Remember the "real" America when criminals actually went to jail, when you weren't afraid to go out at night and when everybody knew the difference between right and wrong?

                Everyone doing what is right in their own eyes with no standards of behavior makes a ravaged, desolate wasteland.

                A  country isn't free who allows the burning of its national emblem.  Our flag is our symbol.  It stands for freedom, so burn it?  What does that say about a country's values?  Have we forgotten what our flag stands for and what it represents?  Is it a sin to be patriotic?  Many lives were sacrificed for what our flag symbolizes.

                I grow more than a little weary hearing "separation of church and state."   This country was founded on biblical principles.  One of those principles is respect for life, young or old. We were doing just fine until Roe versus Wade.

                Prayer and The Ten Commandments have been replaced with "values clarification," which is to me, another word for "rebellion."

                Infanticide and euthanasia have become nice words for murder, accepted by society for convenience.

                Immorality in leadership has been separated from public office as "acceptable private behavior."

                Organizations defend sexual perversion.

                Terrorists without and within take advantage of freedom to kill and destroy a country's policy of freedom, yet we allow them to live here.  This is freedom?  Freedom is not freedom if it brings pain and destruction!

                Let's get to the heart of the matter.  Freedom is only found within God's boundaries.  "You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place"  (Psalm 31:8 NIV).  We have freedom to move within God's boundaries of protection.  He gives us ample room to be free in Him.  Going beyond those boundaries leads to sorrow, pain, heartache and even death.  "He has noticed my sins; they are tied together by his hands; they hang around my neck.  He has turned my strength into weakness.  The Lord has handed me over to those who are stronger than I"  (Lamentations 1:14 NCV).

                God gives freedom, not to do as we please, but what is best for our welfare.  Isn't this what we do with our own children?  If we love them, we protect them.  "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery"  (Galatians 5:1 NIV).  Doing one's own thing leads to slavery, the opposite of freedom.

                U.S. Grant has been quoted as saying:  "Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of your liberties, write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives.  To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future.  'Righteousness exalteth a nation:  but sin is a reproach to any people'"  (Proverbs 14:34).

                The only hope for America is Jesus.  In a national tragedy like 9-11, all the chips are down.  People in such a state are desperate for God.  People pray everywhere on public property or not, and no one objects.  The pain is too great.

                Can God bless a country who only seeks Him in emergencies?

                Rebellion against God breaks down the hedge of protection, giving the enemy access to do his evil work in every area.

                Yet, there is hope dear friend.  We can begin today.  Let's return to values that made America strong, values that reflect God's standards of behavior.

                Our hope is in Jesus.  Repentance brings new hope and helps us to look forward to what we can become in Jesus.  In faith and obedience we have a new life.

                That is real freedom!