July 5
"Heaven will be the perfection we've always longed for. All the things that made Earth unlovely and tragic will be absent in heaven." -- Billy Graham
How much is a billion? What's the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire?
A million seconds is 13 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years!
A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.
A billion hours ago man had not yet walked on earth.
A billion dollars ago was yesterday at the U.S. Treasury.
Pledge of Allegiance by Red Skelton
As a schoolboy, one of Red Skelton's teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own.
I - Me, an individual, a committee of one.
Pledge - Dedicate all of my worldly good to give without self-pity.
Allegiance - My love and my devotion.
To the Flag - Our standard; Old Glory; a symbol of Courage; and wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody's job.
of the United - That means that we have all come together.
States - Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided by imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common cause, and that is love of country, of America..
And to the Republic - A Republic - a sovereign state in which power is invested in the representatives chosen by the people to govern. And the government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
For which it stands
One Nation One Nation - meaning, so blessed by God.
Indivisible - Incapable of being divided.
With Liberty - Which is Freedom; the right of power for one to live his own life, without fears, threats, or any sort of retaliation.
And Justice - The principle, and qualities, of dealing fairly with others.
For All - For All - that means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.
Now, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God.
“When you begin to walk with God, He may permit you to walk by sight more than faith. But after a while, He will begin removing the visible symbols and let you tremble. When that happens, you can be sure that He is about to teach you how to walk by faith.” (Oswald Chambers)
What‘s Wrong in America. “Jesus showed us that the surest road to wisdom is not speculation, reasoning, or reading human books, but by meditating on the Word of God.” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon) [Christian Bookstores have an awful lot of pretty books on the shelves, but too few broken hearts on the altar, too few teary eyes on the Savior.]
Money is never an object; flaunting it is all too frequently the object.
In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away...
GOD BLESS AMERICA
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).
LAND THAT I LOVE
"Bring them up ... into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8).
STAND BESIDE HER AND GUIDE HER
"Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ... your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast" (Psalm 139:7,10).
THROUGH THE NIGHT WITH A LIGHT FROM ABOVE
"And by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night" (Exodus 13:21). "Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:105).
FROM THE MOUNTAINS, TO THE PRAIRIES,
TO THE OCEANS WHITE WITH FOAM
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place" (Psalm 8:3). "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it" (Psalm 24:1).
GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME
"And I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today, 'cause there ain't no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA!" ("God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood)
You do not have to agree with all that is going on in our country to be proud of your country. Urge your people this weekend to be men and women of prayer, patriotism and great faith ... that is our nation's only hope. God Bless America!
The American Creed By Chuck Colson 7/3/2009
'We Hold These Truths...'
The great British intellectual G. K. Chesterton wrote that “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on [a] creed.”
Think about that for a moment. Other nations were founded on the basis of race, or by the power of kings or emperors who accumulated lands and the peasants who inhabited those lands.
But America was—and is to this day—different. It was founded on a shared belief. Or, as Chesterton said, on a creed.
And what is that creed that sets us apart? It is the eloquent, profound, and simple statement penned by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence:
“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.”
I’ll never forget when I graduated from Brown University during the Korean War. I couldn’t wait to become a Marine officer, to give my life if necessary, to defend that creed. To defend the idea that our rights come from God Himself and are not subject to whims of governments or tyrants. That humans ought to be free to pursue their most treasured hopes and aspirations.
Perhaps some 230 years later, we take these words for granted. But in 1776, they were earth-shaking—indeed, revolutionary.
Yet today, they are in danger of being forgotten altogether. According to Gallup, 66 percent of American adults have no idea that the words, “We hold these truths . . .” come from the Declaration of Independence. Even worse, only 45 percent of college seniors know that the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are proclaimed in the Declaration.
As America grows more and more diverse culturally, religiously, ethnically, it is critical that we re-embrace the American creed.
America has always been a “melting pot.” But what is the pot that holds our multicultural stew together? Chesterton said the pot’s “original shape was traced on the lines of Jeffersonian democracy.” A democracy founded on those self-evident truths expressed in the Declaration of Independence. And as Chesterton remarked, “The pot must not melt.”
Abraham Lincoln understood this so very well. For him, the notion that all men are created equal was “the electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world.”
So tomorrow, go to the Fourth of July parade. Go to the neighborhood barbecue and enjoy the hot dogs and apple pie.
But here’s an idea for you. Why not take time out at the picnic to read the Declaration of Independence aloud with your friends and your neighbors.
Listen—and thrill—to those words that bind us together as a nation of freedom-loving people: 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.
