George Washington's Prayer; Our Prayer

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"(Micah 6:8 KJV)

"I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation."(George Washington, intent to retire as Commander In Chief of Continental Army, Circular, 8 June 1783)

George Washington's prayer should be all of our daily prayers. The ideas of justice and mercy seems to have gotten lost in the years since the founding of this country. The freedoms afforded us by our Constitution have become distorted. Freedom of speech has become the freedom to lie and to not act justly  or mercifully in order to pursue one's own pursuit of happiness. 

It seems that, way too often, we forget that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is to be afforded to all people. I can barely turn on the news on any day without hearing someone indicting someone else and most often that is based totally on hearsay. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? And, you know what I am talking about! I am not talking about the guy who was caught on camera shooting a clerk in a convenience store. I am talking about the slander thrown about by our politicians! I am talking about the propaganda produced by the news media! No justice! No mercy! Just tear the country apart with slander and lies for personal agendas! This was not the intent of our founding fathers! 

And, I'd really like to know what happened to Jeffrey Epstein's cohorts? As active as he was, someone besides the victims knows something. Not hearing too much about that! Should there not be a real investigation into him or is there one and it just involves too many people who are held in high esteem so it must be swept under the carpet? It is not justice or mercy for any victims to sweep crimes under the carpet. 

George Washington prayed that we would entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for our fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and for those who have served in the field. He prayed that we would do justice, love mercy, and live our lives with charity, humility and pacific temper of mind.

May God help us all to humble ourselves and with peaceful hearts and minds to do justice and to love mercy.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Law Upon Law

Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them." (Luke 11:46 NIV)

We are in the midst of primary elections around the county. These elections include offices all the way from local community offices to Federal positions. To a certain degree we will be electing leaders to make important decisions for us based on a bit of fake news; a lot of bitter back-biting; nasty, nasty attacks on the opponents. Who can tell which law-makers are best for the positions? As they make decisions they will either instigate, legislate, or enforce new laws stacked upon the old laws supposedly for the sake of justice; for doing what is best for the people. Too often these decisions will be made based on what lobbyists want for themselves or their specific business or cause and not what is actually good for communities or the country as a whole. Egos and greed seem to rule the day.

Unfortunately, John Adams appears to have been perfectly correct when he stated, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." We have an outstanding constitution in this country. However, there are some who think that it should be done away with or at the least drastically changed. They consider it archaic. For an unrighteous nation who needs law upon law to live; maybe it is inadequate. So do we do away with the constitution or do we, as a nation, decide to attempt to live by the righteousness of Christ rather than trusting in these multitudes of laws that we have created to serve justice? For those who believe that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins the law has been put into our hearts and written upon our minds. St. Paul wrote to the Hebrews (10:15-16)  

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

   “This is the covenant I will make with them

   after that time, says the Lord.
   I will put my laws in their hearts,

   and I will write them on their minds.” 

If this would be true for the world, we would have no need for the cost of making law upon law in every corner of the world and the burden that comes about because of these countless laws.

Jesus condemned the teachers of the law, the Pharisees, for loading people down with laws that they could hardly keep. The law that God gave to Moses was not enough. They and we seem to have to add to the laws; to micro-manage society.

It is difficult to keep the law when there are so many that one cannot even know what they all are. I am not just talking about traffic or criminal laws. I am also considering all the laws, the red-tape that comes with daily living; red-tape that goes with building a new home; running a family business; even purchasing insurance. Yes, you have to have all your ducks in a row to even file a claim on insurance you may have been paying on for years. The average person is just trying to earn a living and to live life. But, the burdens that come with so much red-tape take up much of the time that we would otherwise have to live life.

There are way too many rules and regulations to follow. Who can know them all? Sadly, that is the price we pay for living in an unrighteous world. Justice will not happen by making more laws in a lawless world. Justice will only happen when the law and the love of God is written upon our hearts.

God's Peace – Pr. J

The Condition Of Our Hearts

Jeremiah 17 NIV

The priest, Jeremiah, had a lot to say about the condition of the hearts of humankind. The hearts of the people have sin engraved on them. They trust in things of this world. They lust after and trust in wealth. They will do anything to get it, depriving the poor, spending their very life and breath in the pursuit of wealth and happiness.

