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"Prayer for Peace "

EVEN NOW

"Jesus wept" (John 11:35). This is known as the shortest verse of the Bible and perhaps the most touching. While it is part of John's description of the resurrection of Lazarus, it underscores the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is "not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of infirmities" (Hebrews 4:14) that plague his children on earth. The passage of Jesus' lament over Jerusalem is similar in that His heartbreak comes through in the words, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! (Luke 13:35). Often, our Lord must have wept similar words over America, the land He blessed more than any nation in the history of the world - in many ways more than Israel. Without number are the blessings He has poured out since this Country was founded! We have always been a nation if warriors, having been called upon to secure and defend the freedoms God set before us. Through it all, He has protected us, sheltered us, and held us in the palm of His hand - even on September 11, 2001.

We may never know the blessings that we have squandered through willful disobedience. It would be best that we did not know. Yet, even at this darkened, 11th hour of history, America still has a remnant who has bowed the knee to none other than Almighty God (1Kings 19:18). They are courageous as the eagles (Isaiah 40:31) because they remember that it was "finished" (John 19:30) on Calvery, they can still see the promise of the rainbow (Genesis 19:13) and they know "the spirit maketh intercession." (Romans 8:26)

Even now ... He speaks the encouraging words: "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." (Jeremiah 29:11)

John Wayne Dobson

"Ms. Annie's Store "

"Born of the Spirit "

During the War Between the States, soldiers often wrote about a fear that outranked the terror of the battlefield. In their opinion, it was one thing to die; but to do so far from home, where no one knew you and no one would remember was an unbearable thought.

Today's re-enactor often does more than re-create battles. Most have a real passion for honoring and remembering those brave souls who were caught up in the conflict and perished with it. For that reason, memorial services are held at cemeteries, battlefields and other appropriate locations; they are reminiscent of funerals.

Eight miles east of Macon, Georgia, on an obscure rise of farmland, known as Duncan's Ridge, a service is held to commemorate the November 22, 1864 battle of Griswoldville, Georgia. It was on a cold, late-war day that Georgia Militia forces made seven ill-fated charges against a fortified line of Union veterans.

A flag pole stands today at the point of the Confederate high tide, where the blue-clad line almost broke. This is the focal point of the memorial service and a wreath is appropriately placed there.

JWD

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

"Freedom"

"I am the light of the world "

"Present in Spirit, Sir"