Remembering Memorial Day

     This coming weekend our cities will be decorated in bunting and the American flag will be flying along downtown streets all across America. There will be memorial ceremonies held at National Cemeteries, and small local cemeteries, where veterans are buried beneath broad, manicured grounds marked with long, regimented rows of white marker stones.

Some people will gather in those places of rest around the country to remember their own family members who died in service. Others will come to honor all who have served the nation in times of war and times of peace. The flag will be raised solemnly as the National Anthem is played or sung. The plangent, melancholy notes of “Taps” will waft over the silent grounds.   The old veterans in attendance will be recognized by their baseball hats emblazoned with military branch insignias, or with the names of the wars they were in. They will stand at awkward attention and salute at the raising of the flag, or during the playing of “Taps.” Their eyes and cheeks may be moist with tears, because they will be remembering fallen brothers and sisters in ways most can not imagine.

Why, then, should we all remember?

     It is not wars that we are remembering with this national holiday. Rather, we are remembering those who served and those who gave their last full measure of devotion in order to insure that the freedoms that this country offers to all would be able to be passed on to the next generations. We remember them because they tell us something of our human dignity. They remind us of the cost of freedom and of the quality of our character as a nation. We do not gather on this holiday to glorify wars. Rather, we are challenged to remember that when war comes unbidden to us, there are those who are willing to give their all to defend this nation. Deep down we want to remember in the hope that we will find ways to prevent wars and never again have to fight them again. There is, among veterans, no more hoped for desire than the desire that their own sons and daughters will never have to suffer the terrors of war, or the effects of war.

     All veterans hope and pray that their war will be the last war.  Memorial Day remembrances go back to the Civil War. They were originally called “Decoration Day” and were created out of a desire to honor those who had fallen. It was officially proclaimed on the 5th of May, 1868 by General John Logan, the then commander of the Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. It read: “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.”  That particular date, May 30, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.  

John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

Read more at http://blog.theveteranssite.com/memorial-day2015-tribute/#rDp5P9rD6JxdCRqF.99

We Forget Because We Don't Remember

This post was written by Mark Robinette, on his Ministry site: http://missiontomyanmar.com/
I enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd re-post it. :) Enjoy!

     Rich people like us are so busy taking care of all our many blessings we forget the God who gave them to us. When we give to our brothers and sisters in need, we remember the giver of all things.

     We have a catechism question here at Foundation Church that developed from one of my sermons years ago. I ask the church, “Why do we forget?” and they respond, “Because we don’t remember.”

      Simple enough? We are a forgetful people and we need to be intentional about remembering or we will forget. From Joshua’s stones of remembrance on either side of the Jordan to sacrifices, feasts, Sabbaths, washing's and even their every meal, God built a life of constant remembrance for His elect people, lest they forget.
     God’s imperatives of Deuteronomy chapter 6 almost seem ridiculous as they hammer this point home. It could have said, “teach your children my commands.”
     But as we well know, God told them to do this as they sat in their houses, when they walked by the way, when they laid down to sleep and when they rose up in the morning. Then he told them to bind them for a sign upon their hands, make them as frontlets between their eyes and write them upon the posts of their houses, and on their gates.

     The imagery here reminds me of the ever forgetful man who ties a green string around the pinky finger of his left hand, to remind him of the red one around the forefinger of his right hand, that reminds him of the blue one around his thumb telling him he’s supposed to remember something, but he can’t remember what it was.

That’s us. The more we have, it seems, the more forgetful we are. God told them and he is telling us to “beware lest we forget the Lord.”

Giving is a constant reminder God is the source of everything we have.

Jay Leno reminded people for Doritos to “eat all you want, we’ll make more” and I’d like to remind you and me to “Give all we want, God will make more.”

Every time we give away what God has given us it is an intentional way of remembering the one who gave the gift as well as faith that he’ll give us more tomorrow.

God taught this when he would not allow the Children of Israel to collect more manna than they needed for each day and later after they had come to the Promised Land not to harvest the corners of their fields but to leave them for the needy among them.

At our home, we know we are forgetful too. We have to work at remembering.

On our kitchen table we have a jar with a picture we made of our brothers and sisters in Myanmar. They are very poor. We put the jar on our table for several reasons. First to remember to pray, then to remember to put money in the jar for them and next to remember we have so very much at every meal. We also eat rice one meal each week to remember rice is sometimes all they have to eat. This has been good for me and my family.

God’s ways are so wise. Not only has it been good for us, it has been good for them. Yes they are blessed by the gift for it’s actual value in what they can buy, but they are blessed with several much needed reminders too. God answers prayer, they have brothers and sister in Christ who love them and pray for them and that all they have comes from God. This is truly a gift that keeps on giving.

It’s like the washer and dryer someone gave a young couple in our church. The rear entrance of their home goes through the laundry room and every time they walk by them they became much more than appliances. Not only do they wash and dry clothing, they hum a sweet tune. The words of this song testify of the truth God cares for them like he does for the lilies of the field and he does this through the church.

Have you remembered to give lately? Don’t be afraid you don’t have enough to give. When you don’t because of this you are saying God will not provide.

Trying to remember this years ago, my sweet wife spent many hours stitching these words into what is called a “sampler,” framing it, and hanging it on our wall. It says “The Lord Provides."