Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26^th President of the United States

“Progress has brought us both unbounded opportunities and unbridled difficulties. Thus, the measure of our civilization will not be that we have done much, but what we have done with that much. I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism. The thought of modern industry in the hands of Christian charity is a dream worth dreaming. The thought of industry in the hands of paganism is a nightmare beyond imagining. The choice between the two is upon us.” – Theodore Roosevelt, 1909

Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was born in October 1858, in New York City. Often asthmatic as a child, he was nonetheless hyperactive and mischievous. He also suffered severely from tone deafness. He attended Harvard College and excelled in science, philosophy and rhetoric. He was an accomplished naturalist with a photographic memory, memorizing books to their last detail. After graduating from Harvard he entered Columbia Law School. When offered a chance to run for New York Assemblyman, he dropped out of law school to pursue his new goal of entering public life.

During his years in the New York Assembly, he wrote more bills than any other legislator. He changed political parties several times in order to gain an advantage, but ultimately determined he had no further political aspirations and “retired” to his ranch in the wild Badlands of the Dakota Territory. After two desperately hard winters that wiped out his herd of cattle, he returned to Oyster Bay, New York. Shortly thereafter he ran for mayor of New York City, but came in third.

Roosevelt had always been fascinated by naval history, and upon the urging of Congressman Henry Cabot Lodge, Roosevelt’s close friend, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt to the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He was instrumental in preparing the Navy for the Spanish-American War with Cuba. Once war broke out, he resigned from the Navy Department, and found volunteers from cowboys he had known in the Western territories, along with friends from the Ivy League, forming the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, that the newspapers dubbed the “Rough Riders.” Under Roosevelt’s leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for dual charges up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill.

At the conclusion of the war, Roosevelt returned to New York and was elected Governor. He was placed on the slate in McKinley’s run for president, and served as Vice President. At the assassination of President McKinley, Roosevelt ascended to the presidency and served from 1901 to 1909. After his presidency, he returned to New York, and also participated in an extensive shooting safari on the African continent. Once back in the United States, he was active in partisan politics on behalf of other candidates. While campaigning in Wisconsin, a saloon keeper shot him, but the bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating both his steel eyeglass case and passing through a thick single-folded copy of the speech he was to give. While the shooting did not kill him, it did remove him from the campaign trail.

He led a scientific expedition along with a Brazilian explorer through the Brazilian jungle, where he contracted malaria.

When World War I began, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsh policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt’s son Quentin was a pilot with the American forces in France and was shot down behind German lines. Roosevelt never recovered from his loss. Despite his grief and failing health, he remained active to the end of his life, and died peacefully in his sleep at Oyster Bay.

Roosevelt was twice married, first to Alice Hathaway Lee and later to Edith Kermit Carow, both of whom predeceased him. He had six children. He listed his faith as Dutch Reformed.

OUR NATION'S GODLY HERITAGE:

Daily Prayer

O Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I lay down and slept; woke again, for the Lord sustained me. Praise Your Name, O Lord.  (From Psalm 3)

Prayer for America

Father, thank You for the United States and its government. I pray for the president, the national and local government, the judges, the policemen, the business leaders and all those who are in leadership positions in this country. Please protect them from the evil that is in the world and keep them safe and free from all harm.

You have promised to bless any nation that follows after You. Help us to live quiet and peaceful lives so that we can continue to spread the Good News of the Gospel throughout our land.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Worse Than Same-Sex Marriage

Are American Christians ignoring a greater scourge?

by Adam Colwell

With the declaration, “New York made a powerful statement, not just for the people of New York, but for people all across this nation,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill June 24 that made New York the sixth, and to this point largest, state in the union to ratify same-sex marriage.

In doing so, it effectively doubled the number of homosexual couples in the United States who can now legally get married – and set a precedent that could spur more states to follow suit in the months to come.

