July 4, 2025

July 4, 2025

Somewhere in the Becky’s family lineage, there is a connection with John Quincy Adams.  In her family lineage, the name of Adams has been there, though we changed it sightly to name our son Adam, without the “s”.  Evidently John Q Adams’ IQ was around 165, in company with Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. He was fluent in seven languages and could read in several more. So he knew what he was talking about when he, as the 6th President of the United States said: “The highest, the transcendent glory of the American Revolution was this—it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the precepts of Christianity.” He was so correct.”  

As we approach tomorrow, July 4th, our celebration of independence, we need to remember that The Psalmist declared: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lᴏʀᴅ” (Psalm 33:12) 

Jim Denison wrote: “Any nation that ignores biblical truth and rejects biblical morality places itself in peril of losing God’s favor and incurring His judgment. Conversely, any nation that embraces biblical truth and practices biblical morality places itself in a position to experience His best for the people and, through them, to the world.” 

The psalmist asked, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). The answer is simple: rebuild them, and so we must. 

Tomorrow Becky and I will be watching our local parade.  Many banners are already out, and people are decorating their cars, bikes, and golf carts. Then we will have a program celebrating the Stars and Stripes and their America.  But there is an underlying concern, which is our failure to stop the moral and ethical slide into oblivion.  We have mesmerized ourselves with a false sense of security, the rise of personal autonomy at the cost of others as well as this nation, and have not sought out our Creator.  But there is hope. I see more and more young adults finding faith in God through the Son and the Holy Spirit. I find a rising hope for our nation with young men and women espousing the life that God has given them and within it, the faith to live that life accordingly.  

There is the statement that we need to make America great again.  But I submit that greatness will not be based on economy, power, or might.  God will “bless America” when our focus is on Him. And what is greatness?  Greatness is only found in God, and we honor that by honoring Him as our Lord Jesus did through love and sacrifice. It’s out of God’s greatness, not out of our own, that we will be blessed.   

Let us keep in mind what George Washington, our first President, said: “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”

Tomorrow, celebrate the freedom that God has given us, and then go out and honor that freedom as we live our lives in the way of Christ. Let us prepare to celebrate our 250th anniversary of independence on July 4, 2026, knowing we are not truly independent, but dependent completely on God. 

Grace and Peace,                                                                                                                                                                     Quentin                                                                                                                                                                               Sharecropper Inheritance, July 3, 2025