These are the words Americans live for and, if necessary, die for.
How much is a billion? What's the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire?
A million seconds is 13 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years!
A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.
A billion hours ago man had not yet walked on earth.
A billion dollars ago was yesterday at the U.S. Treasury.
Pledge of Allegiance by Red Skelton
As a schoolboy, one of Red Skelton's teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own.
I - Me, an individual, a committee of one.
Pledge - Dedicate all of my worldly good to give without self-pity.
Allegiance - My love and my devotion.
To the Flag - Our standard; Old Glory; a symbol of Courage; and wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody's job.
of the United - That means that we have all come together.
States - Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided by imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common cause, and that is love of country, of America..
And to the Republic - A Republic - a sovereign state in which power is invested in the representatives chosen by the people to govern. And the government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
For which it stands
One Nation One Nation - meaning, so blessed by God.
Indivisible - Incapable of being divided.
With Liberty - Which is Freedom; the right of power for one to live his own life, without fears, threats, or any sort of retaliation.
And Justice - The principle, and qualities, of dealing fairly with others.
For All - For All - that means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.
Now, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God.
“When you begin to walk with God, He may permit you to walk by sight more than faith. But after a while, He will begin removing the visible symbols and let you tremble. When that happens, you can be sure that He is about to teach you how to walk by faith.” (Oswald Chambers)
What‘s Wrong in America. “Jesus showed us that the surest road to wisdom is not speculation, reasoning, or reading human books, but by meditating on the Word of God.” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon) [Christian Bookstores have an awful lot of pretty books on the shelves, but too few broken hearts on the altar, too few teary eyes on the Savior.]
Money is never an object; flaunting it is all too frequently the object.
In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away...
GOD BLESS AMERICA
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).
LAND THAT I LOVE
"Bring them up ... into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8).
STAND BESIDE HER AND GUIDE HER
"Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ... your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast" (Psalm 139:7,10).
THROUGH THE NIGHT WITH A LIGHT FROM ABOVE
"And by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night" (Exodus 13:21). "Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:105).
FROM THE MOUNTAINS, TO THE PRAIRIES,
TO THE OCEANS WHITE WITH FOAM
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place" (Psalm 8:3). "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it" (Psalm 24:1).
GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME
"And I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today, 'cause there ain't no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA!" ("God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood)
You do not have to agree with all that is going on in our country to be proud of your country. Urge your people this weekend to be men and women of prayer, patriotism and great faith ... that is our nation's only hope. God Bless America!
The American Creed By Chuck Colson 7/3/2009
'We Hold These Truths...'
The great British intellectual G. K. Chesterton wrote that “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on [a] creed.”
Think about that for a moment. Other nations were founded on the basis of race, or by the power of kings or emperors who accumulated lands and the peasants who inhabited those lands.
But America was—and is to this day—different. It was founded on a shared belief. Or, as Chesterton said, on a creed.
And what is that creed that sets us apart? It is the eloquent, profound, and simple statement penned by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence:
“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.”
I’ll never forget when I graduated from Brown University during the Korean War. I couldn’t wait to become a Marine officer, to give my life if necessary, to defend that creed. To defend the idea that our rights come from God Himself and are not subject to whims of governments or tyrants. That humans ought to be free to pursue their most treasured hopes and aspirations.
Perhaps some 230 years later, we take these words for granted. But in 1776, they were earth-shaking—indeed, revolutionary.
Yet today, they are in danger of being forgotten altogether. According to Gallup, 66 percent of American adults have no idea that the words, “We hold these truths . . .” come from the Declaration of Independence. Even worse, only 45 percent of college seniors know that the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are proclaimed in the Declaration.
As America grows more and more diverse culturally, religiously, ethnically, it is critical that we re-embrace the American creed.
America has always been a “melting pot.” But what is the pot that holds our multicultural stew together? Chesterton said the pot’s “original shape was traced on the lines of Jeffersonian democracy.” A democracy founded on those self-evident truths expressed in the Declaration of Independence. And as Chesterton remarked, “The pot must not melt.”
Abraham Lincoln understood this so very well. For him, the notion that all men are created equal was “the electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world.”
So tomorrow, go to the Fourth of July parade. Go to the neighborhood barbecue and enjoy the hot dogs and apple pie.
But here’s an idea for you. Why not take time out at the picnic to read the Declaration of Independence aloud with your friends and your neighbors.
Listen—and thrill—to those words that bind us together as a nation of freedom-loving people: 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.
These are the words Americans live for and, if necessary, die for.
posted by joypastordon at 8:48 PM
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