Praise the Lord
for this July 4, when "America the Beautiful" celebrates its independence. The
Lord of all nations blessed us with a glorious day yesterday. We drove up to
Owasco Lake, one of the Fingers Lakes. Our Upper New York Conference of the
United Methodist Church owns a beautiful camp and retreat center on the shores
of this beautiful lake. This is one of the six such centers here in upper New
York. Camp Casowasco is an amazing place with many beautiful facilities,
including a beautiful modern Log Cabin given by one family to be used by
pastors. A mansion, formerly belonging to Case family, has been given to the
church to be used to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Nearly two hundred
children come to the camp and retreat center every week throughout the summer to
be blessed by the Lord. Praise the Lord for the way He has blessed the Church
throughout the world with some of the best sites and centers. Jesus has the
"Best View " wherever we go throughout the world. The Earth belongs to the Lord.
Many
countries of the world celebrate their independence day or National day, with a
parade of guns, tanks, weapons of mass destruction, and soldiers who march in a
show of strength and music. Here in America we celebrate July 4 with family
picnics, bands, concerts, mega-fireworks, and family gatherings. The liberty
Bell is one of the most recognized symbols of freedom in the entire world. “Let
freedom ring” is one of the most widely known phrases ever uttered by man! Our
Founding Fathers understood that there is a powerful connection between faith
and freedom, and there is a direct connection between government and 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."
No other
document speaks as powerfully about rights and liberty as does the Declaration
of Independence! Our Founding Fathers did their homework before signing their
names to that document. For example, Benjamin Franklin said, “We have gone back
to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of
Republics…and we have viewed modern states all around Europe.”
I love the word “unalienable”. The words “unalienable rights” have a very specific and unique point of origination for the Declaration of Independence . Unalienable rights are not the graces of government but gifts from God! “Unalienable” = non transferable to one another, but something that can only come from above.
James Madison used this word to say that freedom is not humanly designed or achieved by evolution – it’s divinely designed by our Creator! James Madison was also saying the key to maintaining freedom is to trust only in Almighty God – there’s no other way! The Declaration of Independence) is not just a simple secular statement of rebellion from a king but rather a spectacular spiritual statement of dependence on God!
Thomas Jefferson - the one who wrote most of this document - helps us to understand this better when he said, “The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.” Life and liberty cannot be separated or freedom is lost! Jefferson went on to say this, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis - a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God.”
For this reason this country was never intended to be an atheistic country - our most powerful documents are great only because they are a beautiful reflection of an awesome God! That’s why Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Without God, there can be no American form of government, nor an American way of life.”
I love the word “unalienable”. The words “unalienable rights” have a very specific and unique point of origination for the Declaration of Independence . Unalienable rights are not the graces of government but gifts from God! “Unalienable” = non transferable to one another, but something that can only come from above.
James Madison used this word to say that freedom is not humanly designed or achieved by evolution – it’s divinely designed by our Creator! James Madison was also saying the key to maintaining freedom is to trust only in Almighty God – there’s no other way! The Declaration of Independence) is not just a simple secular statement of rebellion from a king but rather a spectacular spiritual statement of dependence on God!
Thomas Jefferson - the one who wrote most of this document - helps us to understand this better when he said, “The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.” Life and liberty cannot be separated or freedom is lost! Jefferson went on to say this, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis - a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God.”
For this reason this country was never intended to be an atheistic country - our most powerful documents are great only because they are a beautiful reflection of an awesome God! That’s why Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Without God, there can be no American form of government, nor an American way of life.”
In
Christ,
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