Interesting Quotes from Founding Fathers and Presidents

• We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.  John Adams (The Works of John Adams, ed. C. F. Adams, Boston: Little, Brown Co., 1851, 4:31)
  
  
• If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.  Samuel Adams
  
  
• Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure (and) which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.  Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence
  
  
• Every step we take towards making the State our Caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our Master.  Dwight D. Eisenhower
  
  
• Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants.  Benjamin Franklin
  
  
• The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.  Patrick Henry
  
  
• It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.  Patrick Henry
  
  
• It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.  Patrick Henry
  
  
• We the People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts--not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.  Abraham Lincoln
  
  
• It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government.  Thomas Paine
  
  
• Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does NOT mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country.  Theodore Roosevelt
  
  
• The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles, which enjoins humility, piety, and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person a brother, or a sister, and a citizen with equal rights. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our free Constitutions of Government.  Noah Webster
  

What is true and honorable and right

The Lord seemed to be speaking to me over the weekend as I don't think I had been listening to him very well.  I had the stomach flu starting early Saturday morning and lasting for about 6 hours of extreme sickness, then the rest of the day recovering from the exhaustion.  Sunday was spent resting, though I was able to get out and do some things.  Also started to eat a bit more normal.  My wife had the same thing though she had more exhaustion but not as much sickness.  My oldest son also, he was more like me, but recovered quicker than I did.  Must be nice to be young still.

Anyway, I'd been reading and praying over the weekend, and kind of out of the blue on Sunday, the Lord put 1 Timothy into my head.  I failed to really read it until this morning.   But once again, the Lord knows best and was nudging me in the right direction.  You see, last week after the election of Barak Obama as president, I was upset, disappointed and generally just not sure of the direction this country was moving in.  I started a blog and posted on facebook a few posts that while I tried to stay positive, still created some controversy and plenty of discussion.  I thought perhaps that was what the Lord was telling me to do.  But now I'm not so sure.

I feel led today to step back from that path.  Like I said 1 Timothy came to my mind yesterday.  I was doing my reading this morning and came across a couple things, both in 1 Timothy and also in the devotional book I've been reading.

1 Timothy 2 says 

"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.  As you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them, and give thanks.  Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity."  

This reminded me that regardless of who is in power, whomever is the president regardless of party affiliation, we should be praying for them, praying for God's mercy upon them.  I need to be able to pray for Barak Obama each and every day.  I need to get past my disagreements with his policy and direction he seems to want to take this country and pray for him.  We as a nation, did not do enough of that for President Bush, we must not make that same mistake here.

In my devotional study over the weekend (which I actually didn't read until this morning), we read how Peter's pride got in his way of what Jesus was trying to teach him.  Peter's pride in his own cleverness and strength got in the way of God's purposes.  In one incident in Matthew 16: 21-28, Jesus predicts his death, but in verse 22, Peter says,

"'Heaven forbid, Lord, ' he said.  'This will never happen to you!'"

Jesus responds in the following verse, 

"'Get away from me Satan!  You are a dangerous trap to me.  You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God's.'"

I find this interesting in that I was viewing this election from a human point of view and not from God's.  How many of us on both sides of the aisle truly sought out God's will in this election?  I'm sure many of us prayed about it, as did I, but even though I prayed, I'm not sure I was seeking God's will.  I think I was more trying to force God to see it from my perspective.  I had it completely backwards.

The next thing that came to me this morning was from today's devotional.  Reading from Philippians 4:8-9

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter.  Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right.  Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting in to practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you."

Again throughout this election, both parties focused on immediate help for our problems.  But what I and probably many others, failed to do was to focus on God's greatness first, which puts our needs in perspective and encourages us to rest easy.  He is in charge and at work.  Romans 8:28 says, 

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."   

Regardless how this or any election turns out, we need to remember that God is the one in charge, not us.  Everything that happens serves God's purpose.  We don't always see God's purpose or his reasoning behind certain actions, but we can trust that he is in control.  

