{"id":37,"date":"2010-07-04T00:11:00","date_gmt":"2010-07-04T06:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/howellscott.wordpress.com\/2010\/07\/04\/happy-independence-day\/"},"modified":"2010-07-04T00:11:00","modified_gmt":"2010-07-04T06:11:00","slug":"happy-independence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=37","title":{"rendered":"Happy Independence Day!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure<\/em>. <\/em>Ronald Reagan
\n<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

President Reagan understood that God’s blessings were essential to the survival of our democracy. Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, we have experienced unparalleled blessings unlike any other country in the world. From our nation’s humble beginnings until now, Americans have cherished the ideals and principles embodied in the Preamble to the Declaration:
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

We hold these truths to be self-evident<\/a>, that all men are created equal<\/a>, that they are endowed by their Creator<\/a> with certain unalienable Rights<\/a>, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness<\/a>. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed<\/a>, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it<\/a>, 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<\/a>, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
\n<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our democratic-republic, the United States of America, will continue to not only survive, but to thrive, when God is seen as the source of our freedoms. Both Presidents Jefferson and Reagan believed that our Creator \u2013 the God of the Universe \u2013 endowed us with certain unalienable Rights and that those Rights pre-exist any form of government. Therefore, the life and liberty that we enjoy as Americans can never be taken away by government because government is not the source or giver of these precious gifts.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Romans 13 teaches us that God also the source of every government that has ever existed or that will ever exist. God has instituted governments for our benefit. While we may not always agree or understand why our government takes certain actions, we can thank God for good, Christ-honoring public servants and we can pray for all those in authority over us. As we celebrate this Independence Day, let us thank God for His continued blessings to us. Let us pray for our government officials and leaders, even those we may not agree with. And, let us never forget the sacrifices of the men and women of our armed forces who have stood and who continue to stand on freedom’s front lines, defending our precious Rights of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” May God grant our service men and women and their families mercy and peace on this special day. And, may God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit continue to shed His amazing grace upon America!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. Ronald Reagan President Reagan understood that God’s blessings were essential to the survival of our democracy. Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, we have experienced unparalleled blessings unlike any other country in the world. From our nation’s humble beginnings until…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LP7G-B","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}