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| Original 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….
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."
click here to read the entire Declaration and the cause for independence______________________________________________________________________________
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free….You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to induge the flesh, rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."
Galatians 5:1, 13-15_______________________________________________________________________________
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Abraham LincolnNovember 19, 1863
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Comment:
From the words of Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians around A.D. 50, to the Founding Fathers in 1776, and Abraham Lincoln in 1863, it is evident that freedom's call is God-breathed…with the goal to love and serve out of a grateful heart, to build and not destroy, not because it seems like a good thing to do, but because it is the essence of life. We owe so much to those who have stood up for the cause of American freedom in the past. Thank you! Freedom's defenders are needed now more than ever.
On this Independence Day 2015, I find myself most grateful to have grown up during a time in America's history when the gospel message could be shared freely by a friend who invited me to be born into a new life that can't be taken away. I know now that it is for freedom that Christ has set me free…I was meant to live free from fear, free from my own selfish ways, from memories of abandonment, anger and shame and free to live a life of love. Free to launch a grand dream like RoadWarriors 2010 because I felt compelled from deep in my heart to do so. I loved every minute of our venture together. It was never work. It was all excitement and joy and satisfaction. It was easy. Thanks again everyone! I'll never forget!
