One of our members, James Baxter, sent this to me this morning. May we all reflect on what this day truly commemorates and thank God for His providence in establishing and defending our nation’s freedoms. I would encourage each of you to thank those that you know that are engaged in the continual fight to preserve those freedoms. If you know a soldier, thank them; if you don’t know one personally, perhaps a trip to your local VFW hall would be in order. I have a cousin that celebrates the 4th that way each year. He stops in to the local VFW and thanks those that served their nation so honorably. I think it’s a great idea.

Enjoy this day with your family and friends and I hope that you find the following a timely reminder of Who is really in charge of this nation.

THE DECLARATlON OF INDEPENDENCE

“Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are dinged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him (Isaiah 51:1, 2).”

When it comes to celebrating this most American of holidays, it is interesting to note that our Founding Fathers didn’t consider the 4th of July a holiday at all. No, to them this day represented far more than just another festival to acknowledge in the myriad of special days Americans honor. According to John Adams, the second President of the USA, the 4th of July, “Ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. “ Surprisingly, John Adams believed Independence Day was to be a Holy Day to be spent in Thanksgiving to the Almighty for His mighty deliverance that He wrought on the behalf of our fledgling nation.

His son, John Quincy Adams, our 6th President, declared, “Why is that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day (July 4th). Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the Progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon Earth ? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity…”

According to Mr. Adams, it took the spread of Christianity 1,800 years to finally culminate in the establishing of America. He believed the highest glory of the Revolution permanently linked the principles of Christianity with the principles of civil government. He viewed the Declaration as the first social compact and governing document in the history of man to establish its foundation on the mission of Jesus Christ in the earth. Obviously America is dreadfully void of that perspective today.

Yes, there is much evidence that points to the fact that America is a unique nation amongst the nations of the earth. It is evident that the land itself was preserved for a special purpose in God’s Providence. Although America was prime “real estate” in the earth and filled with natural resources, it remained virtually untapped for thousands of years. You do not see the pyramids of Egypt, the glory of Rome, nor the grandeur of Greece upon these shores. Why is it that there was no great civilization established here until a persecuted people longed to be free to worship the God of Heaven in Spirit and in truth came to America’s shore? If you can answer that question then you are on the road to understand the vision for America and her destiny that stands in peril today.

Another unique mark upon this nation that is exclusively American is the fact that we are the only nation on earth that was founded on a creed. All the other nations on earth were essentially established upon ethnicity, nationality, or race. Not so with America. Regardless of skin color or any other physical attribute that distinguishes human beings, what makes an American an American is a creed. A creed that is articulated in a document we call The Declaration of Independence.

Before we explore some vital points of that creed, we need to understand, whereas the Constitution is the letter of the law, (that has been twisted, bent, and perverted through judicial activism to subject Americans to legalized evil today) the Declaration is the Spirit of the Law. The Declaration supplies the premise, the presupposition, and the underlying principles that we have forgotten to the Constitution’s harm. You will see this clearly as we examine a few of those foundational principles contained within the Declaration that was to be the heart, soul, and source to establish and sustain our Christian Republic called America.

On July 4th, 1776, the delegates of the Continental Congress voted to ratify the Declaration which began with these profound words, “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature God entitles them.. ” Stop right there and hold the presses. It is extremely important to understand and it cannot be emphasized enough that our Founding Fathers cited the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God as the sole basis for breaking ties with England and to become a separate nation in the earth. To comprehend the magnitude of that particular phrase utilized by Thomas Jefferson, one must look to Sir William Blackstone who was the first one to coin that phrase.

Sir William Blackstone was a renowned English jurist who wrote the highly influential work called, “Commentaries on the Laws of England ” He was one the most quoted sources, besides the Bible, John Locke, and Baron de Montesquieu, which our Founding Fathers cited as the basis for law in America.

Blackstone defined the laws of nature and of nature’s God as, “Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator, for he is entirely a dependent being … And, consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his Maker for everything, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his Maker’s will … this will of his Maker is called the law of nature. These laws laid down by God are the eternal immutable laws of good and evil . This law of nature dictated by God Himself; is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this… The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found in the Holy Scriptures … {and} are found upon comparison to be really part of the original law of nature. Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of revelation (Thomas Jefferson penned of nature’s God as a substitute for the law of revelation) depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered to contradict these.”

