It is because of United States flags by the thousands presented this way that today we celebrate 234 years of freedom, the birth of a nation. We must never forget, or pretend it isn’t true that freedom from tyranny comes at an awful cost. Both my mother and my father lost a brother on the foreign battlefield. My uncle Warren Fox, my mother’s youngest brother and my uncle L.G. Ogle, next to the youngest of my fathers six brothers were killed by sniper fire. So, I know something of the price of freedom. Many brave men and women, patriots all, have followed in the steps of Patrick Henry who made the famous declaration “Give me liberty of give me death!”.

Revisionist historians have sanitized our national history so that no longer are our children taught that our nation was founded on the Word of God and the belief that liberty is a gift from the Creator God of the Bible. Those who deny this fact are either ignorant or dishonest. Every one of those heroes of our founding acted at the threat of death, and many of them paid in blood. This morning in the Sunday school hour our elder, Phil (Duckcommander) Robertson, gave a stirring presentation. He read the words of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Jay, Henry, and others. No reasonable person can hear those words and not be convinced that our national history was shaped by people of great faith in God and love for their fellow men.

234 years of freedom but it is slipping away. Bit by bit our national greed, our perversion, and our rejection of God and His will for the affairs of men is resulting in people being placed in positions of power and influence who are godless deviates. The U.S. Congress, the judiciary, and the executive branch are such that God-fearing people in those bodies are the exception and not the rule.

Our national morality has lost its anchor and so we by government sanction kill thousands of unborn children and justify it by citing the convenience of the would be mother. Our government’s official position is that sexual perversion is “normal” and that the perverted deserve special protection. Young school children in some districts are being indoctrinated at early ages in immorality and sexual impurity.

History teaches us that no nation who forsakes the God of the Bible will stand for long. Unless there is a revival of religion and morality this great nation will be only a history lesson. It is a sad state of affairs. We still have many good people. Our generosity has touched the lives of tens of millions around planet earth and most notable is the care we have given to previous enemies. It was from our shores that the gospel of Jesus Christ went all around the modern world. From every tribe and nation on earth people of good will have come to the United States for a shot at freedom and the right to reach their full potential. Even many of our most outspoken critics have sent their children to the U.S. for the best education on earth.

I am hopeful that the tide is turning. There is a ground swell of patriotism rising and a full complement of fresh faces in politics who appreciate our history and want to repeat it. Perhaps in two more national election cycles we will again start to see a shift toward sanity, physical responsibility, and national pride. God has been very patient, he is long-suffering. How long will he wait? Only he knows.

Oh God, please grant us mercy, don’t give us what we deserve. Please put men and women in office who are moral, fearless, and willing to pay the price of doing what is right and good in the midst of depravity and selfishness.

So, on this 4th of July, my hope is that God will bless America. Will he stay his justice? Will we as a nation turn from our wicked ways and do right? May God have mercy on the United States of America is my hope and prayer.

I am an American. I am proud of my country and honor those faithful and fearless men and women who at great personal sacrifice have given us the greatest country in the history of man. Instead of closing this post with the familiar “God bless America” I instead ask “Will America bless God?”.

Royce