Independence Day, 2018

God Bless America, land that I love; stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam, God Bless America, my Home Sweet Home.

Come Holy Spirit. Americans do not even begin to comprehend their blessings in not only being Americans but living in a nation founded by Christians. It is easy to trust when things go well but Americans and Christians have learned to trust when things DO NOT go well; the fortitude represented by their flag and the Bible.

In my lifetime our spines were tingled hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America"...this overweight woman with such a marvelous voice. Have you ever considered the number of people in the world who have never known 1 day of happiness? When you are in these dictator ruled, empty religion, idol worshipping countries (and I have been in most of them) you realize not only the joy of salvation but the beauty of a democratic republic. The word of God is like a diamond mine in South Africa, facets of precious stones reflecting everything good; the ultimate determination of what is genuine. The American Constitution stands out far above and beyond any other form of government the mind of man has comprehended. This is the reason that citizens will break their back to pay taxes voluntarily, raise their children to defend their nation.

Like the equator, mankind operates on either side of an imaginary line. We really cannot read the minds of many who do not agree with us about our faith or our patriotism. We must cut slack; their experiences, what baggage they carry around. In the Muslim countries, they only know what they were taught...schoolhouse/courthouse/their own house, by their own parents. Both C.S. Lewis and Friedrich Nietzsche have told us that Satan's ultimate plan, to enforce the illusion of pseudo-sophistication...that there is always someone coming up with a new plan/method/philosophy for the benefit of man. Satan always pays off in counterfeit...ask those drown by Noah's flood. Stalin or Maos, communist, philosopher, Herod/Nero/Caesars, all efforts to control the minds of men.

Americans will not purchase a pearl at a great price for such an illusion. All the pseudo-sophisticates can offer us is that illusion. The politicians have forgotten that God is in control. The progressives, the indifferent, the modernists, offer us, drink and be merry, "if it feels good, do it", but when you leave the bright lights of "happy hour" and you go home to the darkness of your bedroom the thought always comes to you "is this really all there is to it"? Truth is truth whether anyone believes it or not. In the genus homo-sapiens, the brain cannot accept non-truths whether in advertising, whether from the novelist pen or the movie makers sick mind, God has already incorporated into mankind, a soul; an entity that makes men different from the other animal or plant life. 75% of all animal life on earth is insect life, no soul, no value system. Most pseudo-sophisticates are only appreciated by other pseudo-sophisticates. The real Christian, the real patriot, understands the real values of God and country. Even Jesus, on that cruel cross, said, "they know not what they do". The people chose a robber instead of Him and till this day, many still choose a low-life instead of a Holy life.

The 126,000 of our finest defenders of our American way of life, buried on foreign soil, the millions buried in Arlington and in small family graveyards across this nation, believed in truth and justice. I don't believe you would have ever convinced most of them that a plurality of Americans would stand by and see 59 million innocent babies killed in an abortion holocaust. Those babies deserve justice too. You would never have convinced our early forefathers that the word of God and everything seen in the mind of man would allow people of the same sex marriage, allowed to adopt children; the culture of death, culture of no borders with anything, killings of one another at schoolhouses and church houses. I was in Europe for the 25th Anniversary of Normandy, saw the American cemeteries there. I stood in the Philippines in Manila and saw the graves of the 18,000 buried there. It would be hard to convince these fallen heroes or even those of us who have survived that a nation that has climbed so far up the ladder of success on every plain (education institutions, healthcare facilities, industrial might) could drop so far in our moral and religious values. 

There were 2 things my parents talked about as long as they lived. One was that powerful hurricane called Hazel which struck and destroyed the eastern coast of NC in 1954. The other as the 4th of July picnic which was held every year in the schoolyard at the wonderful 2 room schoolhouse, still standing, across the fields from my grandparent's house. My great aunt was the teacher at that school and died of the flu epidemic in 1918. Her brother, Army officer, member of Theodore Roosevelt's inner circle, died in the Spanish-American war about that time. The entire community came together at the school grounds for a big picnic. Motor vehicles were almost unheard of at that time. Another great uncle would take a team of mules and wagon into town and buy a large block of ice. The only time, during the entire year, they could have ice tea, milkshakes, ice cream. Even in my childhood, power lines were unknown. We used kerosene lamps for light in the house, gas lights for light at the church (I can still see cousin Realmon, standing on a pew, lighting those gaslights). Not only did they have a picnic but they played ball all day. Politicians would come by to this community festival. Everyone came, landowners, tenants, black, white, your status made no difference, they were all Americans...most Christian Americans. There were no police officers in the hallway of the school, no pornography in the school, no sex activity between teachers and pupils and they did not want to live under religious laws such as the Jews of the Old Testament but rather the freedom of choice; to live and learn/sink or swim/according to their own hard work, faith and belief system. They were faithers, action based on belief, sustained by confidence. They had well-placed faith in the future of this nation.