This weekend while my wife and I were sick, it was hard to find a good reason for our illness.  But I'm sure there was one.  Perhaps it kept us home when we could have been in an accident.  Perhpas it helped show our children that their parents are human too and at times can be helpless.  Perhaps the purpose was just for us to slow down and rest.  Or perhaps the only purpose was for me to read and understand these devotionals better than I would have otherwise.  I doubt I will ever know his reasoning until I reach heaven someday, but I can know and trust that he is in control.

We as conservatives or liberals can be happy or sad about this election.  But we need to understand that regardless of the outcome of this election, God is in control.  We need to focus on God's greatness first, pray for our leaders (conservative and/or liberal) and we can rest easy that God has a plan and he will not deviate from his perfect will.

Angry Liberals??

I just don't get the whole "angry liberal" thing.  They speak about peace and love, yet spew such hatred towards anyone that thinks differently than they do.  They complain about conservatives being intolerant, yet they fail to look at themselves in the mirror.  

I have plenty of friends and family that voted for Obama and even consider themselves moderate liberals...but the far left  which seems to be running the Democratic party these days seems to be so filled with hate for anyone that disagrees they've blinded themselves to what really matters and fail to show the love, peace and brotherhood that they will tell you they believe in. 

Of course, any "angry liberal" reading this now will be dismiss me at a minimum as an intolerant conservative...but that's ok, because I'm a really just a "Happy Conservative!"

Election Recap

Coming off a historical election where we have elected our first african-american president, I cannot help but feel a bit proud of our nation.  Not for the reasons some may be expecting, but because we are still one of the only nations in this world where one may move up through life and dream to become more than what they are.  Obama displayed that characteristic.  He moved up from supposedly meager means, went to a prestigious university and here we are today with Barak Obama the president elect of this great nation.

Unlike some, I have always been proud of my country and am still proud of our nation today.  We had a historic election (whichever party would have won would have been historic).  We have a peaceful transfer of power.  Despite our differences as of today, we can still be outspoken in our criticism and differences, but will come together when the going gets tough and will move to protect our nation.

At least that is what I hope we will have.  Like most, I've heard the stories (though not through the mainstream media) about Obama's associations, with the people he surrounds himself with and those who are drawn to him.  I've seen the questions that have arisen about his economic policies.  I've seen his position on abortion and other controversial subjects.  

While I may disagree with most of those positions, unlike what we’ve seen the past eight years, I will support him as my president.  While I may question his judgment, his policies and his direction, I will work with him to make sure we have a nation that stays the greatest nation on earth.  I truly hope that in 4 years I can look back and say, “Boy was I wrong about Obama.” 

As a business owner, I will work hard to make my business grow and prosper and while there may be some changes that will make that a bit more difficult, as an American and in the American spirit, I will continue to work hard to succeed.  I will not be standing around waiting for handouts or bemoaning my troubles or worrying about and hoping for change, I will be working hard to make this nation, my business and my family, grow and prosper.  Oh if we would have had more of that these past eight years.

I will be holding Obama to his promises and I will be expecting him to work for the betterment of this country.  Not for the betterment of the Democratic Party, not for the betterment of those friends of the left around the world, not for the betterment of those angry liberals who seem to think we owe them something.  Nope not for any of those, but only for the betterment of this great country.  If he does that, he may just succeed at being a good president.  I will be as should we all be watching him and the congress very closely.  We should not be swayed by a silver tongue, for sweet talking or empty slogans.  We should look at his actions and look at the results and then in four years decide where we stand.

This blog will be my vehicle to document my feelings and thoughts on how Obama is doing, how Congress is fairing and my thoughts and opinions on how they could be doing better.  Yep I’m a conservative Christian and will be speaking from that point of view.  So if that offends or you don’t wish to hear that side of things, well then this is not the place for you.  I however invite both sides to read my posts and comment in the spirit of not proving one side or the other, but to make this nation even better.  Please treat me and my opinions with respect and I will do the same of yours.  I will not hold back on my opinions or ideals so expect to disagree with me and you can even call me nuts…but that’s ok most of us are friends and family, most likely we are all Americans and have the same goals in mind.  This should be fun.

I’ll be praying for Obama every day that he will have wisdom and insight to lead this great nation on the path that God has laid out before us.  God bless those in leadrship and God bless the United States of America.