Wednesday, October 3, 2007

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Three kinds of bills of rights exist for particular groups of people. An entrenched bill of rights is adopted separately from a country’s constitution and is not necessarily recognized by the country’s government. An unentrenched bill of rights is recognized by the government but may be weakened by subsequent acts passed by the legislature. A statutory unentrenched bill of rights, which is passed by a legislative body separate from the constitution, can be changed by the authority of that same legislative body.
The third kind is a constitutional bill of rights, which we have here in America. These rights cannot be changed except by a popular vote of the people. Not every jurisdiction enforces the protections of the rights stated in their bill of rights, but in America our rights are enforced by law if necessary.
Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights …” This was changed to unalienable by John Adams at the time of printing the Declaration.
So, these rights are not rights granted by human wisdom or the law of the land, but these are natural rights granted by God himself. Our founding fathers realized this and wrote the rights into our founding documents. These rights became the first ten amendments to our constitution.
These are the rights for which we fight our wars. These are not rights given to us simply by government but by God. Those attempting to take away these rights are bent on our destruction, and wars against them are in self defense. Any deaths in these wars that come in self defense cannot be called murder.
It would be inhumane for a government to grant, by God’s mercy, these rights and then refuse to defend us against those who would take them away. Thank God for the wisdom of our forefathers. God bless America!

Monday, October 1, 2007

Birthday

This is a wonderful birthday card that I received from the Philippines sent to me by Bryce Spears, son of one of our missionaries. This card is very special to me just knowing that a 7-year-old child would take the time to make a card like this and send it to the U. S. just for my birthday.

As far as I am concerned, my birthday has no real meaning except that I am older, but to receive a card like this, along with all the other cards that I received, is a very special thing.

Bryce, thank you, and may God bless you as you grow strong in the Lord and as you surrender to his word and his will. Perhaps when you become an adult the Lord will have a very special job for you to do.

Sometimes we forget our missionaries out there on the field, but this little one did not forget me. Let's take the time to give a little personal attention to our missionaries, letting them know that we really appreciate what they are doing and that we love them and pray for them often. This will be a great encouragement to them. I am sure they need much encouragement, since much danger lies in many of the countries into which our missionaries go.

We cannot fulfill the Great Commission without our missionaries. We must go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Without missionaries who surrender to go to these places, our efforts are weak and feeble; but with them we can go into the whole world with the Gospel. May God help us to appreciate them.