On the 237th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, why does this seem less of a celebration?
We know where we’ve come from. How did we get where we are today?
Today, we are in the middle of learning how our freedoms have been eroded by government. The Internal Revenue Service uses its (800 pound gorilla) influence to intimidate and control while the National Security Agency spies on ordinary Americans. Freedom of religion is imperiled as people use political correctness and hate speech to take away liberty. Those who serve in the military are in danger of losing their ability to witness of their faith.
Maybe at some point these will become one-time events with no future consequences but it doesn’t feel that way today. Today, it feels like 1984 with Big-brother everywhere.
How did we get here?
Thirty years ago an Anglican Bishop spoke in the chapel of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. It seemed like a history lesson; it became a prophetic word.
He spoke of democracy and how democracy could only flourish where the gospel has flourished. He pointed us to various places in the world, mostly Asia, without a strong Christian heritage. Those places experienced totalitarianism.
I left thanking God for the Christian faith and how it points us to freedom. Like the veterans of WWII, I never thought we would come to this in America.
Doesn’t it feel God has shut up the heavens, commanded the locust, and sent pestilence? (2 Chronicles 7:13).
We are seeing the gradual abandonment of Christian faith and culture and it is showing up in our freedoms. “Any honest analysis of contemporary Western history would have to recognize that no effective legal protection against tyranny can, in the long run, be sustained without the higher standards of justice and morality brought into the texture of Western societies by Christianity” (Augusto Zimmerman). Carlton Hayes, the great historian, made this profound conclusion: “Wherever Christians’ ideals have been generally accepted and their practice sincerely attempted, there is a dynamic liberty; and wherever Christianity has been ignored or rejected, persecuted or chained to the state, there is tyranny.”
What do we need to do?
We need to hold closely to the cross. We need to repent of our careless, thoughtless, and compromising ways. We need to humble ourselves and pray. We need to seek God’s face. We need to turn from our wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14).
More than anything we need to ask God to hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
And, we need to stand strong for the Truth. We may only humbly ask that God would bless America.
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8 Responses
Formula for success in Christ from micro to macro, the difference of One:
Colossians 3: 10 & 11
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Galatians 3:27-29
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for all you of you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if all of you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Romans 12: 4 & 5
For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
E Pluribus Unum – Out of many, one.
Moral Basis stated in the Declaration of Independence and concluding resolve:
Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God
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.
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.
May we grasp hold of God’s Provision, Direction moving as One.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done, On earth, as it is in Heaven.
Blessings
Well first of all the A.O.C. were the Original idea for how the united saetts of america would be governed. But once they found out that they were a weak form of government congress (and every one els) decided to throw them out, so they went to work on a new form of government. Eventually America was split up into two different people Federalist and Anti-Federalist. The federalist wanted a strong central government and the Anti wanted a weak central government. Eventually they agreed to come up with the Constitution, and afterwords the Bill of rights. The main difference is that the A.O.C. were a weak and unsuccessful goverment.But the summary of the A.O.C. is ..Establishes the name of the confederation as The United States of America. Asserts the equality of the separate saetts with the confederation government, i.e. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated. Establishes the United States as a new nation, a sovereign union of sovereign saetts, united . . . for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them . . . , while declaring that the union is perpetual, and can only be altered by approval of Congress with ratification by all the state legislatures. Establishes freedom of movement–anyone can pass freely between saetts, excluding paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice. All people are entitled to the rights established by the state into which he travels. If a crime is committed in one state and the perpetrator flees to another state, he will be extradited to and tried in the state in which the crime was committed. Allocates one vote in the Congress of the Confederation (United States in Congress Assembled) to each state, which was entitled to a delegation of between two and seven members. Members of Congress were appointed by state legislatures; individuals could not serve more than three out of any six years. Only the central government is allowed to conduct foreign relations and to declare war. No saetts may have navies or standing armies, or engage in war, without permission of Congress (although the state militias are encouraged). When an army is raised for common defense, colonels and military ranks below colonel will be named by the state legislatures. Expenditures by the United States will be paid by funds raised by state legislatures, and apportioned to the saetts based on the real property values of each.Defines the powers of the central government: to declare war, to set weights and measures (including coins), and for Congress to serve as a final court for disputes between saetts. Defines a Committee of the States to be a government when Congress is not in session. Requires nine saetts to approve the admission of a new state into the confederacy; pre-approves Canada, if it applies for membership. Reaffirms that the Confederation accepts war debt incurred by Congress before the Articles.
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