This is a meditation website designed to help us ponder over the blessings of being an American.
* * *
We commemorate July 4, 1776 as our nation’s birthday, but few Americans connect the beginning of the American dream with the religious events of 1739.
*
As an evangelical Christian and an American, I have grown to respect the wisdom of God in preparing the colonies to start a new nation. First-generation Americans grew up in context with “The Great Awakening”. This was an evangelical revival that swept through the colonies beginning in the late 1830’s.
“Pulling away from ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made religion more personal by fostering a sense of spiritual conviction of personal sin and need for redemption, and by encouraging introspection and a commitment to personal morality. “ (Wikipedia)
Nurtured and raised in this atmosphere of evangelical Christianity, the first Americans debated the formation of a Christian nation.
However, a majority ultimately came to agree that their Christian faith would best flourish by protecting the religious liberties of all faiths– so America was not founded as a Christian nation, but is a nation founded by Christians who respected the core principles of evangelical Christianity.
* * *
1. Our values are based in our love for God.
2.When we choose to believe the gospal, our love for Jesus is a supernatural gift from God and cannot be imposed upon others because it is gifted thru individual choice.
3. Therefore, as long as they are not harming others, everyone has a God given right to reject both our values and our faith.
They believed that we are all created equally as sinners with a need to be free to individually pursue a loving God. Even though the original states were a consensus of multi-denominational Christians, their concept of freedom has become a blessing to other faiths.
First-generation Americans knew that mandating the recital of John 3:16 for citizenship could never give an immigrant our love for Jesus. For 248 years, many politicians have sought to fulfill their dream of freedom by coping with those trying to impose personal faith and values upon their neighbors. Oftentimes, minorities have not been free, but we can live free only when neighbors equally value one another’s freedom. Isn’t this the hope of those self-evident truths that unites Americans from every race, creed, and color?
While united in our diversities, America has always been too powerful for our enemies to defeat—it will be our own arguments and divisions that destroy us. As the politicians and news commentators attempt to manipulate your fear and anger, I ask my friends and neighbors to vote while remembering, there can only be red, white, and blue states in America.
*
We have become wealthy and powerful after uniting under one federal government, but as George Washington warned in his farewell address, political parties and overzealous loyalties can divide our nation.
*
Prayerfully, this non-partisan website will help readers learn from our founding fathers and form personal, citizen tactics to remain a united people. Our politicians have always made promises, but only citizens can define and fulfill the American Dream.
*
Use the historical facts and illustrations to think about your friends and neighbors– fellow Americans who may or may not share your religious or political opinions.
*
*
Much like prayer alters our view of circumstances, clicking on the photos and links in this photo essay will open a new tab to help you explore more thoughts about God and the spiritual battles fought in the lives of the first- generation Americans. As these children of the “Great Awakening” prayerfully considered the goals set forth for this new nation, I believe that their purpose was to aid future generations in seeking to live lives pleasing unto our God for this is the way of the evangelical Christian.
We may sing “God Bless America” but His blessings have come only in daily seeking His face in repentance and expectation of grace.
*
The links are underlined in blue italic.
The learn more links open the next page on the website.
*
. . . Meditate in His Presence day and night . . .
Psalm 1 (paraphrase)
Visit papawsthoughts.com for an index to our online devotional photo essays. (offsite link)
*
Our websites are secure because they collect no information. There are no ads, donation buttons, or unmarked offsite links.
*
email
papawsthoughts@gmail.com
click thumbnail photos for support information