According to Blackstone who was the inspiration behind the laws of nature and of nature’s God, the creation itself testifies and teaches man that there is a Supreme Designer that created the universe. The immutable laws contained within nature reveal a Creator that man is to be subject to by virtue of being a dependent creature. Apparently, Blackstone was a jurist who studied the only sure basis for law that is found in Holy Writ. Both Romans 1:20 and Psalms 19 :1-3 verify this truth.

According to Blackstone, even though man has reasoning capabilities, it has been made corrupt by sin. The Lord did not leave revelation to chance however. No, He made a direct appeal to mankind through what Blackstone called the “law of revelation,” in which the Declaration interprets “of nature’s God.” The Ten Commandments, God’s moral Law, was God’s way of appealing to man objectively to confirm within man what he instinctively knows to be true. Yet, due to man’s fallen nature again, we inevitably suppress the truth and exchange it for a lie. Undeterred, in God’s great mercy, He sent the second person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the most perfect revelation and we are therefore without excuse.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the expressed image of God (Hebrews 1:3). He was the Word (God’s direct revelation to man) who was God in the flesh and dwelt amongst us. Jesus stated, “If you’ve seen me, you have seen the Father (John 14:9).” In other words, Jesus was the visible manifestation of the invisible God. According to Blackstone, unless laws was based upon these truths, they were not laws at all and “no human law should be suffered to contradict these. ”

Our next stop along the way as we explore the Declaration is, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.” Can you believe in this moral relativistic age in which we live, that our Founding Fathers actually had the audacity to believe in a concept called truth? Now truth by its very nature lends itself completely to the notion that there are moral absolutes. Obviously, our Founding Fathers would be laughed to scorn today, if they brought that archaic view to our ‘enlightened” humanistic temples we call public schools.

We don’t teach children that there is such a thing as self-evident truth, moral absolutes, and a definite right and a definite wrong. No! we teach the kids to decide for themselves what is right or wrong with no standard except what their own greedy, selfish, and unregenerated hearts crave. As a result, millions of American children are left to construct their own “truth” and values apart from the God of the Bible that our Forefathers trusted in. Can there be any doubt that this mentality has opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box that is savaging our young today? The school shootings are a direct result of rejecting the time honored wisdom of our Founding Fathers and embracing a pagan, moral relativistic philosophy instead.

Yes, our Founding Fathers believed in self-evident truth that was not based upon the subjective experience of fallen man, but on God’s objective truth that is transcendent and authoritative over man. Yes, they believed in truth because they longed for freedom. They knew Biblically, you can’t have freedom without truth, for only the truth can make you free (John 8:32). America would do well to remember from whence she came and what those who birthed her actually believed.

The next important phrase contained in the Declaration goes like this, “That all men are created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Notice it doesn’t say that man evolved into equality and by virtue of evolution Americans have certain unalienable rights. Why is it our Founding Fathers believed in creationism, and yet, we can’t teach our children in America that they were created in God’s image with with a God-given destiny, instead of being a cosmic accident?

Ideas have consequences, my friend. Evolution has been the intellectual underpinnings of every atheistic, totalitarian government that has committed unspeakable atrocities against the very people they claimed to serve. Communism, Nazism, and Fascism are just a few of the regimes that rejected the concept of Creator and opted for evolution as a support for their mass murder. Their bloody history aptly displays the bitter fruit of an atheistic state that utilizes evolution as the intellectual underpinning to justify their horrific oppression. After all, evolution teaches that the strong survive, so it is ethical to exploit, abuse, and destroy the weak to get what we lust for in life, right? No! A thousand times no!

We see this mentality so clearly manifest with the struggle over abortion. Men use and abuse women by virtue of their superior strength and now women demand to have that same power and right to abuse someone weaker then themselves, their own helpless children. God help us! Christianity on the other hand teaches that the strong are to help the weak, not exploit them. This Biblical concept is one of the reasons that made America great. How many times has America invested our blood, treasure, and toil to aid weaker nations that were subjugated to tyranny by stronger nations?

What has happened to America since we have officially rejected our Creator that our Founding Fathers looked to as the basis of establishing America as an independent nation amongst the nations of the earth? Are we not becoming what we fought against in World War Two? As I write, America seems hell bent on using our superior strength, political clout, and finances to spew the filth of Hollywood, abortion, the feminist doctrine, and the homosexual agenda throughout the globe. Is it any wonder why Islam calls America the “Great Satan” and seeks our destruction?

