I Forget

TITLE: I Forget
DATE: March 15 2019
TEXT: Psalm 22:28 -  ESV - -For the kingdom is the LORD'S And He rules over the nations.
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 It wasn’t so long ago that a person in the U.S. Congress said there were three branches of government. She then amplified and said those branches were the White House; The Senate and the House of Representatives.

OOPS!

I’m sure it was just a momentary blip on her brain and if she thought about it she would have correctly said the three divisions of our nation are the Executive (the Presidency), the Legislative (including both Houses of Congress) and the Judicial (the Supreme Court.)

Unfortunately, at least according to the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation when they gave US Citizens a basic test on our nation and its history, in the highest ranking state only 53% were able to pass.  

• The states which did best were Vermont, Wyoming and South Dakota.
• The states which were at the low end were Louisiana, Kentucky and Arkansas.
• Only 27% of the folks in the lowest ranked state passed.

Now part of the reason people don’t know our history is because we no longer teach it. According to two experts who spent their time reviewing textbooks for content, America has dumbed down what we teach and minimized our expectations of our students. .

Do you need an example or two? How about the textbook that spent 7 pages on Marilyn Monroe and 1 paragraph on George Washington. In the paragraph about Washington they made sure his uncomfortable false teeth were mentioned
Karl Marx once said, “Take away a people’s roots, and they can easily be moved.”

Well, it sounds like that is what is happening. And that is a  sadness. Long gone are the years when students learned from the New England Primer. You know: “A, In Adam’s Fall, We Sinned All. B, Thy Life to Mend, the Bible Tend. C, Christ Crucif’ed, For Sinners Died,” and so on.

But those days are long ago.

• Today we tear down the statues of yesterday’s heroes; we ignore those who gave their fortunes and their lives to win our freedom and in their stead we lift up athletes, movie stars, disc jockeys, and billionaires.
• We write God’s hand out of our history and become puffed with pride at the great nation we have built.

Far better we should remember who we really are.

• We are sinners who have a nation which has won freedom of religion.
• We are part of a nation which has been made great because of God’s blessings.
• We are a nation which should regularly repent of past sins and show joy when they perceive forgiveness has been given them and they are adopted into the family of faith.

And that, my friends is simply worth knowing, having and keeping.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, there are many times when I am going to forget things. Grant that I may always remember the Savior and love You have given to Me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.  

Today’s devotion was inspired by various articles, amongst which is the one written Dr Jerry Newcombe Truth on Action Ministries, on January 21, 2019.  Those who wish may check out this link which was, at the time of writing, fully active: https://www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/guest-commentary/america-s-historical-ignorance.html

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann, one of my long-ago confirmands. He is singing with three brothers. This song comes from the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html