From the Editor's Desk

The Fourth of July is a time that always makes me feel a little strange. I served in the military, and wherever I go I find myself being honored. Which is something I don't seek out. I just want to go about my life serving God with no fuss made about my past (the good or the bad). I also don't dwell in my own past. It is part of my life that has come and gone. For those of you really into celebrating the 4rth of July, please do not think I am trying to be a wet blanket.

There is something Biblical about the 4rth of July and that is freedom. The Holy Bible is very clear on how accepting Jesus Christ will free us from our enslavement to sin. When I see the colorful flower displays in the night sky I think about how blessed I am. I thank God for all of the things I have, all of the things I have been spared from, and for those who laid down their lives. John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Quite a few people have laid down their lives so that others may be free. They followed Christ's teachings on greater love.

It would do all of us good to remember those men and women who have laid down their lives so that others may have freedom. They had friends and family that are mourning them this 4rth of July. Whether you approve or disapprove of the areas of the world they brought freedom to, please be respectful to their sacrifice and their friends and family. Sacrifice is a hard thing for us to accept sometimes. I always come down to it was their choice to lay down their life for others, just as it was Christ's choice to lay down his life for us. I hope you have a happy, healthy, and safe 4rth of July.