Why is the Declaration of Independence Important Today?

Why is the Declaration of Independence Important Today?

The Founding Fathers continued to explained why the Declaration of nIndependence was so important and why Independence Day should be celebrated every year.

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forever more.

You will think me transported with enthusiasm
but I am not. — I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. — Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means…”

(The signer of the Declaration and second president of the United States, writing to his wife, Abigail Adams, at the time of the ratification of the Declaration)

“Why is it that next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]? 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 on Earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government on the first precepts of Christianity?”

(The son of John Adams and sixth president of the United States gave this 4th of July speech in 1837)

[O]ur fathers were men — they were heroes and patriots — they fought — they conquered — and they bequeathed to us a rich inheritance of liberty and empire which we have no right to surrender … Yes, my fellow freemen, we have a rich and growing empire — we have a lucrative commerce to protect — we have indefeasible [inalienable] rights — we have an excellent system of religion and of government — we have wives and children and sisters to defend; and God forbid that the soil of America should sustain the wretch who [lacks] the will or the spirit to defend them. Let us then rally round the independence and Constitution of our country, resolved to a man that we will never lose by folly, disunion, or cowardice what has been planned by wisdom and purchased with blood.

(Noah Webster said these words in 1798, at a fourth of July celebration. He fought in the Revolutionary War, was a legislator and judge, and became “Schoolmaster to America”, publishing the first American Dictionary of the Enligh Language in 1828)

Abraham Lincoln, why is the Declaration of Independence important today?
“I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing here, in this place, where were collected together the wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the institutions under which we live. You have kindly suggested to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to the present distracted condition of the country. I can say in return, Sir, that all the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated and were given to the world from this hall. I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled here, and framed and adopted that Declaration of Independence. I have pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved that Independence. I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the Colonies from the motherland; but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is a sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world, if I can help to save it. If it cannot be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it.”

(From a speech in Philadelphia, February 22, 1861)

President Lincoln, what was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence?
“These communities, by their representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the whole world of men: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ … [T]hey established these great self-evident truths that … their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew that battle which their fathers began, so that truth and justice and mercy and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land … Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence … let me entreat you to come back … [C]ome back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence.”
(President Lincoln presented this appeal in 1858 to a crowd in Lewiston, Illinois)

What Happened To The 56 Men Who Signed The Declaration of Independence?

What Happened To The 56 Men Who Signed The Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

What did it cost to sign their names to the document and pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.  The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more.

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

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’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — 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 new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.  He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.  He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Is There Any Evidence That The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Is Real?

Is There Any Evidence That The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Is Real?

The Old Testament has over 300 prophecies predicting Jesus’ resurrection which He fulfilled. Many of those predictions were made several hundred years before Jesus was born. In the New Testament, Jesus predicted several times his death and his resurrection after three days. When it happened, the scripture records the moment like this: “So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” John 2:22

The resurrection should not have been a surprise to anyone who followed Jesus and saw Him continually demonstrate His power over the material universe.  Consider that He turned water into wine, healed the sick, and raised Lazarus from the dead.  His resurrection was consistent with the power He demonstrated before His death.

After word of Jesus’ resurrection became public and belief in Him began to spread, the religious leaders of the day could have easily discredited belief in the resurrection. They simply needed to go to the grave and produce Jesus’ body as evidence that He had not risen from the dead. Even with the help of the Roman authorities, they could not. The chief priests had set a 24 hour guard at the tomb. The Roman guards knew they would lose their lives if they failed in their duty. On the third day, when Jesus’ body was gone, the guards reported it to the chief priests, at the risk of their lives. There was no body to recover.

Most of Jesus’ disciples fled when He had been arrested and sentenced to death on a cross.  When they heard the news, they were surprised.  Their fear of being arrested and surprise at the resurrection demonstrates that there was no pre-plan hoax.  Even though Jesus told them what would happen, they did not believe Him until they actually saw Him.

