From the Pastor's Desk
Reverend David Kaul
“ In Him was life. ”
Religion and America
Dear friends in Christ,
What historic person said this?
"The fundamental truths reported in the four gospels as from the lips of Jesus Christ... are settled and fixed moral precepts with me."
A second...
"I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this truth that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? 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."
The first statement is from Abraham Lincoln. The second from Benjamin Franklin.
On this 4th of July, please tell your children and grandchildren that the history of the United States includes a strong faith in God. Many who played leading roles in creating the nation's Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were devout Christians. Those who helped lead our nation in dark hours - the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, the Revolutionary War, G. Washington, B. Franklin, J. Adams, World War 2, F. Roosevelt, H.Truman attended church, were committed to prayer and reading the Bible, and believed in God's direction of earthly affairs. The Continental Congress wrote the Second Amendment providing freedom of religion to keep from forming a state religion. Sadly in the present attempt to separate church and state, there are people who would revise the history of America to exclude any mention of a faith in God. To do so is to ignore the true history of events and people, the recording of events without bias or interpretation, but to add the authors own bias. It is to let go of truth itself.
One of the great treasures the church shares with the world is an historic book, the Bible. Joan and I recently visited an exhibit of the exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Milwaukee, Wi. On display were these marvelous words from Isaiah... “The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understand- ing is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Even youth will faint and be weary and the young will fall exhausted but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not grow faint." 40:29-31
America needs these words now! Many are growing weary from the present state of events! Should America try to exist in the absence of a belief in the Judeo-Christian God's providential hand, ten commandments, divine love and thirst for justice, we shall have removed from our lexicon and life the one true source of light, truth, and hope for humankind. One need only look and listen to the America being shaped and formed before our very eyes for evidence of how far humans have strayed from God's higher vision.
Church, share the gospel!
God bless,
P. Dave