeals to the authority of a Divine Creator, one whom most of the founding fathers fully believed to have been the author and main subject of the Holy Bible, and who was the guarantor of certain "inalienable rights". So the Fourth of July – more than just a celebration of independence, ought also to be a day which recognizes God's participation in the nation's birth.

The words found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 can be claimed and applied to any nation, but particularly one whose foundational documents and institutions have drawn their inspiration substantially from Biblical monotheism. "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."

If we truly want to see healing brought to our nation we need to claim the words found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

True restoration and healing only comes through true repentance and God's grace!  

Dear Lord, we thank You for blessing our nation. Today we pray that our nation would once again turn its heart back to You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Fourth of July 2015

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Do you know your fourth of July history? In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.

After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4.

On this 4^th of July some 234 years later we need to turn our hearts even more to God and ask Him to forgive our land and to heal it. That we may become once again what the founding fathers set forth to accomplish.

This is a prayer that was delivered before the congress by Rev. Frederick Brown Harris, Chaplain, US Senate in 1943.

Our fathers' God and ours, on the birthday of national independence we confess our dependence upon Thee. Without Thee we are lost in spite of the overwhelming might of our national arms.

We thank Thee for those pilgrims of faith who came hither in their frail barque across mountainous seas and who stepped upon strange shores with the salutation to a new world, "In the Name of God. Amen." The Nation here established, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal has acknowledged that Name above every name and reverenced it, has built its altars, reared its temples, and raised its steeples, emblems of a faith that points to the skies and wings its sure and certain way to God. Make that faith of the fathers, we pray, real to us in these tempestuous days. Save us from a freedom of speech so empty that we have nothing worth saying, from a freedom of worship so futile that we have no God to adore, from freedom from want and fear with no creative idea as to how to use our plenty or our security for the redemption of our social order and for the salvation of our own souls. Let all that is low and unworthy in us sink to the depths. Let all that is high and fine in us rise to greet the morn of a new day confident that the best is yet to be. Amen. (Source: Congressional Record-Senate, 78th Congress, first session, 89/5, July 5, 1943, 7160.)

Rev. Frederick Brown Harris, Chaplain, US Senate

Dear Lord, We pray that our country would turn it's heart back to You. We pray for our leaders that they would call upon Your Name.  IN Jesus' Name, Amen.

Happy Birthday USA

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

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.

On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), approved the Declaration of Independence. Its purpose was to set forth the principles upon which the Congress had acted two days earlier when it voted in favor of Richard Henry Lee's motion to declare the freedom and independence of the 13 American colonies from England. The Declaration was designed to influence public opinion and gain support both among the new states and abroad -- especially in France, from which the new "United States" sought military assistance.

Although Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston comprised the committee charged with drafting the Declaration, the task fell to Jefferson, regarded as the strongest and most eloquent writer. The document is mainly his work, although the committee and Congress as a whole made a total of 86 changes to Jefferson's draft.

As a scholar well-versed in the ideas and ideals of the French and English Enlightenments, Jefferson found his greatest inspiration in the language and arguments of English philosopher John Locke, who had justified England's "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 on the basis of man's "natural rights." Locke's theory held that government was a contract between the governed and those governing, who derived their power solely from the consent of the governed and whose purpose it was to protect every man's inherent right to property, life and liberty. Jefferson's theory of "natural law" differed in that it substituted the inalienable right of "the pursuit of happiness" for "property," emphasizing that happiness is the product of civic virtue and public duty. The concept of the "pursuit of happiness" originated in the Common Sense School of Scottish philosophy, of which Lord Kames was the best-known proponent.

Jefferson emphasized the contractual justification for independence, arguing that when the tyrannical government of King George III of England repeatedly violated "natural law, " the colonists had not only the right but the duty to revolt.

The assembled Continental Congress deleted a few passages of the draft, and amended others, but outright rejected only two sections: 1) a derogatory reference to the English people; 2) a passionate denunciation of the slave trade. The latter section was left out, as Jefferson reported, to accede to the wishes of South Carolina and Georgia, who wanted to continue the importation of slaves. The rest of the draft was accepted on July 4, and 56 members of Congress began their formal signing of the document on August 2, 1776.

On this the 237 birthday of the great United States of America let us each take the time to pray for our country and its leaders that once again we will turn our hearts to God.

