I hope you and your family have a happy and safe 4th of July celebration!  I will be off next week on vacation and back on July 14th.

So what do we celebrate this Indepence Day?  I for one am very disappointed in our U.S. government.  I'm discouraged at the lack of morality in America.  However, I do celebrate our nation's Christian heritage.

Allow me to share an article I've written this month for our church newsletter:

AMERICA – A CHRISTIAN NATION?

Democrat Presidential nominee Barack Obama declared last month:

"Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation and a nation of nonbelievers," Obama proclaimed. "And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?”

I agree with Mr. Obama that America is no longer a Christian nation!

We may have a Christian heritage.  And whether secular historians like it or not, America was founded upon Biblical principles.  Many of our Founding Fathers claimed to be Christians and most of all of them were moral and had a tremendous respect for the Bible.  Be that as it may, America is no longer a Christian nation.

Our Heritage

John Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence and second President of the U.S. said,  “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.”

Samuel Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Massachusetts said, “I . . . [rely] upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.”

John Hancock, signer of the Declaration of Independence and also Governor of Massachusetts called on the people of his state “to confess their sins before God and implore His forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.”

Patrick Henry, ratifier of the U.S. Constitution and Governor of Virginia said,  “Being a Christian… is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast. The Bible… is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.”

George Washington, the first President of the United States said,  “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.”

Noah Webster, Revolutionary soldier and educator said, “[T]he Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children under a free government ought to be instructed. No truth is more evident than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”

Our Present Reality

Barack Obama’s own record demonstrates the reality that America is no longer a Christian nation.  Obama is not just pro-abortion.  No, he goes much farther.  According to a recent story at World Net Daily, as a state senator, Obama opposed “Illinois' Born Alive Infants Protection Act. This legislation declared all live babies legal persons, which would guarantee them the right to appropriate medical care, even if abortion survivors.”  Well, at least he’s consistent!  He’s for killing the baby in or out of the womb! 

America’s birth, 232 years ago, brought about the Revolutionary War where 4,435 Americans lost their lives.  Now, every day in America, before they can experience birth, about 4,000 babies are murdered.  Every year in America approximately 1.3 Million babies are killed.  That’s more than the combined total of Americans killed in the Civil War, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the current war in Iraq.

According to a July 3, 2008 New York Times article, Obama wrote “I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states”.   The amendment he is referring to would ban homosexual marriage in California.

Homosexual marriage is now legal in two states in this former Christian nation!  There are other states willing to recognize those marriages or some form of “civil unions” between homosexuals.

Obama’s question, “…if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?” is a good one.  Which version of the Bible would be used?  Would we teach you have to be baptized to be a Christian?  Would we teach that you have to speak in tongues to prove your Christianity?  Or would we teach that if you simply “pray this prayer” you can be a Christian?

Not only that, but now American public schools are promoting Islam!  According to an October 2006 article on World Net Daily, “Another school has been "teaching" Islam by having students study and learn Muslim prayers and dress as Muslims”.

No, I’m sorry to report…America is no longer a Christian nation!

Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…”  America’s god, sadly, is no longer the Lord Jesus.

Last year the American people, led by talk radio, rose up as one to tell Congress NO on the Bush/McCain/Kennedy Amnesty Plan.  Americans showed their force on the illegal immigration issue.

Now, it is time for Americans to rise up again on another issue - GAS PRICES!  Today Congressman John Peterson (R-PA) was to offer an amendment which would end the ban on offshore drilling.  Rep. Peterson was on Glenn Beck's radio program yesterday and today.

Notice which party is responsible for this ban.  Read this paragraph from an Associated Press article on CNSNews.com:

Congressional Democrats have opposed lifting the prohibitions on energy development on nearly all federal Outer Continental Shelf waters for more than a quarter-century, including waters along both the East and West coasts.

President Bush is urging Congress to drill in the outer continental shelf.

This is a MUST!  And we must call Congress TODAY!  And keep on calling, writing, and sending emails.  Start today with House of Representatives members.  Then continue with the Senate tomorrow!

I understand from many listeners that Congressman Nick Rahall's (D-WV-3) office is not answering or is busy.  KEEP CALLING!  Here is his D.C. office number:  202-225-3452.  (I just got through...first try.)

When you call members of Congress, please be polite, but passionate.  Tell them you want them to vote to lift the ban on drilling offshore.  Tell them to support efforts to allow drilling on the outer continental shelf.

OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO CONTACT:
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)   202-224-3954