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country". Nathan Hale (6 June 1755 – 22 September 1776)

Return to Remembering: Father's Day 2018

There is nothing as conceivable in the mind of man than the grandeur of the grace of God. Every study, secular or temporal, tells us that good relationships keep us happier and healthier, especially relationships with our own family, and especially relationships with our own parents. That great commandment, given by God to Moses with promise, tells us to honor our parents.

I have been amazed, in a long life, how many young men had no relationship with their own father. Oh! The words they would use about their father, even though they were the carrier of their father's DNA. I never knew a gay male to refer to his father, he always talked about his mother.

Mark Twain said life is not long enough to have hardness, we need softness--certainly softness in the appreciation of parents, no matter how "adrift" the biological father, who planted the seed for your life. There is no way we can know the reason for things working out as they do with couples, divorce, etc. But, God has his reason for bringing people together, for giving certain very definite DNA characteristics to someone like you, characteristics which can never be duplicated. If there had not been illicit sex between David and Bathsheba there would never have been a Solomon, known for the three W's: Wisdom, Wealth, Wives. More importantly, he is known for his great contribution to God's Holy Word.

Every day, we marvel at the courage of so-called "average" people. Every day, we grieve for people who squander their lives... So many suicides among young people.

We all must come to the realization that we cannot jump further than we have jumped already. We are not stuck where we start. That great preacher, Jonathan Edwards--pastor, missionary to Indian tribes--gave us the best definition for free will: God giving man the freedom of choice, the right to choose. Man without God in the mind is just a sophisticated chimpanzee.

Alice, in Alice in Wonderland, came to a fork in the road. A Cheshire cat was in a tree nearby. She asked the cat which direction she should take. The cat said, "where are you going?" and Alice replied, "I don't know." The cat replied, "Then it doesn't matter which direction you take."

The vast population of the world has always been made up of people with simple, genuine opinions. The greatest sound on this earth was the cry of a baby in Bethlehem... perhaps the greatest example of Fatherhood. God worked it all out in the council chambers of eternity. He chose to give us life and then chose to put on a tent of human flesh and live a perfect life among us...willing to die on a cruel tree to show us the very essence of giving. The father gave his son, the son gave his life.

I was amazed at how smart my own father was when I went to college. It did not take me long to have a new appreciation for him, the workingest man I have ever known, and probably the smartest. He did the best he could with what he had...intelligence, work ethic, frugal living, faith in a sovereign God. On the day of his funeral, just before the service started, a large funeral wreath was brought in to join all of those already there. The funeral director came over and handed the card to me and I put it in my pocket. Later, I had someone read the card to me. It was from the local General Assembly State Legislative Senator. "In memory of the only man who ever asked me about the welfare of my soul."

At the university, I was so impressed by men with PhD and MD degrees. They could not begin to measure up to my father, who could understand and cultivate anything. Like his ancestors before him, he prized freedom and knew the meaning of the words "Christian" and "American"...no pretending. From the "Good Earth" they had learned to live from the soil, knew how to raise livestock for survival (hogs and cows, which could be slaughtered for meat, even how to use wild animals from the forest), how to budget time, live frugally, and return to God a large part of income after paying honest debts (debts for fertilizer, seed, building supplies). He knew how to care for his farm animals and would not allow anyone to milk our beautiful cows except him.

We would have been considered peasants in Eastern North Carolina, growing "cash" crops, such as tobacco, cotton, corn, soybeans, to take to the auction market... carefully preparing everything. He and my mother were the stalwarts of our church (built in 1874 by both my mother and fathers' great-grandparents). We had the nicest church in the community, just as we had the nicest home in the community, and just as we had the nicest car/clothing/furniture. You could hear their voices at the church singing. I can still hear him singing as he was around the farm, early in the morning, feeding livestock, "nothing between my soul and the Savior," and many other hymns.

He was not ashamed of his faith. He would work on his tractor until 10 o'clock on Friday night and then stand on his feet all day on Saturday, cutting hair in town to help out the barbershop there and make extra money for us. Then he was up early on Sunday morning, heading for the church to build fires in the wintertime/open windows in the summertime. He was chairman of the school board, and the principal only had to come to him for problems, whether the problem be with a door or a student at the schoolhouse.

My father's four children all graduated from college. After I had returned from the military and had lost my eyesight, and because of the values he had taught me, I would have my driver take me up for a visit. My mother had died much too young. My driver would say, "he will be sitting on the front porch watching for you."

At the front of most churches, you will find the table from which the large supper is served. On most are these words, "In memory of me." Jesus did not tell us to remember him at Christmas, Easter, or any other time...the only time was at the Lord's table, partaking of the bread and wine. His broken body...broken for our healing, his shed blood... every drop for our redemption. Fatherhood has been a failure if you raise children who go to hell, who go to prison.