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The Reason for the Season
At Christmas, people all over the world pause to remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This celebration has occurred despite difficulties or circumstances facing us throughout history. Many of America's presidents have reminded us at Christmastime that Jesus' birth has continued to impact the world. For example, in the [...]
John & Abigail Adams Anniversary
October 25th, is the wedding anniversary of John and Abigail Adams. They were married on this date in 1764 when John was 29 years old and Abigail 20. After an initial rocky start at their first meeting in 1761 (John was not impressed with Abigail or her sisters, and Abigail's mother [...]
An Historic Debate
From the time before the American War for Independence, black Americans served as elected officials in local politics. Following the Civil War, hundreds more were elected to state and federal office. For example, at the national level, in 1871, Robert Brown Elliott was elected to the US House of Representatives -- [...]
Black Soldiers in the Revolution
Black Soldiers in the Revolution Sadly, today we are routinely taught the negatives of American history -- we emphasis the bad and the ugly with nearly no mention of the good. Consequently, we hear the many ways that Americans did not always live up to the ideals of our founding, especially [...]
Celebrating Black History Month: The Rev. Francis J. Grimke
“Washington is a hard training ground for preachers.” This quote probably remains as accurate today as it was 100 years ago when it was made by famous black pastor Francis James Grimké. [1] Grimké was born to a slave mother in South Carolina in 1850. When his guardian tried to sell [...]
Happy Independence Day!
America's Birthday On July 4, 1776 a group of Americans approved a document declaring the United States of America free from English rule. This document was the Declaration of Independence, and today we celebrate the 242nd birthday of this courageous action! The Declaration of Independence is the nation's birth certificate. Thomas [...]
Christmas
"Ghosts of Christmas Past" (from Charles Dickens "Christmas Carol" in 1843) At Christmas, people all over the world pause to remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We gather with family, exchange gifts, and hopefully read the Christmas story from the Bible (Luke 2:1-20). It's a day of celebration! In [...]
God in Thanksgiving
Americans gather with family and friends to celebrate a uniquely American holiday--Thanksgiving! While there are records of days or moments of Thanksgiving in America held as far back as 1541, our modern observance is based on that held by the Pilgrims in 1621. We are blessed that historical accounts of this [...]
Siege of Yorktown
Ending of a War The Siege of Yorktown is recognized as the final major military action in the War for Independence. This three-week long battle (September 28-October 19, 1781) secured American independence after 6 years of active fighting. Some interesting aspects surrounding the siege of Yorktown makes this victory even more [...]
A Preacher and the President
President James Garfield-- A Minister of God James Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, was a Gospel minister, thus clearly contradicting today's errant notion that religious leaders are not to be involved with civil government. Sadly, few know much about Garfield partly because of the deliberate secularization of American [...]
