The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation,

But sin is a disgrace to any people.”

“The United States of America declared independence from Britain on July 4, 1776. The US Constitution and Declaration of Independence were signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.”

With Independence Day coming on the 4TH of July, it seemed more than appropriate that we should think upon the verse that has been lost for decades on our American people. We pride ourselves on having the greatest military in the world. We delight when the Stock Market moves upward. We are now the leading oil producing nation in the world! And we proclaim our nation to be the freest society on Planet Earth. Yet, we have forgotten that it is the LORD who has brought righteousness upon us; and that it is sin –our sin—that has brought disgrace upon us.

Righteousness, with its equivalent words, is mentioned 1,066 times in the Bible. The word means justice and blamelessness. When we assure justice for everyone and are personally and nationally blameless before Almighty God, we are exalted, lifted up by His almighty hands! When we behave shamefully, act haughtilly, and ignore and vilify Almighty God, we bring disgrace and devastation upon ourselves and our nation.

Let it be stated without equivocation or ambiguity, that the United States of America was founded as a CHRISTIAN NATION! History supports the veracity of that truth; yet our people have become so removed from God and the Gospel of Christ, that we are in danger of being spiritually hijacked by religions that are an outgrowth of ancient Babylon! According to one source, Christians number but 69 percent of our population today. Yet, how many of that 69 percent are truly “born again” believers in Jesus Christ; and how many of those who are, are living for Him in daily praise? Righteousness has fallen by the wayside.

The first printing press brought to America was for the purpose of printing Bibles for the country’s occupants. The first universites: Harvard, Yale, Princeton and other Ivy League schools were established for the express purpose of teaching and preparing young men for the Gospel ministry! Not all members of the Constitutional Convention were “born again” believers; but even those who who were not, were sensible, God-fearing men, who embraced the Bible and the tenets of its teachings.

The Star Spangled Banner is less meaningful to this generation than it was in the 1700s. We should know and love it all, along with Banner it extols. Yet, the best

meaningful verse is the last; and how many have even read it?

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

– Francis Scott Key (1814)

May God bless each of you! Pray for our blessed Nation, our President, and for our Congress and Supreme Court. May they regain the courage so many have lost; and may the Torch of Freedom be exalted high as a glowing tribute to our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ, who first made us free!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”