Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence.
Thomas Jefferson
In a speech given by Ronald Reagan, he stated:
I have said that we must be cautious claiming that God is on our side. I think the real question we must answer is: Are we on His side?On the day of resurrection [John 20:1-9] …
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.' So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
Christ focused upon his fellow Jews as he went among them to preach; yet his message was clearly meant for all human kind. And his influence spanned across centuries, as Ronald Reagan stated years ago …
I still can't help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where ... is the miracle I spoke of? Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial-place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, property-less young man has, for 2,000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that -- unless He really was what He said He was?To all Christians I wish you a blessed day this Easter and to those who are not, a day of peace and meaningfulness with your loved ones.
We the People, too many of us, have allowed the gradual loss of rights and liberties, but a key loss is the loss of purpose and the responsibility of retaining that which made the United States great. If some of you feel God has abandoned our nation and its people, I believe you should lament that the People abandoned God. It does not mean we have to be Puritans, for that was a time when the church as not separated from the state; but from the time our nation was created when Judaic-Christian principles were honored and became a tradition for the good of all, whether they believe or not.
Do not be disheartened, but stand and meet the challenge. Let us unite from all walks of life, from all ethnic backgrounds, from all religious beliefs or no religious beliefs, as one People, one flag, one language, and the purpose to restore the constitutional republic; identifying ourselves as Americans with no hyphens, but unified as a People.
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