Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—a voice of hope for those who ask, "Has Christianity's voice been stilled?" Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." It was true then. It is true today. Christians have a voice. May we be heard! May we earnestly pray and sing together, "God bless America." Other options are unacceptable.

 

The citizens of the United States of America will elect a new leader this week. Millions will celebrate. Millions will be disappointed. One thing is certain: changes are coming. Will those changes be major or minor? Will those changes alter the course of history? Will those changes cost lives .. and fortunes ... and principles? Will those changes bring more freedom for Americans, or less? Will those changes be blessed of God, or not? Will those changes result in greater pride and love for our nation, or less?

 

Adlai Stevenson once said:

 

"When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect."

 

I believe that is what is at stake in this election year. How much do we love America? How much do we love to be free? How far are we willing to go to insure that America continues to lead the world in justice for all?

 

This week's "Tuesday Morning" is entitled "And How Should We Proceed?" It is posted below. Read it carefully; read it prayerfully. Then let your voice be heard. The world is watching ... and listening.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Patriot

________________________________________________________________

 

AND HOW SHOULD WE PROCEED?

Tom Barnard

 

n Wednesday morning, November 5, 2008, Americans will awaken to a new day and a newly-elected national administration. After what seems to be years of campaigning, a new administration will be poised to lead our nation for the next four years. A tie vote in Tuesday’s election is unlikely. What is likely, however, is a record turnout of registered voters—some are predicting the largest of any election in the history of the Republic.

 

If I were asked to submit a biblical theme for the new administration to consider adopting for the next four years, here is my suggestion:

 

  “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up: do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert,

and streams in the wasteland.”

(Isaiah 43: 18, 19)

 

Abraham Lincoln came into office in turbulent times.  Changes were needed. The nation was divided over issues beyond slavery, but that issue was high on the list of concerns that would nearly cripple the nation during his first term. Lincoln wanted Congress to move beyond the ways of past administrations. Here are a few of his words that still echo in the hearts of historians:

 

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present … As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves ….”

 

Well before his election to the presidency, Lincoln had developed a philosophy of leadership that would come to characterize his administration. In what would later be remembered as the “House Divided” speech (in 1855) Lincoln said, “If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it.”

 

Part of knowing where we are is knowing how we got here. History is full of excellent illustrations. One of the most significant historical developments of the Twentieth Century was the rise and fall of the former Soviet Union. Historian Alexander Solzhenitsyn, reflecting on the sad realities of history in his native land, wrote:

 

Over half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this is happening.” Since then I have spent well-nigh fifty years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some sixty million people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat, “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this happened.”

 

Whoever wins Tuesday’s election can learn a lesson from once formidable adversaries like the former Soviet Union. God grant that it never will be said of America that we have forgotten God. Let our voices be heard from sea to shining sea: “God bless America.”