Dear Friend,
When you open this letter and glance at this month’s newsletter, I wonder how many of you thought of the jingle Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie, and… you know the rest. July is the month we celebrate the birth of our great nation – – happy birthday, America!! That old commercial used symbols like hotdogs and apple pie to represent what is good and wholesome about the USA. I think our vision statement to the left of that well-dressed hotdog identifies what is (or maybe was) truly great and wholesome for America:
A nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is cherished.
Obviously, there are times when our nation’s history reveals the numerous and grievous occasions when we have fallen short of these aspirations, but I believe no other country has experienced these ideals more fully than we have. As we are mindful of the failures of slavery, racism, and the holocaust of abortion, we must not ignore the fact that we have much for which to be thankful – – thankful to God, the provider of those blessings.
While I am also mindful that we must strike a balance between focusing on our temporal blessings and our eternal blessings and calling, I must confess, I’m getting a little tired of every expression of patriotism or call for Christians to be civically engaged being branded Christian nationalism. I don’t think it’s going to shock anyone that the League is compelled to call upon pastors and fellow believers to consider their responsibility to engage the culture and look to the Word for instruction regarding Biblical citizenship. That is the reason we are sponsoring the Why Now the Church? conferences scheduled for July 29 in Brewer and July 30 in Portland. While the focus of this conference is for pastors, anyone who is conscientiously attempting to be an effective advocate for God’s truth would benefit from attending. Go to WhyNowtheChurch.me for details regarding these events including Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Dr. Frank Turek, Abdu Murray, and yours truly. The registration deadline for this event is July 21.
Mike McClellan and FRC’s Tim Throckmorton continue to engage in initial training for those who have signed up for our Community Impact Teams [CIT]. I can’t overemphasize how important we think the CIT program is in equipping and mobilizing the Church to positively impact their communities via Biblical citizenship. Click here to learn more.
This may seem like an early announcement, but on election years, July is the month we launch our Pews to the Polls campaign. This year’s goal is $150,000, which will give us the resources to:
*research, develop, and distribute our voter guides
*identify and motivate irregular, pro-life voters
*support candidates who will defend our values
We will provide more details about our Pews to the Polls campaign as we progress toward the fall, but please consider a donation now so we can have a great start.
Many involved with ministry over the years know that summer can be a challenging time for finances. In addition to praying for the League, I ask that you consider sharing our vision with like-minded friends. Nothing is more effective than word-of-mouth promotion. I thank all of you for your faithful and generous support of the League.
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