Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…earlier in the week I finished a new blog entitled, “God IS love! #339, which I intended to publish today. However, it just dawned on me over the weekend that this is Memorial Day, which is one of my favorite holidays. I would be remiss if I didn’t share my traditional Memorial Day message. Therefore, I hope you all have a great Memorial Day celebration with family and friends, and please take a moment to ponder the true meaning of this very important day.
I love America. I believe in America. I believe that even with all its issues facing our great country today – including the short-comings of our culture, America is still the greatest country the world has ever seen. And when I think of the men and women who stepped up to serve in the Armed Forces in times of peril, many who never returned home to their families or loved ones, I always get a lump in my throat and a sense of pride about who “WE” are as Americans. My father served in WW II; I served in the Vietnam era; and I am enclosing a video clip later that summarizes the horrors of war as seen through the eyes of my long time hero, Colonel Arnald Gabriel.
Here is a familiar quote that packs a wallop in its truth. “The only two people who have ever volunteered to sacrifice their life for the benefit of others were Jesus Christ and the American soldier.” Wow! And what was their common purpose? So that others could be set free, or remain free. Jesus’ sacrifice freed us from the bondage of sin; the American soldier’s sacrifice keeps us free from tyranny and oppression, which illuminates the statement, “Freedom isn’t free!”
Jonathan Cahn, messianic Rabbi, history scholar and best-selling author of The Harbinger, makes an interesting observation when he compares our country with ancient Israel. He states, “No doubt Israel was blessed from the beginning: first as a people group because they were descendants of righteous men (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), then later as a nation, delivered from bondage to the most powerful nation at that time – Egypt. God chose to show his power through Israel because it was the smallest and weakest of nations.”
Cahn goes on to say, “America was the only other nation to receive such a blessing”. “And why was that”, you might ask? Cahn continues his thoughts: “Because this was a nation founded on prayer and built on Judeo-Christian principles. Therefore, America would rise to heights no other nation had ever known. Not that it was ever without fault or sin, but America did aspire to fulfill its calling.” And what was that calling”, you ask? According to Cahn, “To be a vessel of redemption, an instrument of God’s purposes, a light to the world. It would give refuge to the world’s poor and needy, and hope to its oppressed. It would stand against tyranny. It would fight, more than once, against the dark movements of the modern world that threatened to engulf the earth”.
The United States declared its independence in 1776, adopted the Constitution in 1787, added the Bill of Rights in 1791, and was clearly recognized as a world power by 1798. In light of world events at that time (ie. the effects of the French Revolution), religious persecution was rampant in Europe. America was that light on the hill; that bastion of hope for all people seeking freedom…freedom of worship, or just freedom to fulfill their dreams, to be “all they could be”.
An inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty identifies America’s purpose. It was taken from a sonnet, The New Colossus, written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 and reads: “Give me your tired, your poor; your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore; send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the Golden Door!” Liberty’s image is one of strength, majesty, and hope. It is visible in her eternally raised right arm which carries the torch of freedom. Holding aloft a light that never fails, she represents hope to the hopeless, welcome to the poor, and courage to the meek. Facing outward toward the ocean, her lamp is a beacon on stormy seas, drawing to her shores those from afar who seek a better life. For these, and for countless others who embrace her message, the Statue of Liberty represents the Golden Door. It is the passageway to liberty and freedom from oppression that is the promise of America – a land, a people, a way of life.
For Americans, freedom is our most precious possession. “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. The phrase gives three examples of the “unalienable rights” which the Declaration says has been given to all human beings by their Creator, and for which governments are created to protect. It is the protection of those rights that have inspired brave men and women to answer their country’s call . “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” is the absolute antithesis of Socialism!
I mentioned earlier a video clip that features my life-long hero, Colonel Arnald Gabriel. I know Colonel Gabriel as the commander of The United States Air Force Band in Washington D.C. but as you will see from the video, in World War II he served as a combat machine gunner with the famed 29th Infantry Division in Europe. On June 6, 1944 he went ashore at Omaha Beach with Easy Company, 116th Infantry, 29th Division. He received two Bronze Star medals, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the French Croix de Guerre. This man, and all who served this great country, should be our heroes today. They bring this phrase to life: freedom isn’t free.
https://www.facebook.com/Tapsbugler/videos/10152384981199627/ turn volume up (If for any reason this hyperlink doesn’t open, please copy it to your browser. You will be glad you did.)
My hope and prayer today is that as Americans, we will have the courage to do anything and everything possible to protect our freedoms from enemies – both foreign and domestic. As Americans, we must never let the sacrifices of our brave men and women be in vain. I hope you will take time today and thank a veteran for their service, then take time to thank God for blessing our great nation.
Happy Memorial Day, and may God continue to bless America.
Please feel free to respond to this posting, and please “like” and share it with other social media friends.
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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