God bless America, still...please.

Dad use to tell the story that when he was a kid during WWII his mom would listen to Kate Smith sing God bless America everyday on the radio. God help the child who interrupted the song! I've always had this image of his mom's frail old hand reaching out and smacking some unsuspecting kid who had the nerve to speak during Kate's performance...Truth is my grandmother, whom I never met, was only 37 when she died. I was 37 when I buried her son. Hmmm. Dad is always on my mind this time of year. Yesterday would have been his 75th birthday. Patriotism and my folks get me misty eyed often, even now.

Well, you can read about my folks in the lovely little devotional I wrote about them...shameless plug? Maybe. What the heck, it's my blog for crying out loud! Go buy the darn book, support the family here. It's on Amazon and I am out of freebies! Sheesh.

Back to the patriotism point here. That was my point by the way.

I have a very faint remembrance of America's 200th birthday when I was 8 years old. It was the at the height of the 1970's recession but all we saw were signs that read "The Spirit of '76" all over the place. I know it was one of the years we spent at a 4th of July party and the party was all that and more. Funny that as bad as things were, we kids only knew the spirit of '76, not the heart ache. Our parents knew only too well. The firemen in Yonkers were being payed with IOU checks and my dad was all but out of work as a moving man. It was tough times.

But it was America and that meant that tough times were temporary. Never once did they doubt that we, the kids at the time, would inherit a country better then the way they found it.

Today, the G8 protests are hailed and the Tea Party is shunned. How could burning our flag be okay and waiving it wrong? How did we get to the point when all that makes our nation so great could now be so wrong and how could so many in the information age be so well, uninformed? Notice I didn't say stupid...I think that shows great restrained.

I think one of the thing that has shocked me most is the number of Americans who voted for a president based on the color of his skin...I thought we were better then that. I was born on the day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and I have always felt a kinship with him...I think he would be mortified by it all.

Samuel Adams was more then a tavern owner (if you get to see "John Adams" it is a fantastic mini-series...less the portrayal of Samuel Adams.) but rather an incredible man of God.

"Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual - - or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country." - Samuel Adams

How could any true believer have voted for a president who claims that the sanctity of life is above his pay scale? Sorry, the social gospel is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And while we are at it, any pastor who supports such a stance, well...honestly, watch who teaches you.

Voter intimidation...here? Never.

Government take over of the banks, health care, the car industry, here? Never.

We lose freedom by the second here now. What will our nation be for our children? Yes, I fear for them and what they have to look forward to.

I could turn this post into the beginning of a rant that could last well past the next election cycle, should we still have the freedom to vote based on a man's good word. But I won't. Chances are, if you are reading this, I am preaching to the choir and you already know the trouble we are in.

I just wanted to remember myself what a Christian nation we are. We are the most Christian nation the world has ever seen and so the enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy. Because we have a nation based on the freedom laid down for us by Christ, the world hates us...we should not be surprised, He told us they would.

As a human being, created in the likeness of God, I am free to obey God's law or suffer the consequences. As an American, I am also free to obey the law of the land or suffer the consequences. There is very little difference. As Americans we are free to worship God as the one true God or to worship any god we choose. But our laws are still based in Christianity...you may not have to worship Him, but obey the law or go to jail. Sorry, so much for separation of church and state all.

I re-read the Declaration of Independence today. This made me giggle and while I know it is about King George, giggle along with me while you think about how in bed our president is with BP:

"He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people."

...okay our president has not burnt our towns but the rest of that sure is true.

It is the end of the document that makes me shiver:

"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."

Yeah, we have been to tea parties and we have supported those who stand for Truth. Let us not forget what these men did in signing that paper. It was a death sentence for them and I wonder what we are willing to do today to stand with them in a very dark hour for our republic.

Wonder or not, we can pray. I still believe that God will protect His own, even if the remnant is small. God cares very much about real estate and who he allows to live where. It is no accident of birth that we the people, live in a nation such as this.

I pray we remember the sacrifices made for our nation. No freedom does not come free. And yes, I do still pray that God will bless America, in mercy and grace even as we fight the good fight and proclaim:

Don't tread on ME!