Independence Day 2026

The results of opinion polls vary, depending on the bias of those conducting the poll. However, the findings of various recent opinion polls tend to show a decline in the numbers of our people who say that they are proud to be Americans. The polls reveal that many of our fellow citizens who are disaffected no longer believe in our country.  The majority of American Conservatives remain proud of the USA, while large numbers of Liberals and Independents and young people are not. [1] 

To paraphrase a comment by Author and Historian Victor Davis Hanson in the documentary program, The Fight of Our Lives, (Produced and Directed by Gloria Z. Greenfield): 

Just because we are not perfect, doesn’t mean we are no good at all. 

We concede that America is not perfect, and it is the duty of our citizens to work toward improving our country. However, we must understand that since the 1960’s there has been a concerted effort by the educational system, the liberal press, well-funded radical extremist groups, and power-hungry leftist politicians to convince us that our culture and our economic and political system need to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. 

Ronald Reagan is reported to have said, “The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.” 

If people take the trouble to inform themselves, they will find that on the balance scales of History the good our country has done far outweighs the bad.  Therefore, let’s celebrate America’s birthday with a mindset that she has been a force for good more than a force for evil. 

Please pray for the United States of America.  We must not become so divided that we enter into conflict with one another.  We have only to look at the tragedy of our Civil War to understand that we need to work together to carry on the continuous improvement that has happened in the USA over the last 250 years. 

The Gettysburg Address

Delivered at Gettysburg, Pa. on Nov. 19th, 1863 

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

 Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. [2]

 

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[1] https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/national-pride-is-declining-in-america-and-its-splitting-by-party-lines-new-gallup-polling-shows/

[2] https://www.battlefields.org/learn/augmented-reality/abraham-lincolns-gettysburg-address

 

Overcoming Temptation

Everyone has sin problems. (Romans 3:23)  It is part of the Christian life to have to deal with the struggle between our old sinful nature and the new nature we have in Christ Jesus.  If we deny it, we are only fooling ourselves. (1John 1:8-9) Usually, the Christian finds that several sins are more difficult to resist than others. 

My most difficult sins to control are lust and alcohol abuse.  There are fine lines that get crossed.  Appreciation of a woman’s beauty gives way to carnal thoughts and desires.  Having a beer or two turns into downing a sixpack.  There are others, but focusing on these two will suffice. 

What can we do when tempted?  The Holy Bible tells us how to overcome. 

“… The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!  Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”  But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.  Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1Corinthians 6:13-20 ESV) [1] 

When we give way to sin it is putting our desires ahead of how God wants us to live.  That is idolatry, and idolatry is committing spiritual adultery against the God who loves us and died to pay the price for our sins – which is death. 

“Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1Corinthians 10:12-14 ESV) [2] 

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:16-25 ESV) [3] 

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." (James 4:7-8 ESV) [4] 

Praise the Lord.  We are nothing without Him.  Jesus said: 

 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 ESV) [5] 

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5 ESV) [6]

 

 

 

 

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[1] https://biblehub.com/esv/1_corinthians/6.htm

[2] https://biblehub.com/esv/1_corinthians/10.htm

[3] https://biblehub.com/esv/galatians/5.htm

[4] https://biblehub.com/esv/james/4.htm

[5] https://biblehub.com/esv/john/14.htm

[6] https://biblehub.com/esv/john/15.htm

 

Let go and Let God

We may wonder “What’s the use?”  The more we try to do good, the more opposition we face.  We pour our lives into trying to make things better, but nothing seems to change.

 Take heart. God is in control.  The seeds we sow today can grow into a bountiful harvest tomorrow, even if we may not be around to see it.  If we let go of our striving, our Almighty God will empower us to keep us from getting tired, and He will bring about the good results we so earnestly desire.        (Psalm 46:10) 

 

“Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.”
(Isaiah 40:28-31 NLT) [1]

  

“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.  Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.  So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.  Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:7-10 ESV) [2]

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[1] https://biblehub.com/nlt/isaiah/40.htm

[2] https://biblehub.com/esv/galatians/6.htm

 

They Left Everything and Followed Jesus

Don’t be afraid.  Jesus paid the price for our sins.  Follow Him, and He will make you more than you are and more than you could ever be on your own. 

