The Anniversary

I cannot conceive of how my life would have turned out if I had been born in another country. I am proud to be an American. I cannot really know or understand the issues occurring in Egypt that caused them such celebration yesterday, but I can relate to the struggle they have with being forced to adopt Islamic practice, and I think it has some related issues we face here as we remember the past and the virtures and values that made this country.

Christians would applaude secular Egypt for not desiring to live under Sharia law, but then we would believe that we can in a sense force Christian values on parts of our secular culture that no longer share those values. It will be good for them, its the right thing, we were here first.

I think the ethic of love and respect and honor and honesty thrives in our country because of many reasons. Yes, I desire people to know the Lord, but in our country we should respect the fact that there are people of every religious persuasion and non religious conviction and they are this soil and this heritage as do we.

The separation of church and state as it developed allowed the freedom for faith to flourish, and the desire for an evangelical to enforce a way of life, is no more legitimate than that of a catholic or a muslim. Let freedom ring, it allows for tolerance and free expression and everything that is great in this country.

I came to faith on June 27, was ordained on June 27, 1976, so my first sermon as an ordained minister was delivered on July 4th, 1976. Faith and Freedom are dear to me, and as I am just three years short of serving 40 years in ministry, I hope I get to finish the course seeing our country do the things that make for a free life, a free expression of faith in speech and practice, and a prosperity that results from hard work and free compassionate capitalism.

This was a snap from a Pensacola trip years ago. Everyone in this picture is all grown up.