The Declaration proceeds with these words, “That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (not a guarantee of happiness that the government as Savior’ programs promise). That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed “ Our Founding Fathers believed that man’s rights came from God, the Creator, and that civil government was established to protect those rights. This is the clear teaching of Romans 13:1 which states, “Let every soul he subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Historically, Americans believed that we were One Nation under God. Our national motto is “In God We Trust.” It is not the gods, but the One true and living God, the God of the Bible, the triune God of Holy Scripture, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When mankind rejects this Biblical truth of God’s sovereignty, however, man has only two other failed options available. First, the state is sovereign and the ultimate authority, which historically has led to the murderous regimes previously mentioned that has crushed the freedoms, lives, and property of many. In fact, the 20th century alone, has witnessed hundreds of millions of innocent people massacred by this monstrous lie. The second option is man as an individual is sovereign, which has led to anarchy, chaos, and confusion. Only One Nation under God can secure the delicate tension between the social order on the one hand and individual freedom on the other. All else is sinking sand and cisterns that can’t hold water.

Indeed, God is the supreme authority and civil government is a delegated authority established by Him for His pleasure and for our benefit. The Declaration then warns civil government, ‘that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government.” This particular phrase is why we are crying out for a “Gentle Revolution.” Either America experiences a spiritual, godly, and moral revolution that lands us squarely back upon the “Rock” from which we were hewed, or I shudder to think of what may befall us.

Finally, our Founding Fathers make their appeal,

“to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions… With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

In the Declaration, the God of the Bible is acknowledged as Law-giver, the source of Law, Creator, the Source of life, the Supreme judge, the highest authority, and the Protector of America’s rights. Without this revelation beating in the heart of every true American, then all the 4th of July represents is eating, drinking, and watching fireworks. I pray that each of you that read this article will consider these historical truths and their implications. They represent the righteous foundations upon which America once stood. We must awaken and recognize that these foundational truths are beginning to crumble as we abandon God, our righteous heritage and the principles that made us great. Our history is being deleted or rewritten to further the “foes of our own American household’s” agenda. We must therefore, look to the Rock that hewed us and the Patriarchs that bore us before it is too late. GOD SAVE AMERICA AND NO KING, BUT KING JESUS!

IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,

Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas

The so-called Freedom of Choice Act could wipe away every state law limiting abortion.

In response to the April 18, 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Gonzales v. Carhart) upholding the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, prominent Democratic members of Congress the next day reintroduced the so-called “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA), a proposed federal law to nullify virtually all federal and state limitations on abortion!

Last year, presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., shown here in his grass roots religious “garb” made a promise to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund:

“The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act,” he said.

The so-called Freedom of Choice Act could wipe away every state law limiting abortion, undoing decades of legal work, research and educational successes.

N’Obama has co-sponsored the legislation with 18 other senators. The bill has the support of 109 members of Congress.

“Thirty-five years after Roe, abortion supporters, like Senator N’Obama, are dismayed that abortion remains a divisive issue and that their radical agenda has not been submissively accepted by the American public,” writes Denise M. Burke, vice president of Americans United for Life.

“Rather than confronting legitimate issues concerning the availability and safety of abortion, they choose to blatantly ignore the concerns and interests of everyday Americans, as well as the growing evidence that abortion hurts women.”

Day Gardner, president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, said even the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act could be overturned.

“This shows exactly how dangerous this man is to unborn children,” he said. “We are killing off our children, and this is something we really have to pay attention to.”

Courtesy of CitizenLink, a Focus on the Family Action Center

FACT: The majority of abortion’s are performed because of convenience. Having a baby is just too inconvenient. Well, telemarketers are pretty inconvenient, should we whack them too? How about door-to-door salesmen, should we bump them off? It seems like taking a life is okay to some people if it promises less stress or avoids a certain set back.

Find out where your Rep’s stand on “Selective Murder!”

Here is a list of House Co-Sponsors from each State. What a shame!

What are you thinking, Betty Sutton and Dennis Kucinich and Stepanie “Tubbs” Jones, well, I’m not surprised.

Here is a list of Senate Co-Sponsors…more shame!

Way to go Sherrod Brown. You a real man of faith! Tsk.

Help stop the “Freedom of Choice Act” — or “Freedom for Partial-Birth Abortionists Act”!”

