MOVING FORWARD - pastor mike landry

I love this holiday - Independence Day. I've always been intrigued by our nation's beginning and have devoured many books related to the Revolutionary War and biographies of our Founding Fathers.

As a child, who wasn't raised in a Christian home, I tried to imagine what life would have been back then. It always puzzled me as I read about these heroes of mine and how they endured such hardship and risks. Their faith always seemed to sustain them and guide them. I couldn't relate to their beliefs but certainly couldn't deny them.

It's interesting that many, these days, would have us believe that our nation's early leaders were able to separate their personal spiritual views from their prescription for governmental policies. Our Forefathers are accused of approaching the beginning of our Republic, called the United States of America with a secular worldview. I've come to think that those who would make such claims are either uninformed, unread, or deliberately attempting to rewrite history.

To understand the Christian faith is to know that you cannot separate one's belief in God from his prescription for life, nor his lifestyle. In fact, the New Testament nails that truth when it says in James 2:14-17 that "faith without works is dead." One who can separate his prescription for life from his faith is at best a hypocrite.

Our most precious national documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are saturated with references to God and the importance of faith. These documents affirmed and built on the timeless and eternal truths of God and revealed in Scripture. How else could one honestly interpret this phrase in the Declaration of Independence?

"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."

Or how about George Washington's farewell speech on September 19, 1796:

"It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

I thank God that our Forefathers were not ashamed to be known as men of faith. Their knowledge of the God of the Bible and His ways made a huge difference in the beginnings of our nation.

One more thing. For those who wonder or would debate whether our first President, George Washington, was a Christian, I encourage you to consider this entry from from his personal prayer book:

"Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the emaculate blood of the lamb and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thee and thy son, Jesus Christ."

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Labels: christianity, constitution, George Washington, Independence Day, patriotism