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.  Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”  And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.  They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:1-11 ESV) [1]

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[1] https://biblehub.com/esv/luke/5.htm

 

In God We Trust

God bless our military.  We are grateful for their skill, and we love them for their willingness to sacrifice on our behalf.  God Bless President Trump.  We know that despite being assailed from all sides, he is trying to do what he believes to be best for our country.

Let’s acknowledge that without God’s protection, we are still vulnerable.  God gives His blessings of safety, security, and prosperity to those who humbly follow Him and obey Him.  On the occasion of America’s 250^th birthday, Please pray for the USA. 

“…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2Chronicles 7:14 ESV) [1]

Psalm 91 

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.” 

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. 

A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked. 

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge—
no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent. 

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. 

 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

(Psalm 91:1-16 ESV) [2]

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[1] https://biblehub.com/esv/2_chronicles/7.htm

[2] https://biblehub.com/esv/psalms/91.htm

Reasons Why

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse …" 

John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy [1]

These are the reasons why the US Congress, per the War Powers Resolution (Act), should approve further military intervention in Iran:

•  To permanently prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and other chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction, and the materials and means to produce such weapons.

•  To permanently prevent Iran from having ballistic missiles or other delivery systems that can be used to attack other nations.

• To permanently prevent Iran from claiming sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and from restricting in any way the passage of shipping through the Strait. 

• To permanently prevent Iran from supporting terrorist groups worldwide, and from using terrorist groups as proxies to attack other nations. 

• To permanently prevent the current government of Iran from oppressing the Iranian people.  To require Iran to hold free, fair, and internationally supervised elections to be held within six months that will allow the Iranian people to freely and peacefully choose a representative government and provide for free and fair elections to be held at regular intervals thereafter.

• To permanently require Iran to formally recognize Isreal as a nation, and to declare Israel’s right to exist.

• To permanently require Iran to stop persecuting religious, ethnic, and political minorities. To establish that no reparations for war damage are owed to Iran.  To use the frozen Iranian funds to partially reimburse the Unites States for the cost of our recent military actions.  To require Iran to pay reparations to their neighbors, including Israel, for the war damage caused by their missile and drone attacks and the economic hardship caused by their closing of the Strait of Hormuz.

 

If Iran refuses to agree to these terms, then Congress must authorize the use of military force necessary to affect the government of Iran’s unconditional surrender.  Congress must end its interference with the conduct of this conflict and give President Trump the tools he needs to resolve this matter in our favor.  The government of Iran must no longer be allowed to threaten the peace and safety of people throughout the world.

 

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[1] https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/57651.John_Stuart_Mill

 

Why We Need a Savior

The reason we need a Savior is that we have all fallen short of God’s holy standards.  The good things we do on our own without Jesus amount to nothing. (John 15:1-5, Isiah 64:6) 

 

Psalm14

A psalm of David

Only fools say in their hearts,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;

not one of them does good!

The LORD looks down from heaven

on the entire human race;

he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,

if anyone seeks God.

But no, all have turned away;

all have become corrupt.

No one does good,

not a single one!

Will those who do evil never learn?

They eat up my people like bread

and wouldn’t think of praying to the LORD.

Terror will grip them,

for God is with those who obey him.

The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed,

but the LORD will protect his people.

Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?

When the LORD restores his people,

Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.

(Psalm 14 NLT) [1]

 

 “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.” (1John 1:8-10 NLT) [2]

So, we are saved by the Grace of God.  If we yield ourselves to Him, He will give us the ability to do His will and fulfill His purpose for our lives.

 

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT) [3]

 

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NLT) [4]

 

This is the gospel, the good news, that there is hope for us, who are unworthy sinners, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  All praise and honor and glory be to Him!  Please accept Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord today.

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[1] https://biblehub.com/nlt/psalms/14.htm

[2] https://biblehub.com/nlt/1_john/1.htm 

[3] https://biblehub.com/nlt/ephesians/2.htm

[4] https://biblehub.com/nlt/philippians/4.htm