God & Country

I want to take just a moment to welcome you here on Memorial Sunday, the Sunday before Memorial Day. This day was first enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved three holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. Memorial Day has been set on the last Monday in May since 1971. Memorial Day was first Remembrance Day, a day we have set aside to remember and honor those who have fought to make and keep us free and those who have died for the same cause. It was, and is still used by some to decorate the graves of those loved ones who are lost and the military men and women of our nation. All too often we just see it as a day to be off of work, a day to cook out, be with family and friends, which is good, but if were not for those who have fought and died, those who would not quit, refused to give up, continued to push on regardless of the conditions or the enemy, we might very well be living under the British flag, or the German, Japanese or Russian. But we live under the stars and strips, in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Where we are still free to go to the church of our choice, where we are still free to tell others about Jesus, where we can still have a manger scene in our front yard, where we can fly the flag, but these very freedoms may all go away if some politicians get their way. We need to be pro-active as Christians in politics, voting for God fearing men and women, voting out those who vote in an anti-Christian way, making phone calls, writing letters and e-mails to those who represent us. That is our responsibility! Did you know that the U.S. House Judiciary Committee of Congress in 1854 wrote; “Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, That Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle...In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity… That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expect it to remain the religion of their descendants.” What has happened since then?