After His resurrection Jesus appeared to over 500 eyewitnesses over a 40 day period. They testified that Jesus was indeed alive.  There were no witnesses to the contrary.  In fact, many of the eyewitnesses accepted death rather than deny they had seen Jesus.  People don’t die for something they know to be a hoax.

It would be foolish to bet your eternal life on the false belief that Jesus didn’t raise from the dead. Jesus is the Son of God, born of a virgin, who died on a cross for your sins and rose from the grave on the third day, all so that you and I can have a personal relationship with the Heavenly Father. Don’t bet against Him; the evidence is overwhelming.

What is CEO Material?

What is CEO Material?

A successful Christian business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.   Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. “The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued.  “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today -   one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one   I choose will be the next CEO”

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed.   He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story.

She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by—still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick at his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room.
When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives.  They were   beautiful—in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of   his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you w ill be appointed the next CEO!” All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at t he back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front.  Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO   knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed – Jim told hi m the story The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and   then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief
Executive!

His name is Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow   his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said?

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today.

But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.  All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.
When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive.

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
If you plant hard work, you will reap success
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation
If you plant faith in Christ, you will reap a harvest so, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

Two thousand years ago Paul wrote to the church at Galatia the same story but with fewer words, “Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7 NIV)

Sowing integrity will always be the best course!

Dennis Watson
Life Coach

What Abortion Took, God Restored

What Abortion Took, God Restored

By Lori Navrodtzke, Assistant Director Woman’s Pregnancy Center

Abortion.

Do you think this is a private issue only to be discussed between a woman and her doctor rather than being discussed in a magazine? Do you believe it is a political issue settled back in 1973 with the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision? Is it a religious issue and therefore a matter of opinion based on one’s personal spiritual beliefs? Does the subject make you angry or uncomfortable?

Before you continue reading I ask that you try to put aside your own personal beliefs and biases about the subject of abortion. Rather than addressing this issue from the perspective of privacy, politics or religion I invite you to look at it from a personal perspective, through the eyes of someone who has made this decision and has lived with it for the past 26 years.

I grew up in a Christian home and going to church was always a part of my life. I was always active in church and school activities, my parents were very involved in my life and I had what I would consider normal teenage insecurities. When I was seventeen, the 26 year old, married youth pastor at my church took advantage of me. As a result I became pregnant. When I told him he immediately suggested abortion. This was an issue I don’t remember being discussed at home or church but somewhere inside myself I believed it was wrong. Initially I said I couldn’t do it but eventually he threatened to kill himself if I continued the pregnancy. No one knew about this and I felt completely alone, so I gave in even though it wasn’t what I wanted. On February 24, 1984 I aborted my 10 week old baby. About halfway through the procedure I saw a canister behind the doctor begin to fill up and at that point I knew I was making the biggest mistake of my life but it was too late to stop. I left that clinic forever changed.

Over the course of the next 20 years my life went into a downward spiral. I graduated from college and got married, which on the outside made it look like everything was fine. But at the same time I was also sinking further into depression, completely walking away from God and the church and began binging on food and abusing alcohol. I was becoming a very angry and unhappy person. In 2004 things in my marriage blew apart and because of the guilt and shame I had been carrying around for so many years I was sure this was what I deserved. I was convinced I didn’t deserve to be happy and the prospect of continuing on in my miserable life was too much. On a Monday evening in September 2004 I seriously considered killing myself, but instead made a decision that night to fully give my life over to God. I spent a long time after that working with a Christian counselor trying to make sense out of the mess my life had become. Moving through a grieving process and acknowledging the life that was lost at that abortion clinic was the most difficult and painful thing I have ever experienced, but it has also truly been a gift from God to be able to accept my child back into my life.

If reading this has stirred up some difficult emotions in you, please know you are not alone. Many women who experience abortion go on to experience feelings of loss and grief, but sometimes not until years later. If this is you, I would encourage you to acknowledge these feelings and began the process of healing. God desires to heal you just as he has me and there is help available. If you or someone you know has had an abortion and you would like to speak with someone confidentially please call the Women’s Pregnancy Centers of Tucson at 622-5774 for post-abortion support and counseling options in the area.