Dear Lord, You are the real foundation of our nation, raising it up to serve and care for the people dwelling within the boundaries. We thank You for making us citizens of this land of freedom and unlimited opportunity---which are the result of its Christian base. Send your Spirit to this country and make it a source of wisdom and strength, order and integrity throughout the world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Old Glory - Happy Birthday USA

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (King James Version)

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

On this our great country’s birthday lets read the Condensed speech by Leo K. Thorsness, recipient of The Congressional Medal of Honor.

You've probably seen the bumper sticker somewhere along the road. It depicts an American Flag, accompanied by the words "These colors don't run". I'm always glad to see this, because it reminds me of an incident from my confinement in North Vietnam at the Hao Lo POW Camp, or the "Hanoi Hilton," as it became known. Then a Major in the U.S. Air Force, I had been captured and imprisoned from 1967-1973. Our treatment had been frequently brutal. After three years, however, the beatings and torture became less frequent.

During the last year, we were allowed outside most days for a couple of minutes to bathe. We showered by drawing water from a concrete tank with a homemade bucket. One day as we all stood by the tank, stripped of our clothes, a young Naval pilot named Mike Christian found the remnants of a handkerchief in a gutter that ran under the prison wall. Mike managed to sneak the grimy rag into our cell and began fashioning it into a flag.

Over time we all loaned him a little soap, and he spent days cleaning the material. We helped by scrounging and stealing bits and pieces of anything he could use.

At night, under his mosquito net, Mike worked on the flag. He made red and blue from ground-up roof tiles and tiny amounts of ink and painted the colors onto the cloth with watery rice glue. Using thread from his own blanket and a homemade bamboo needle, he sewed on stars. Early in the morning a few days later, when the guards were not alert, he whispered loudly from the back of our cell, "Hey gang, look here". He proudly held up this tattered piece of cloth, waving it as if in a breeze.

If you used your imagination, you could tell it was supposed to be an American flag. When he raised that smudgy fabric, we automatically stood straight and saluted, our chests puffing out, and more than a few eyes had tears.

About once a week the guards would strip us, run us outside and go through our clothing. During one of those shakedowns, they found Mike's flag. We all knew what would happen.

That night they came for him. Night interrogations were always the worst. They opened the cell door and pulled Mike out. We could hear the beginning of the torture before they even had him in the torture cell. They beat him most of the night. About daylight they pushed what was left of him back through the cell door. He was badly broken; even his voice was gone.

Within two weeks, despite the danger, Mike scrounged another piece of cloth and began another flag. The Stars and Stripes, our national symbol, was worth the sacrifice to him. Now whenever I see the flag, I think of Mike and the morning he first waved that tattered emblem of a nation.

It was then, thousands of miles from home in a lonely prison cell, that he showed us what it is to be truly free.

Dear Lord we thank You for the many men and women that give of themselves to keep the freedoms that we have. We pray for their safety and the safety of their families while they are gone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Prayer For Our Country

Do you know your fourth of July history? In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.

After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4.

On this 4^th of July some 234 years later we need to turn our hearts even more to God and ask Him to forgive our land and to heal it. That we may become once again what the founding fathers set forth to accomplish.

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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

-2 Chronicles 7:14 (New International Version)

This is a prayer that was delivered before the congress by Rev. Frederick Brown Harris, Chaplain, US Senate in 1943.

Our fathers' God and ours, on the birthday of national independence we confess our dependence upon Thee. Without Thee we are lost in spite of the overwhelming might of our national arms.

We thank Thee for those pilgrims of faith who came hither in their frail barque across mountainous seas and who stepped upon strange shores with the salutation to a new world, "In the Name of God. Amen." The Nation here established, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal has acknowledged that Name above every name and reverenced it, has built its altars, reared its temples, and raised its steeples, emblems of a faith that points to the skies and wings its sure and certain way to God. Make that faith of the fathers, we pray, real to us in these tempestuous days. Save us from a freedom of speech so empty that we have nothing worth saying, from a freedom of worship so futile that we have no God to adore, from freedom from want and fear with no creative idea as to how to use our plenty or our security for the redemption of our social order and for the salvation of our own souls. Let all that is low and unworthy in us sink to the depths. Let all that is high and fine in us rise to greet the morn of a new day confident that the best is yet to be. Amen. (Source: Congressional Record-Senate, 78th Congress, first session, 89/5, July 5, 1943, 7160.)

Rev. Frederick Brown Harris, Chaplain, US Senate