HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Yesterday's worship service at the church I attend was absolutely wonderful. I started attending this church just over 3 years ago - so this was my fourth year of having the privilege of attending their annual Fourth of July service. It is a day that those who serve or have served in the military are honored. Men who can still get into their uniforms come dressed in uniform. There is a proper color guard with the congregation reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. And the songs....

Yesterday, in addition to songs of worship and praise, we sang: America, America the Beautiful, God Bless America, The Star Spangled Banner. The choir sang patriotic music. The sermon was titled, "Don't Give Up On America." It focused on the truth of our history and the finale of the day was an incredibly touching solo titled "A Few Good Men" during which those in uniform came and stood across the platform, and at the end, spontaneous applause for them for their service to our country.

THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER
by Francis Scott Key, 1814

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Generally the first verse is the only one we ever hear. I knew there were other verses - - and have read them in the past, but yesterday our congregation sang the last verse together. What wonderful words.

Psalm 32:12 states: Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.

Obviously that refers first and foremost to God's chosen people, Israel, but we who place our faith in Jesus Christ are grafted in. It is obvious that God has blessed America incredibly over the years. There has been no other nation like it.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to grow up in this country where differing views could be expressed without fear. There was a lot of 'agreeing to disagree' I know, but freedom of speech (including freedom to criticize without reprisal), freedom to assemble, freedom to worship according to each one's own preference...those are freedoms you won't find under dictatorships.

God, you are the rock on which this great nation was founded. I see us slipping off the rock, and it makes my heart ache. Yet, today - on this day of remembering, I pray for revival, for eyes to be opened, for hearts to turn once again to You, and to follow Your ways.

God Bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her, and guide her
through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains to the prairies
to the oceans, white with foam....
God bless America, my home, sweet home.
GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME!