Happy Memorial Day

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

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.

Those who have given their lives for our country have experienced the tragic bloodshed that conflict brings. Our world is rocked by strife and division, but one day there will be peace and the author of that peace is Jesus himself.  Jesus is described in Scripture as the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).  On Memorial Day we recognize the valor of those in military combat, but a day is coming when we will live in a time of unparalleled peace, brought about by Jesus Himself.

We hold the deepest gratitude for the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have given their lives over the ages, defending our freedoms and families.  As we remember them, let us also remain aware that Jesus, too, gave the ultimate sacrifice.  He laid down His life to secure a freedom which transcends any earthly freedom. Jesus gave His life to gain spiritual victory over sin, death, and hell.  Memorial Day gives us a chance to praise our Lord for the price He paid, and the triumph He secured.

George Washington once said, “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”  Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”  We need for God to bless America once again and bring us back to “One Nation Under God.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us, “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.”

Today and every day let us humble ourselves and pray for our nation and leadership.

Dear Lord, we lift up our nation to You.  If ever it needed your guidance, it is now.  We ask You to guide those in leadership that they would follow You in the way You would have us to go.  In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Memorial Day 2019

John 15:12-14 (ESV)

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Memorial Day is a day that is set aside to remember, and honor, our brave soldiers who have given their lives to protect our land and keep us free.  It began as a day to honor our Civil War dead, but after World War I, it was expanded to include our war dead from all the wars in which America was involved. 

Our country has fought in 12 major wars.  In every one of these cases, we have asked the young people of our nation to be willing to give their lives in the name of freedom (for us and others in foreign lands.)    The sacrifices these young men and women have made can never be totally comprehended nor can they be repaid by us.

Just stop and think about a little of what these wonderful young people have given up for us.  At the very least, they have given years of their life, time away from their families, to serve their country which they love. They have given us any chance of setting down “roots”, having to move from base to base once every 3 to 4 years.   Many will be physically disabled the rest of their life, having the use of one or more of their limbs taken from them.   Scores have been mentally disabled resulting in them being unable to handle day to day living.   And thousands upon thousands have given the ultimate sacrifice, their life, so that we can continue to enjoy our lives living safely in a land of freedom.

We can never begin to understand what they went through, and are continuing to go through, all because they love their nation and the freedoms, we take for granted every day.  We can never begin to repay them and their families for the sacrifices they have made for us.  It seems as if saying “Thank You” just isn’t enough.

On this Memorial Day weekend, let us remember the brave soldiers who have so unselfishly given of themselves for us.   Let’s not only appreciate their actions but then take steps to help these veterans and their families whenever and wherever we can.

But also this weekend, let us remember the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us so that we might be saved from the eternal punishment for our sins.  And then out of appreciation for His works, let us give ourselves for others, obeying the perfect law of Christ…

Dear Lord, we are so grateful for those who gave everything so that we could have the freedoms we have.   Thank You for giving Your life so that we could have eternal life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Thank you all that gave for our freedom.

John 15:13 (ESV)

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Imagine taking a walk from New York City to Chicago. That’s about an 800-mile trek, and it would take about two weeks of non-stop walking to complete it – a lot longer if you stopped to rest.

Now, imagine that all throughout your walk there were a continuous line of people standing shoulder to shoulder, one after another through the streets of New York City, into the back roads of New Jersey, over each rolling hill in Pennsylvania – people as far as the eye can see. It continues through Ohio and Indiana into Illinois. Finally, you arrive in Chicago after having walked past 1,321,612 people.

That’s a LOT of people. It also happens to be the same number of people who have died in combat while serving this country.

It’s sobering to think of all those faces. Each face has a story – a soldier whose life was cut down in its prime and likely left behind a spouse or a child or both. Most (625,000) died during the bloody, gruesome close quarter combat of the Civil War. Another 405,399 died in World War II, and 116,516 died in World War I. There have been many different wars, and they’ve stretched across many different eras, but one thing has remained constant: The amazing courage and willingness of the American soldier to lay down his or her own life for the cause of liberty.

It’s hard to put into words just how incredible a sacrifice that is. Jesus said there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Think about that for a second – no greater love. If you have lost a loved one in battle, you can rest a little easier knowing the life was not lost in vain. They may have left it all on the battle field, but these men and women have given the greatest gift a human can possibly give – their life – so we may live.

From the tattered, starving patriots who met their end battling the British during the American Revolution to the highly trained modern day soldiers who succumbed to barbaric terrorists in the Middle East, each and every fallen American soldier will forever share this incredible distinction and hold a special place of honor among all people who have benefited from their service.

Today ion this Memorial Day let’s honor the fallen with hearts of gratitude and a spirit of awe, for they gave us the gift to which there is none greater. There’s no possible way to repay them or their families – but each and every one of us can do the next best thing: Dedicate our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to preserving the freedom so many died to keep alive.

Dear Lord, we thank You for the many that have given their all so that we may enjoy our freedoms. We pray for the families that have lost their loved ones. We pray for their comfort. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Memorial Day 2017

Psalm 104:33-34  (ESV)

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,

    for I rejoice in the Lord.

Today is Memorial Day. We remember all who died in service to our country and others who were dear to us.

There was a little boy that as he grew up the other children thought he was “slow” because he couldn’t see leaves on trees or know what a butterfly was. He always had trouble reading what was on the blackboard in his classroom. The kids made fun of him. He was never picked to be on any team. Has that ever happened to you? It’s not a nice feeling to be overlooked on purpose by your friends.

One day a visiting nurse decided to evaluate him after hearing about him. It turned out he wasn’t “slow” as others thought, he needed glasses. So this little boy began to see things he had been missing his whole life.

He was able to read the blackboard at school and Sunday school at church. His mother brought him to church as a boy. He learned personal responsibility, Christian kindness, and the goodness of God’s world through his mother.

As he grew up he always wanted to look people in the eye when he was talking to them, but with his glasses he found that difficult, he had trouble reading things to people and looking up at them. So he got contacts and learned a trick of taking one out so with one eye he could look down and read and with the other eye look up at people and see them clearly. When he would read a statement in his office he would be able to look up at the people in his office standing behind the cameras. Why were cameras in his office, he was in the Oval Office behind his desk. That little boy  was President Ronald Reagan the 40th President of the United States.

All his life Ronald Reagan enjoyed going to church, but when he became President he discovered that all the other people coming to church had to go through metal detectors. He disliked that very much. He didn’t want to make the other worshipers go through that hassle so he invited the pastor of his church and other pastors to conduct services in his house instead.

President Ronald Reagan taught us that we can be anything we want to be even when we aren’t the popular child in school. He also taught us the importance of bringing Worship into our home. If worshiping God can be routine in the White House, it’s should be routine in our house.

Dear Lord, we pray that we would let You shape us to be what You want us to be. Help us to worship you not only in Your house but in ours too. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Thank you for the sacrifice

John 8:36  (ESV)

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

This week I finally got around to getting my flag pole fixed so I can proudly fly my American flag again.  It helps remind me the freedoms we have because of the sacrifice many have made to insure our freedoms. This week we celebrate a very special holiday, Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a day on which we stop to remember and to honor the men and women who died in military service while fighting to defend the cause of freedom.

We enjoy a lot of freedom in our country. We are free to attend church and worship, we are free to choose what we want to be when we grow up, we are free to choose where we want to live, we are free to choose most of the things that affect our daily lives. Yes, we enjoy our freedom, but that freedom wasn't free. Many courageous men and women gave their lives to pay the price for the freedom that you and I enjoy.  These are the ones that we honor this week as we celebrate Memorial Day.

Yes, we enjoy a lot of freedom, but the greatest freedom that we have is the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. The Bible teaches that the penalty for sin is death, but you and I have been set free from this penalty. We have been set free because Jesus paid the penalty. The Bible tells us that Jesus died to set us free from the penalty of sin. Instead of death, we have been given eternal life. This freedom wasn't free, Jesus paid the price.

This week as we celebrate Memorial Day, let us remember to stop and thank God for those who have paid the price for our freedom. Let us also remember to thank God for Jesus, who has set us free from the penalty for sin, because he was willing to pay the price.

Dear Lord, thank you for the freedom that we enjoy. We are thankful for those who paid the price for that freedom, but even more important, we thank you for the freedom we have because Jesus was willing to pay the penalty for our sin. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Memorial Day 2016

Joshua 4:8-9 (ESV)

8 And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. 9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.

                               

Today, thousands of American flags dot Arlington National Cemetery—one for each grave marker. Red, white and blue dominate the green landscape.

Memorial Day is a day to remember those who’ve died serving in the U.S. military. Civil War veteran General John A. Logan called in 1868 for Americans to decorate the graves of those who fell during the “War Between the States;” the holiday has grown in scope since then and now commemorates the fallen from each of America’s wars.

Though Memorial Day is an American holiday, nations across the world have their own traditions for remembering the sacrifices of their soldiers. There’s something uniquely powerful about communal remembrance—gathering together as a family or nation to reflect on significant people and events of the past. It’s no surprise that memorial celebrations—military and otherwise—are common to many cultures throughout history, including the people of the Bible.

We see a famous example of a memorial celebration in our Bible verse today. God commanded the Israelite leader Joshua to set up a memorial to mark the event of the Ark of the Covenant crossing the Jordan River, to remind future generations of what had happened there:

In this case, God wanted the Israelites to remember his deliverance. The stone memorial served as a physical reminder of a shaping event in their history. Sometimes the memorial took the form not of a physical monument, but a shared activity, as in the case of the Israelite’s commemoration of their escape from Egypt.

Christians observe their own memorial celebrations; most notably in the “breaking of bread” that recalls Christ’s sacrifice.

Reminders, bitter or sweet, are important to our culture and our history. They remind us where we’ve come from, and whose work got us to where we are.

It’s important that we remember who we are and where we’ve come from. Americans make a point of remembering on Memorial Day. And as Christians, every day is a good day to remember, reflect on, and give thanks for what the Lord has done for us.

Dear Lord, we are thankful for those that have given their life so that we can enjoy our freedom.  Thank You also for laying down Your life so that we may live with You eternally. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Memorial Day 2015

John 15:13  (NIV)

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Memorial Day doesn't mean what it once did. For most, Memorial Day is just another Monday holiday meaning a three day weekend. It marks the beginning of summer. It's the weekend of the Indy 500. School's out. The pools open. It provides the first real chance for picnics, BBQ's, and maybe an outing to the lake. It hasn't always been that way.

Memorial Day grew out of the human need to remember where we have been. Only then can we figure out where we are going. The cherished memories of a nation, a town, a church, or a family provide the values and dream that one generation passes on to the next. Forgetting means dropping the torch.

All of this was on the mind of President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863 as he made his way to the Pennsylvania battlefield. He feared that he might be the last president of the United States. The country teetered on the brink of self-destruction. The ceremony that afternoon would dedicate the site of the cemetery for the over forty thousand soldiers killed at Gettysburg in the three-day battle the previous July. Lincoln's remarks provided the seedbed for what would become Memorial Day.

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal," he began. Less than two minutes later, he concluded, "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here (referring to the sacrifice of the soldiers). It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

Over the next few years, many communities set aside special days to honor the fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Some services were held with little fan fare. Others involved marching bands and speeches. All included decorating soldier's graves with flowers and flags. Most towns referred to the event as Decoration Day. After World War I the day expanded to honor the American heroes of all wars. Gradually the custom of decorating the graves of relatives and friends became a part of the day.

Eventually the official name was changed to Memorial Day. Originally, the day always fell on May 30. In 1971 congress moved the date to the last Monday in May. 

Let us never forget those that sacrificed their life so we may have the freedoms we have today.  Also remember the Lord Jesus Christ that gave His life so that we may have eternal life.

Dear Lord, thank You for the men and women that have given their all for the freedoms we enjoy. Be with their loved ones that have suffered the great loss, hold them in Your loving arms. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Thanking Those Who Serve

Romans 13:7 (NIV)

Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Memorial Day is a day that is set aside to remember, and honor, our brave soldiers who have given their lives to protect our land and keep us free.  It began as a day to honor our Civil War dead, but after World War I, it was expanded to include our war dead from all the wars in which America was involved. 

