America – From A Pastor's Heart

On this July 4th weekend, there are so many things that cause my heart to rejoice and express a sincere note of gratitude and patriotism as an American!

That God allowed me to be born to godly, Christian parents and to be born again (John 3) in the United States of America!
For parents, church, family and public education that taught and demonstrated what it was to be a respectful, God-honoring citizen of the USA!
For a dad who proudly served his country in the Army during the Korean War.
For my mom who loved to play patriotic music in our home either on the piano or through the stereo.
That I could learn the history of this great land through a correct worldview and not one rewritten to suit the desires of a socialist agenda.
For trips to Washington, DC, Appomattox and Chancellorsville, VA, President Lincoln’s birthplace, West Point, the USS Wilmington, Fort Sumter and many other places of historical value while still living at home with my folks.
After marriage, the Korean War Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Lincoln Memorial, President Ronald Reagan Library, the Twin Towers Memorial, and many more.
To stand at Bristol Motor Speedway with over 140,000 fans and watch the American flag descend to the track via a parachutist while Lee Greenwood sang, “God Bless the USA!”
To pledge my allegiance to the flag and the values it represents!!
The joy of watching the precision and glory of the Air Force Thunderbirds at Shaw Air Force Base, Sumter, SC.
To attend patriotic concerts such as the ones in Kingsport, TN and Murfreesboro, TN.
Singing our National Anthem many, many times in many different locations with my hand across my heart!
To be parked on the hill in Johnson City, TN, for the fireworks and to hear all the car radios around us tuned to the freedom music from a local station. Will miss that this year!
For family picnics with us all wearing Old Navy patriotic t-shirts!
Sparklers, fireworks, hot dogs, homemade ice cream, strawberry pie, etc.
To share a word of thanks to everyone who has served in our military.
To have preached the funerals of men and women who served in our military.
Recently, watching a WWII veteran slowly rise to salute the flag as it was folded and presented to a grieving wife. Tears flowed down my cheek and my heart swelled with gratitude!
To join with other believers on a Sunday morning to acknowledge God’s goodness to us in this land, not as an act of idolatry, but one of sincere thanksgiving!!

Today, I will say that it is hard for me to ask God to bless our nation when we have certainly not blessed Him in so many ways by turning our back on Him, disregarding prayer and the Word, killing millions of babies, displaying a hatred for Christ, and living for the American Dream rather than surrendering to righteousness. Nevertheless, I do ask that God would bless our land with His mercy and grace that we may continue the cause of freedom and the Gospel around the world for His glory!

Election Day 2018

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
²The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
³“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

⁴He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
⁵Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

⁷I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
⁸Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

¹⁰Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
¹¹Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
¹²Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

(Psalm 2)