In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Ephesians 1:11
Throughout my secondary school years, each day began with standing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our county and when I was in elementary school the words “one nation under God” were added by an act of Congress. A prayer followed. Each year the Gideons came to bring us a New Testament and tell us about Jesus.
Our leaders and educators knew how important it was to know and study our country’s Christian heritage and the faith of our fathers. In the words of John Piper, “Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world.” As Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:11 we have obtained an inheritance predestined according to God’s will.
Now, flip forward about fifty years and see the slippery slope. Prayer and the Bible have been removed out from schools by order of the Supreme Court (in a courtroom adorned with the Ten Commandments) and legislation is pending to remove “one nation under God” from the pledge.
Now, one legislator is calling for abolishing history from the classroom because current history texts are “miseducating” children and teaching them to be hostile and teaching them “flawed” thinking. Thomas Jefferson wrote that “such education is necessary for maintaining a generation of thinkers, who will in turn keep the population safe by being the ultimate guardians of their own liberty.”
The study of history imparts knowledge of the past to current generations and here is where the importance of the Bible enters. I just finished reading Ecclesiastes and realized how important Bible verses and admonitions are so important to understand how to conduct ourselves in the current generation. Banning prayer in school essentially made God unconstitutional.
The First Amendment provides for the freedom OF religion, not the PROHIBITION of it. Our country was built not on an established religion, but rather on Judeo-Christian values.
Our values include service, thankfulness, compassion, endurance, creativity, justice, peace, wisdom and many more. What better place than the Bible and American history book can students learn how America was built on these principles?
Christians need to step up and speak out before books that teach children who we are and how we got here are removed and replaced with books that tell children what some people want to teach what our forefathers should have been.
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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Romans 8:35
Sometimes there is nothing more to say… the Word says it all.
▪ No matter where we may find ourselves in life’s journey.
▪ No matter if we have stumbled and fallen and find ourselves in the valley of life.
▪ No matter if we are climbing the highest of mountains striving to reach the apex of life.
▪ No matter young or old, sick or healthy, poor or wealthy, near or far away.
▪ No matter where we may be or what we may be going through…
▪ Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus ~ Nothing!
▪ Sometimes we all have to be reminded of God’s great love for us through Jesus, His Son. Marty Stubblefield
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WISDOM FROM ECCLESIASTES:
▪ If you love money and wealth, you will never be satisfied with what you have.
▪ I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat, drink and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
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The greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing
In a day when every moral trend seems to be going in the wrong direction, it’s easy to become discouraged. But that’s just what the enemy wants. If he can tempt us to withdraw from cultural engagement, keeping the salt in the saltshaker and the light under a basket, he wins. Jim Denison
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It’s easier to say “I shall not want” when you have a loaf of bread under both arms… An adaptation of an old Jewish proverb
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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. Dwight D. Eisenhower
I know that true joy comes from letting God love me the way God wants, whether it is through illness or health, failure or success, poverty or wealth, rejection or praise. It is hard for me to say, ‘I shall gratefully accept everything, Lord, that pleases you. Let your will be done.’ But I know that when I truly believe my Father is pure love, it becomes increasingly possible to say these words from the heart. Henri Nouwen
We should have the “How may I serve you…” mentality. Marty Stubblefield
God doesn’t love people because of who they are, but because of who God is. Frederick Buechner
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me – Philippians 4:13
How close are you to God? You are as close as you choose to be. Ken Whitten
Remember, God’s delays are not God’s denials. David Jeremiah
Truth is truth, whether or not we choose to believe it. David Jeremiah
We are all in interim positions. Someone is going to follow us regardless of our job or position. Brg. Gen Dick Abel