According to historycentral.com , our country has fought in 12 wars (not counting the Afghanistan War which brings the updated total to 13.)  In every one of these cases, we have asked the young people of our nation to be willing to give their lives in the name of freedom (for us and others in foreign lands.)    The sacrifices these young men and women have made can never be totally comprehended nor can they be repaid by us.

Just stop and think about a little of what these wonderful young people have given up for us.  At the very least, they have given years of their life, time away from their families, to serve their country which they love. They have given us any chance of setting down “roots”, having to move from base to base once every 3 to 4 years.   Many will be physically disabled the rest of their life, having the use of one or more of their limbs taken from them.   Scores have been mentally disabled resulting in them being unable to handle day to day living.   And thousands upon thousands have given the ultimate sacrifice, their life, so that we can continue to enjoy our lives living safely in a land of freedom.

We can never begin to understand what they went through, and are continuing to go through, all because they love their nation and the freedoms we take for granted every day.  We can never begin to repay them and their families for the sacrifices they have made for us.  It seems as if saying “Thank You” just isn't enough.

Dear Lord, we thank You for all those that put their life on the line for the freedoms that we have. We pray for safety for those who are serving now. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Memorial Day

Mark 14:3-9 (New International Version)

3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. 4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. 6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

* Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. 

* By 1890 it was recognized by all of the Northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I, when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war. It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May, passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971.

* In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem: 

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

* Memorial Day not only recognizes a national sacrifice, but a spiritual sacrifice as well. In other words, we not only commemorate the blood that was shed to ensure our national freedom; but, we also commemorate the blood that was shed to ensure our spiritual freedom, as well, by the Lord Jesus Christ.

* Most of the Memorial Day observances in our nation will look to graves filled with the bodies of those soldiers who died in service to their country. However, as believers, our Memorial Day can also look to a vacant cross, and an empty grave to the greatest sacrifice ever given.

Dear Lord we thank You today for the sacrifice You made for each of us. We pray that we would always remember and also take the opportunity to share that great story with all those we come into contact with. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Memorial Day Weekend

John 15:13 (New International Version)

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Memorial Day, for many, means the beginning of Summer. To others, it is a day off to shop. But, as I am sure you really know Memorial Day is a day to honor those who have died in the service of this country.

The word “memorial” comes from the Latin Memorare which is in an  imperative meaning: “Remember!” So, Memorial Day is “Remember! Day.”

This is a day to remember that there are men and women who have died so that you and I could live with greater security, justice and peace. May these fallen soldiers rest in Peace. We owe them a debt of gratitude and our prayers.

In a secondary sense we can also honor those today who currently serve in the military since they have placed their lives on the line for our security and peace.We will have a second opportunity to thank those who still live on Veterans Day.

God bless them all.

The Love of one’s country (Patriotism) is related to the fourth commandment.

It is the duty of citizens to contribute to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity and freedom. The love and service of one’s country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity.

Never forget the price others have paid for our freedom. Take tomorrow to remember and thank those families that have lost a loved one.

Dear Lord as we stop to celebrate our freedom and those that have given it to us help us also remember the freedom that You have given to us by laying down Your life on the cross and raising from the dead to save us from our sins. In Jesus’ name,  Amen. 

Saving the Flag

2 Chronicles 7:14 (New International Version)

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.

