Happy Independence Day!

Lady Liberty

God grant courage and liberty to the Iranian people!

FREEDOM!

No matter who wins today, I am so proud of how many Americans are turning out to vote. Democracy and freedom are big winners today. It truly is a time when we can say , "God bless America."

And just for your enjoyement, here's the Freedom speech from Braveheart



From Stushie, who writes Heaven's Highway and who proudly became an American citzen in 2002

Independence Day Devotion

Of all the special days on the American calendar, I love Independence Day the most. I guess that as a free born Scotsman, whose leaders like William Wallace and Robert the Bruce fought and died for liberty, I appreciate the Great American Struggle to win independence for themselves. It was not an easy choice to make, nor was it an easy cause to fulfill. Without commitment and dedication, patience and perseverance, unity and determination, liberty would never have been won.

Psalm 18:49 Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD;I will sing praises to your name.

We forget that they took on the strongest army in the world. We don’t appreciate the magnitude of the struggle. It was like David versus Goliath on an international scale and the rocks inside the slingshot, which fortified the Revolution, were called Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

I sometimes wonder if the revolutionaries really understood what they were accomplishing. Most of them fought for their families and colonies. It was a question of survival against the mightiest power on earth. When the War was over and their new Nation was recognized, I wonder if they really knew what the consequences would be. Their gutsy decisions, haphazard victories, and loyalty to the cause engendered a new beginning for the whole world. They showed every nation on earth that the God given right to be free is the greatest force and noblest quality that humanity can ever experience.

The writer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, once wrote “The God who gave us life…also gave us liberty.” In my opinion, that is one of the most truthful statements ever written in the annals of human history.

So today, I will celebrate this precious day by thanking God for the United States, its people, and its freedoms. I will remind myself of the costs and causes of the past, as well as the responsibilities that our liberties lay upon us today as free citizens. All of these blessings are God given rights which we need to cherish and continue to spread throughout the world. After all, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness should be blessings that every child, woman, and man should know and experience all over this planet.

Prayer: Lord God, we thank You for the courage and wisdom of those who established this nation. We are humbled by their achievements and blessed by their accomplishments. Help us to cherish this day with our families and friends, our neighbors and people. Let freedom ring throughout this nation and across the entire world. In Christ’s Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today's message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Memorial Day Sonnet

Memorial Day Sonnet

If Liberty means anything to me,
I will remember what my freedom cost,
By those who gave their all to keep me free,
Whose lives were sacrificed, but never lost.
I will remind myself of what they did,
And keep them dearly cherished in my heart;
Their honor never from me shall be hid
And I will know they always did their part
To save our nation and its people here,
To pledge their lives in defense of our ways,
To show that freedom always outlives fear,
And sacrifice is hallowed all our days.
If Liberty means anything to me,
I will remember those who kept me free.

Audio for sonnet here

© John Stuart 2008
Pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church,
Knoxville, Tennessee

Sunday Devotions: Dream Maker

The first time that I came across Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was through a BBC documentary that I happened to be watching one Sunday night. I was a teenager then, so it must have been about five years after his assassination. I can remember watching footage from the march on Washington and hearing his bellowing voice, which sent shivers down my spine. I had never heard anyone speak like that before and even although I was three thousand miles away in another country, the truths Dr. King expressed deeply moved my soul.

Podcast version here

I don’t know what it must have been like to have been here in America during the 1960’s. I presume that it wasn’t an easy time for anyone because of the tension and conflicts that were going on. I guess most people must have thought that the United States was going to perish, and that the dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for everyone was about to be snuffed out.

The assassin’s bullet tried to do that forty years ago in Memphis, Tennessee. What the shooter didn’t realize was that the truth cannot be killed. They tried to do it with Christ, almost two thousand years ago and that didn’t work. The ministry of Dr. King and his pursuit for the Civil Rights of all people didn’t die with him either.

Bible Verse for the Day
Matthew 14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

At the time of his death, I suppose many people must have doubted that King’s dream would ever be fulfilled. And yet, here we are today, in a year where there’s a strong possibility that the next President of the United States will be a black person. I think Dr. King’s dream is being fulfilled and I believe that he would be proud of what we have achieved. It may not be perfect and perhaps we still have a long way to go before racism is extinguished, but we’re in a much better place as a society than where we were forty years ago.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for Dr. King’s life. Although he died too young, he dedicated his life to those of us who enjoy our freedoms today. He was both a true Christian and American that we should all aspire to become. Bless us, Lord, as we continue to follow his dream which, is in fact, what You call the Kingdom of God. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the Scottish pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send John an email at pastor@erinpresbyterian.org. He is delighted to read your feedback and messages.

Sunday Devotions: Founding Faith - For Presidents' Day

Most Americans can quote Patrick Henry's famous statement, "Give me liberty or give me death," but I wonder how many of them would identify Henry as the originator of this statement: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here."

People these days are very quick to point out Jefferson's wall of separation' letter to a Danbury Baptist Church meant that Christianity had no place in the heart of the writer of the Declaration , but are they aware of what is written in Jefferson's personal Bible: "I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our creator." To say that Christianity had no influence over his writing is to diminish Jefferson's personal faith.

And do people also realize that more than half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who founded the United States, received divinity school training from Christian denominations? We may want to rewrite history and revise the Founding Fathers' intentions to suit our modernistic, non-absolutist, secular morality, but the facts about their lives speak otherwise.

Most of the political giants who founded America were Christians, and their faith shaped their principles of fierce independence and rugged radicalism. In fact, in 1774 Thomas Jefferson wrote, "The God who gave us Life, also gave us Liberty." Indeed, the First Continental Congress during the War of Independence sent for an order from Holland for 20,000 Bibles to ensure that the people and troops could maintain their Christian faith. And during times of trouble and indecision in their meetings, the same Congress resorted to prayer, which the ‘non-believer' Benjamin Franklin also led.

Even George Washington, the Father of our Nation, wrote this in his personal journal in 1752: "Make me to know what is acceptable in Thy sight, and therein to delight, open the eyes of my understanding, and help me thoroughly to examine myself concerning my knowledge, faith, and repentance, increase my faith, and direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life." And when he addressed the Delaware Indian Chiefs in 1779, he said, "What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ."

These are but a few examples of the Christian beliefs that were held by our Founding Fathers. Those who seek to deny their faith and, subsequently, the founding of the United States of America as a Christian nation, are only imprinting upon the past their own present secular opinions and unhistorical misconceptions.

Finally, let us remember that the Constitution guarantees a freedom of religion, not from religion. It wasn't political secularism that established this clause: it was based on Christian tolerance of loving one another, and doing to others as you would have them do for you.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for being the major influence over our Founding Fathers’ lives. Without Your words and ways, we would not be here today. Help us to be grateful for the land that we live in and the liberties that we cherish, both of which have been granted to us from You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Stushie writes the daily devotional "Heaven's Highway" and is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee