Some time ago I heard Daniel Rodriguez sing “American Hymn” on television. Because I am an American citizen the lyrics and tune evoked deep emotions within my heart. Here are the words: I have seen a summer day that slowly opens like a rose…Along a quiet road that wanders by and I smiled and wonder’d where it goes. I have stumbled through the night alone as any man can be…Then found a silent canyon full of stars…and in my heart I heard them telling me I was home. The gentle winds the rains that fall the tallest trees and I’m part of it all. I’ve seen the silver mountain tops and golden prairies on my way. Now everywhere I go across the land I stand so proudly in the sun and say…I am home. I’ve dreamed of Eden all my life…I find it more and more each day. Now everywhere I go across the land I stand so proudly in the sun and say…I am home.Who among us doesn’t have pride in our country? It’s important and it’s vital, but nationalistic pride is also local. The one we worship and follow lives beyond local and is global. The whole of creation is God’s. While we live in and love America…we long for home which is heaven. As we celebrate our nation let us remember to glorify God. Glorifying God invites us to work for the best interest of the entire world, for we are one family in heaven’s eyes. Every brother and sister I have does not look like me nor think like me nor hold the values and ideals I hold. I pray my life can be a witness to the truth of God and influence all people for my mission is to win the whole world to Christ. And I pledge my life to that pursuit each day.
I love America. I worship God. One is my home; the other is my life. Reformation Sunday comes on the last Sunday of October. It will be the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The Church is of God, but in days long ago it had too many fingerprints of human beings as rules and regulations which stifled the Spirit of God. Rather than loving the church, people feared the church. Popes were administrators rather than pastors or shepherds and their personalities broaden the gap between the pulpit and the pew. Indulgences were created as a means of making money promising to pray people from Purgatory into Heaven. Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the power and efficacy of Indulgences on the doors of Wittenburg Chapel in Germany in 1517. The Reformation was begun. The Protestant Reformation brought back to center stage the Gospel of Christ and kindled evangelistic fervor. The Hymn for this Reformation is “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” We will sing this as a reminder that “On earth is not his equal.” In Cheraw we will continue to do what is required to build up the Church of God and to do as John Wesley stated as our mission. “We have nothing to do but to save souls.”
Ken