She was not the popular girl in high school.  She was in advanced studies, in a school system that idolized their honors program.  My daughters thought the world of her, and with good reason.  Aimee was a patriot.  No apologies nor excuses.  She was an officer in her high school  JROTC program.  She was disciplined.  Courageous.  And she loved her country.
You could always pick Aimee out in a field filled with young, military hopefuls marching in formation.  She was sharp.  She was proud.  And, in spite of her petite form, she always looked tall.  But Aimee did not have it easy.  She was the butt of jokes and ridicule.   Aimee worked her heart out in her classes, and she was about to graduate with a  better than 5.0 average, which she had maintained for four straight years.
In a school system where the grade point average of the “honors” classes went up to 6.0, Aimee didn’t stand a chance for Valedictorian.  Some unseen experts decided that Aimee would not become Valedictorian, because it would be unfair to the honors students.  Although she had never made less than an “A” in her entire high school career, some “A-B” student in the honors program outranked Aimee.
The high school Principal fought his way up through the School Board on Aimee’s behalf, to give her the honor she deserved.  It was an outrage that such excellence would be ignored.  It didn’t make the papers, but on graduation day, Aimee received her victory, and she became Co-Valedictorian of her high school class, although many of us thought she had earned the honor to stand alone.  Aimee did not sit with the other graduates.  She stood, proudly, with her JROTC unit, as the assembly turned towards them to salute the flag.  Aimee did not hold the flag, because she was graduating, but she was there, as always, proud to serve.
Graduation was held in the football field.  It was sunny and windy, and it was wet, as it had rained torrents the night before.  Suddenly, the wind kicked up, and the beautiful colors of the red, white, and blue tottered in the air, as the flag holder lost his footing, and the flag careened toward the ground.  Without hesitation, breaking formation, Aimee launched herself through the air, catching the flag and landing in the mud, on her face.
Many in the crowd roared their laughter, but not all of us.  Some of us were in tears, as Aimee, carefully steadied her country’s flag, and came back into formation, her JROTC uniform covered in mud.  But not the flag.  It never touched the ground.  Aimee had saved the flag.
I never met Aimee, but her story is what legends are made of.  Aimee graduated with honors, and she went on to college with an ROTC Scholarship, and on into a military career.  I have no doubt that Aimee is somewhere on the front lines, today, still defending the American flag.
Let’s take today and pause to thank the many that are protecting our flag today and the rest of the year.


Dear Lord we thank You for those have given their life to give us the freedoms we have. We pray that You will be with their family’s today and give them a peace and a feeling of pride for what has been done by their loved one. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Happy Memorial Day

It was 1866 and the United States was recovering from the long and bloody Civil War between the North and the South. Surviving soldiers came home, some with missing limbs, and all with stories to tell. Henry Welles, a drugstore owner in Waterloo, New York, heard the stories and had an idea. He suggested that all the shops in town close for one day to honor the soldiers who were killed in the Civil War and were buried in the Waterloo cemetery. On the morning of May 5, the townspeople placed flowers, wreaths and crosses on the graves of the Northern soldiers in the cemetery. At about the same time, Retired Major General Jonathan A. Logan planned another ceremony, this time for the soldiers who survived the war. He led the veterans through town to the cemetery to decorate their comrades' graves with flags. It was not a happy celebration, but a memorial. The townspeople called it Decoration Day.

In Retired Major General Logan's proclamation of Memorial Day, he declared:

"The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country and during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit."

The two ceremonies were joined in 1868, and northern states commemorated the day on May 30. The southern states commemorated their war dead on different days. Children read poems and sang civil war songs and veterans came to school wearing their medals and uniforms to tell students about the Civil War. Then the veterans marched through their home towns followed by the townspeople to the cemetery. They decorated graves and took photographs of soldiers next to American flags. Rifles were shot in the air as a salute to the northern soldiers who had given their lives to keep the United States together.

In 1882, the name was changed to Memorial Day and soldiers who had died in previous wars were honored as well. In the northern United States, it was designated a public holiday. In 1971, along with other holidays, President Richard Nixon declared Memorial Day a federal holiday on the last Monday in May.

Cities all around the United States hold their own ceremonies on the last Monday in May* to pay respect to the men and women who have died in wars or in the service of their country.

Memorial Day is not limited to honor only those Americans from the armed forces. It is also a day for personal remembrance. Families and individuals honor the memories of their loved ones who have died. Church services, visits to the cemetery, flowers on graves or even silent tribute mark the day with dignity and solemnity. It is a day of reflection. However, to many Americans the day also signals the beginning of summer with a three-day weekend to spend at the beach, in the mountains or at home relaxing.

However you chose to spend the day take the time to be thankful.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

- John 15:13

Dear Lord and Heavanly Father, we thank you for the many that have gone before us and the present that are serving now to give us the freedoms we have. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.