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Now the individual I'm going to talk about for the next few moments...you may choose to call Him God; you may want to call Him "man"; you may want to call Him a teacher, a preacher, or a prophet. In fact, for the next several minutes, I dont care if you choose to call Him a radical and a fanatic, a man who lived a wild and stormy life. So reckless was what He preached back in those days that they finally nailed Him to a cross to get rid of Him, because they thought He would never amount to much.
I tell you why I can say that-because no matter how you look at this individual, more books have been written about Him, more speeches have been made concerning Him, more songs have been sung about Him, and more lives have been changed because of Him. His teaching, or preaching, or philosophy, or whatever it is you choose to call it, has done more to change the course of humanity for good than all of our great leaders in the world combined.
You know, one day He called His top twelve men together. call it a strategy meeting, board of directors meeting, you can call it a sales meeting if you want. But He called His top twelve men together to lay the groundwork to get mankind traveling in the direction that mankind ought to travel. I dont know what all He told them there that day, but I do know this. Most likely, much of what He told them was recorded into this handbook of mankind. And more than a thousand years later, the Pilgrims brought it to America, and it became a part of the American foundations: "In God we trust, one nation under God, and God bless America,"
And then not much more than a hundred years ago, a tall lanky man walked out onto a wooden stage that they had built for him in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In these words he said something like this: "That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth." You know, I believe that man! I also believe that the influence of this great Book has helped make America so great. No matter how you interpret the world situation today, from where you sit tonight, I think you will agree with me that God has truly blessed America,
You know, this old country of ours, the U.S.A., it hasn't been one hundred percent right in all the things it has done. But I will tell you one thing, there is still a lot more right than wrong with it.
As we look around the world today, we see bombigs and shellings and killings, rockets and refugees, war and orphans, hunger and hostages, disputed borders and boundaries, and more bombings. You know, it seems like it is never over, over there. I dont know about you, but as for me, I am persuaded that America is still the best.
I hope a time never comes when that flag goes by and someone doesn't say, "America, America, God shed His grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea." I hope a time never comes when that flag goes by I dont somehow get a little chill up my spine. Because let me tell you that we have something mighty good going for us here in America today.
You know, even as I look back on some of our recent times of confusion and turmoil in the government, there is still a lot to be thankful for. I thank God that our Constitution has prevailed. I thank God that the Congress of our country has never contaminated the waters of freedom simply because from time to time they may not have liked the bucket in which it came.
Where in the world, but in America, are people standing in line trying to get in, while in too many other countries in this world, they are dying trying to get out?
So come on, America! Come on, Americans! When things are looking down around the world, we need to be looking up, We need to be raising, praising, lifting up, and encouraging the greatest system in the whole wide world!
God bless our flag; God bless our people, And please, God, more than ever before, bless America!
