Grace For The Journey

  The on-going attempt by our secular culture to get rid of the Judeo-Christian roots of our nation are showing up these days in places many of us have never even noticed, but simply assumed as normal.

For instance, consider the phrase “So help me, God” as part of the oath administered to witnesses before testifying in courts or before Congress.  No one really knows where the phrase first originated.  That it was common in England before the colonies began to be settled is certain.  It is apparently adapted from a similar phrase in the Bible, “The Lord do so to me” (Ruth 1:17) … “God do so to you” (1 Samuel 3:17).

It was a commonly accepted opinion that the phrase undergirded the responsibility and accountability of the witness before God.  But, three weeks a key committee in the US House of Representatives began to consider eliminating the reference to God from the oath normally administered to witnesses.

The current version of the oath reads as follows: “Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

The proposed revision would omit the appeal to God and substitute it with a reminder of the might of the government (“under penalty of law”): “Do you solemnly swear or affirm, under penalty of law, that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

We’ve come a long way from when George Washington voluntarily added “So help me, God!” to his oath of office as he began the awesome responsibilities as the first president of our country.

It reminds me of several years back when one of our political parties held a vote at their national convention to determine if God’s name should even be included in the party platform.  Such a large number of the delegates at the session yelled protests that the vote had to be taken three times.

Removing God from our national vocabulary

Does not eliminate His power to judge.

Need we be reminded what God says in His word?

The Bible says in Psalm 2:1-3, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”

And, the Bible sasy in Romans 21-22,28, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools … And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind …”

As Christians . . .

May these moments serve as reminders to us

That we are in the midst of a nation

That needs God!

In these days, when our country seems

To be doing all in its power to wipe

A consciousness of God

And our accountability to Him

From our national memory,

May we – like Paul who found himself in an even more godless culture

Stand firm in our gospel convictions

And be bold in our gospel witness.

May our conviction … May our commitment … May our confession be . . .

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”  Romans 1:16

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”