This is my country and I am proud to call myself an American. I believe in the God I worship and am proud to call myself a Christian. I put my trust in both, and I have faith in both. There is a big difference, of course, in the depth of faith and trust, but I believe this country and God are connected.
    I do not believe that America was an historical or geographical accident of times and seasons. America was an idea in the mind of God long before its discovery. It did not just happen. God had a purpose for this land. According to James Michner in his book, "Centennial," there were 1,700,000,000 years of activity before this land was ready to be settled. God was not in a hurry. He wanted it to be just right. Michner writes very biblically. He said, "At first, all was just chaos as the earth groaned in its birth pangs. Great glaciers crawled like colossal land movers to change the contours of the land and melted to create rivers. In time came trees, grass, flowers and dinosaurs, but the dinosaurs died because they were not meant to dominate this world. They were wild and free. That remains as a part of us."
    Some folks might say that we are a product of an experiment. I suppose that life itself could be called an experiment, but an experiment done by God takes precedence over all the rest.
    And so, here we are, after millions of years of development, after thousands of years of settlement, after hundreds of years of struggle by our forefathers. Here we are. In this summer of just celebrating with fireworks and now in a season of politicking and posturing, it is important to restate the goals of our early patriots who gave their lives and energies for a cause. Their goals were very clear: to live in a land free from oppression and have the right to govern by leaders and laws decided by the people of the land. It didn't come easy. Freedom!
    Freedom is not a game played in political arenas. Freedom is not an inheritance. Freedom is not an award. Freedom is not the right to get anything we want even though we think we deserve it.
    One little girl was asked about the painting, "The Spirit of '76."She said, "Well, there is one man with a whistle, another with a drum and another one with a headache."
    Not bad. I guess that's what I am asking all of us to think about this summer — insofar as America is concerned — can be summed up in the words of the Apostle Paul, "...whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things ... and the God of peace will be with you."
    I also want to be very clear that God has placed us in a land where our freedom allows us to worship without interference from government. Paul said it quite well, "For freedom, Christ has set us free!"
    This free land, is it not worth protecting? Absolutely! This gospel of freedom given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, is it not worth protecting? Without question! What is left to say?
    Thanks, God!