The sooner we learn that the pursuit of money does not equate with happiness, the better off we will be. In the end we will lose any and all ill-gotten gain.

We all desire some joy and happiness in our lives. But, the truth is that these things do not come from wealth. They do not come from having "stuff." Real joy comes from being in relationship with others, with God. I have always appreciated that Thomas Jefferson changed John Locke's pursuit of life, liberty, and property, in the U.S. Constitution to the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. Property does not necessarily equate with happiness. Just think about the upkeep that goes with more property.. and, the taxes! Think about what happens when greed pervades society! All kinds of sin accompanies greed. Yet, multitudes have hearts so hardened like stone that greed and envy are engraved deeply into them. And... they are miserable! They desire more, but they do not know what that more is. 

   

Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay

    are those who gain riches by unjust means.

When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,

    and in the end they will prove to be fools.

A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,

    is the place of our sanctuary.

Lord, you are the hope of Israel;

    all who forsake you will be put to shame.

Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust

    because they have forsaken the Lord,

    the spring of living water." (Jer 17:11-13 NIV)

But, there is good news. In Ezekiel 36:25-27, God promises that He will remove our hearts of stone so that sin will no longer be engraved on them. "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jer 17:7-8)

There is an answer to our loneliness and sorrow; to our lack of joy. The answer is Jesus Christ, our LORD, who loves us so much that He was willing to die for us, is with us. In that knowledge lies true happiness. May God bless us with hearts filled with His love for Him and for one another.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Freedom Of Religion; To Proclaim the Gospel Peaceably

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."  (First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)

Can you believe it? I am not starting the blog on this Independence Day with scripture. Instead, I want us to think a little bit about the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution today.

Anyone who has heard more than a couple of my sermons has already figured out that I am a proponent of the separation of church and state. Of course, I would like for all people to be followers of Jesus. But, I do not believe that the government should meddle in anyone's religious faith so long as that faith does not bring harm to other's outside of one's faith. When people are harmed; then, it is indeed the government's (law enforcement's) job to step in and stop the abuse. But; history has shown us over and over again that when the state gets involved in the establishment of religion, the church will eventually relinquish its authority over to the state zealots; to kings, to princes, to dictators. Christ will no longer have the last word in the visible church; the state will. Therefore; as Christians, we need to be alert so that we are not freely turning our freedom to worship over to the control of the state. There is a time for peaceful demonstration. We do also have freedom of speech which; unless used will eventually disappear simply by general consensus.

We, in this country, under the constitution, have a right to exercise our faith; no matter who we are. Of course, I am a Christian and I would have that all people come to Jesus. However, as a citizen (and as a Christian) I cannot persecute those of different faiths whether they be Muslin, Jews, Wiccan, or even Satanists. Yes, these and many more groups consider themselves to be religious orders whether I or anyone else likes it or not. The constitution guarantees all religious groups the free exercise of their religions. However, if any religious groups or members thereof actively seek to harm others than the state must step in, not because of anyone's specific religious beliefs; but, because they break the rule of law. The constitution does not give Christians or anyone else the right to trample on the rights of others, whether we agree with them or not.

The first amendment guarantees the rights of all persons to freely exercise their religion. Included in this first amendment is the right of free speech. Christians need to understand that we do have the right to put a voice to our faith. Congress cannot establish any laws that would restrict proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom. Let us not take this freedom lightly and use that freedom to God's glory. So, the question I would like you to consider today is this: 

How many of these freedoms: the freedom to exercise our faith; the freedom to proclaim our faith; the freedom to assemble peaceably have diminished over the years in this country simply because we, as Christians, have not taken advantage of these freedoms? We cannot blame the state for us losing ground when we haven't been willing to stand up, step out, and freely proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God through Jesus the Christ.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1 NIV)

May your celebration of this Independence Day be a safe one; keep your hearts and minds focused on the one who lived and died and lives for you, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God's Peace - Pr. J