****Visit the National Right To Life Committee****HERE

You can enter your zip code to locate your Rep’s and load up their email boxes, call their offices and let ‘em know how you feel.

In the spirit of Nancy Reagan…Just Say NObama!

As the price of gas continues to rise to nose-bleed levels our freedoms are being compromised. How many of us are being stripped of activities and freedoms we used to enjoy? It’s easy to point the finger at “greedy” oil executives but that honestly isn’t the problem. It comes down to the basic supply and demand tug o’ war. As supplies decrease our demands haven’t changed a bit. It takes a change in behavior to lessen the demand on oil. We have heard so much yada yada yada of efforts to lower prices of gas and it keeps us all hoping that they will fall. That’s where the danger lies—because it give us just enough hope to keep us from making any efforts to change our consumption. Seriously, have we ever seen prices at the pump fall to where we all breathed a sigh of relief? Seriously!

Investors Business Daily estimates there are 1 trillion barrels of oil trapped in shale in the U.S. and Canada. Retrieving just a 10th of it would quadruple our current oil reserves. There is a pool of oil in the Gulf of Mexico that is estimated to be as large as any in the Middle East. There is an equally large pool believed to be in Alaska.

The Chinese are attempting to tap into the Gulf oil by drill diagonally from Cuba! They don’t have the environmentally safe technology that the US has. What is our predominately Democratic Congress going to do about it?

We have environmentally safe ways to extract oil from shale and drilling in Alaska and the Gulf. Our Democratic Congress continues to block those efforts. Last week the Senate voted to block extraction from shale in Colorado. They essentially voted to keep gas prices at present inclining levels, and airline tickets rising with even more job losses in the industry expected, and to make heating our homes at comfortably temperatures an option for most.

I’m pretty hot about this topic. I think I’ll go cool off in a carpool!

The time is now. Concern for the condition of this nation cannot be any greater. The need for a nation of God-fearing, neighbor loving and Gospel living people cannot be anymore urgent. Complacency must be thrown aside. Niceness will never stand firm against the culture that has an agenda to crush everything that’s biblical. We need to get into our communities and start shaking things up. Find out when that next city counsel or PTA meeting is and show up asking questions. We need to have the same intensity and passion that Jesus had when he found the temple looking like a den of thieves.

It cannot get any clearer than 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

We critically need to focus on our children so we then begin to become a nation of Christian building leaders. We have all the necessary tools and opportunities to do so. No other nation on the planet is set up for success like the U.S. We could have a whole generation of Huckaboomers!

The men of this nation are too often forgetting their God given destiny. Just like Abraham, we too have a huge role in nation building. When men begin to realize that God has called them to establish their faith into the faith of their children the process of nation building begins. That’s why Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

The problem too often is we have parents that don’t believe in loving discipline, which is a character of this culture. Or, perhaps the father isn’t around to apply the discipline and the burdened mother becomes distressed. Mothers, if the fathers aren’t around you need to drag the disobedient child into the church with a room full of deacons and let them go at it.

When we have accepted our God-given role as parents and our faith is transferred to our children, we have begun the process of strong family building. When someone asks what you do for a living, don’t tell them you work for this company or that corporation. Tell them you’re in the construction business. You’ll start up a whole new dialogue. Great nation building starts with a strong family. And when we have built strong families we begin to build a better church, which in turn builds a better community, which then builds a better nation. Freedom isn’t free; you’ve heard it said before.

But it begins with faith; your faith. Your spiritual maturity is guaranteed. God has given you everything you need to be all that He has created you to be. But it’s not automatic. If you’re not reading the Bible each day, I would encourage you to do so. God’s got so much He wants to share with you. We had an elderly member of our church “graduate” recently. She was one of the sweetest, loving and most deeply spiritual persons I’ve ever met and is greatly missed by all. One Sunday morning we were sharing our blessings with each other, passing around the microphone. And the last thing she said to all of us together was, “I wish that everyone knew Jesus like I do.” And she wasn’t boasting about her relationship, she was trying to express to us the intense love she shared with our Savior. He wants that with each and every one of us. She was pleading to us in her own way turn our eyes upon Jesus. Like the song says…turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of the earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

We here at the F3 Coalition hope you have a Happy Easter. Worship like there’s no tomorrow. Eat well, and get some rest.

Come Monday morning, its back to the construction site!

God bless…