A little boy, who wanted one hundred dollars very much, prayed and prayed for two weeks, but nothing happened.
Then he decided to write a letter to God requesting the one hundred dollars.
When the post office received the letter addressed to “God, USA,” they didn’t know what to do with it, so sent it to the president at the White House.
The president was so impressed he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a five dollar bill.
“That should look like a large sum of money to one so young.”
The boy was delighted with the five dollars and immediately sat down to write a thank-you note to God, which read:
Dear God,
Thank you for sending me the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you had it sent through Washington, D. C., and as usual, the government deducted ninety-five percent.” (World’s Greatest Collection of Church Jokes, p. 94).
Today we celebrate the birth of our nation.
True democracy was born into the world 234 years ago.
Johnny Carson defined democracy like this:
“Unlike communism, democracy does not mean having just one ineffective political party; it means having two ineffective political parties.
Democracy is welcoming people from other lands, and giving them something to hold onto--usually a mop or a leaf blower.
And, democracy means that with proper timing and scrupulous bookkeeping, anyone can die owing the government a huge amount of money.”
We laugh to keep from crying, but we give God thanks for the many blessings we enjoy as citizens of this free land.”
Tests
Please tell me if you know the authors of these quotes:
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
- George Washington
"We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel."
- Benjamin Franklin (From the debates at the Constitutional Convention, June of 1787)
“Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove religion from politics."
- George Washington’s Farewell Address to Nation
"I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you ‘Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one of two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity."
- John Quincy Adams
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
- Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
Spirit of the Constitution
These are quotes from the founders of our nation and writers of our Constitution. They explicitly made their faith and trust in God known. They wrote the constitution with biblical moral values in mind.
Evidently, we can say that our founders did not want to separate our country from God. They don’t want us to abandon our faith in God. They truly believed in their good faith that the Constitution has God’s approval.
On July 3, 1776, the day before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, George Washington wrote a letter to his wife, "In a few days, you will see a Declaration setting forth the causes which have impelled us to this mighty revolution and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God. I am fully aware of the toil and blood and treasure what it will cost to maintain this declaration and support and defend these states; yes, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory."
Be true to the spirit of the founders of our nation, the Constitution must be governed under the guidance of God through the Biblical moral values.
We pray and sing God bless America so that America and the American people can be a blessing to other nations. We show our love for our country by calling it to God’s ways of justice and peace. We must work for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But we must not allow one single element of the constitution to supersede the others.
The pursuit of happiness cannot override the respect for life. Pleasure and convenient living are not true happiness. We should not allow the search for them without justice and peace. Liberty is not a license to do wrong or to promote evil. Liberty is a gift given to man who was created in the image of God. Freedom has been given to us to do good and be good. To do wrong and being bad only lead us to destruction. Doing wrong things and being bad are not liberty but slavery to evil. Only doing right things and being good will lead us to true happiness.
Drive Out Demons
In this spirit of true liberty, Jesus is sending his disciples into the world to drive out demons. Jesus understands human nature better than anyone else. It is true that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Human nature, however, is also inherently corrupted by sin and susceptible to the influence of the world. In Adam and Eve every human being is corrupted with a genetic predisposition away from God and from the Kingdom of God toward self-centerness in the world. The corruption of sin caused the shift that refocused every human desire toward the satisfaction of self rather than pleasing God, stronger attachment to the world rather than to the Kingdom of God. Therefore, Jesus is sending his disciples into the world to drive out demon, to liberate people from evil oppressions. to announce that “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”
Jesus’ Strategy
He maps out a plan for his disciples and for us to follow.
- Pray, ask for more laborers! There is a great demand for more workers to harvest for the Kingdom.
- Go into towns and places. He sends them two by two into town and place. He does not tell them to run away and hide themselves from the world and from society. He tells them to go into towns and cities and places where people are.
- Say “Peace to this household.” The message is not to accuse the people that they are infidels or pagans or sinners, and force them to convert, but a blessing of peace. Disciples of Jesus must be the people of peace and for peace.
- Stay there. He tells them to stay there. Do not move from place to place. Do not shop around for comfort or approval. Stay there. Be a guide and a leader to guide and lead the people to the Kingdom.
- Eat with them. Socialize with them. Have conversation with them. Influence their way of life. Win them over for the Kingdom.
- Cure the sick. Do not accumulate goods for themselves, but do good things for others to win their trust so that they can become believers.
- Announce: “the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
Our mission is to go into town and places to tell people about Jesus Christ and to win them over for Jesus. To hear about Jesus is to be near the Kingdom. To accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and to follow his way of life is to be in the Kingdom. To belong to the Kingdom is to let God act in our lives, and to submit ourselves under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Submit under the Lordship of Christ, St. Paul experienced true freedom and liberty, “From now on, let no one make troubles for me; for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body” (Galatians 6:17).