Of course, the news should compel those who champion the biblical definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman to increase their efforts against future same-sex marriage legislation. Yet amidst the furor about the increasing acceptance of homosexuality in the United States, is it possible Christian Americans are overlooking a worse indictment against scriptural family values – and one, frankly, they’ve helped foster?

Fact is, divorce harms many more lives than will ever be impacted by same-sex marriage. Children are left without both parents (typically, their fathers), husbands and wives lose their spouses, and the structure of the home is forever broken. Significant, too, is that the credibility of biblical marriage is systematically rendered moot as divorce becomes more accepted and routine.

Sadly, American Christians, in general, have done little through their behavior to stem the divorce tide. Studies by the Barna Group and others show that Christians are just as likely as the average American to divorce. The Barna study placed the divorce rate amongst evangelical, born again Christians at 32 percent – nearly identical to the 33 percent figure among non-born again adults. George Barna, director of the study, stated “there no longer seems to be much of a stigma attached to divorce; it is now seen as an unavoidable rite of passage.”

Not helping American public perception of Christians and divorce are the break-ups in recent years of the marriages of Randy and Paula White and Benny Hinn and his former wife Suzanne – high-profile evangelists who are trusted by tens of thousands of Christians, but largely mocked by the unchurched populace.

The source of this laissez-faire attitude toward divorce amongst American Christians can actually be traced back before the 1980s heyday of the Moral Majority, all the way to the early 1970s when the so-called Christian right was first being mobilized. While issues such as homosexual rights, abortion, pornography, and prayer and sex education in public schools were being brought to the forefront (and each deservedly so), discussion on the growth of divorce was relegated to the back burner. Apologists claim that the rise in “no fault” divorce laws during that same time period contributed to the marginalization of the divorce dialogue, but that’s hardly an excuse. Truth is, American evangelicals, along with other Christians, began to water down their opinion on divorce when it became more common…and started happening in their own homes.

Now, a few scant decades later, Christians in America face a significant credibility crisis when they speak out in defense of biblical marriage. There even remains disagreement within churches themselves regarding how they, and Scripture, addresses divorce. Churches generally treat divorce as a private, almost secretive matter, resulting in a collapse of accountability or discipline from church leadership toward its members. The Bible is also emphatic in condemning divorce. Though identified in Scripture as a grievous sin (Matthew 19:3-8; I Corinthians 7:11-13), divorce is nevertheless commonplace in most Christian congregations.

Complicating things further are differing biblical interpretations for what constitutes divorce. Some believe adultery is a sufficient allowance for divorce; others do not. Tom Holladay, a teaching pastor at the California megachurch founded by best-selling author Rick Warren, says the Bible only gives two cases where divorce is acceptable – abandonment and a physical affair – adding that he does not believe physical abuse by one’s spouse is a biblical reason for divorce, though he does recommend a period of separation in such cases.

Taking the far-reaching assumption that same-sex marriage is legalized in most U.S. states by, say, 2020 (and even accepting the generous estimate that homosexuals constitute even five percent of the nation’s population), the number of individuals and their children directly impacted by those marriages will be far fewer than the lives personally touched by divorce. The claim that same-sex marriage undermines the traditional American family simply rings hollow in comparison to the destruction that has already been wrought, and will be in years to come, by divorce.

As you pray this week, ask God to:

• Help married Christian men and women stay committed to their vows.
• Move in American churches to increase outreach to couples considering divorce.
• Use you to champion the sanctity of marriage to your family and friends.

Adam Colwell serves as an Editor and Project Manager for the Presidential Prayer Team and has over 25 years experience working for and with Christian para-church ministries. He and his wife Ginger live in Tucson, AZ and have two daughters.

Fun Facts, History and Trivia about Independence Day

· Independence Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.

· The Liberty Bell sounded from the tower of Independence Hall that day summoning citizens to gather for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.

· When John Hancock had signed the Declaration of Independence with that well-known bold signature, he is supposed to have said, “King George ought to be able to read that!”

· The first public Fourth of July event at the White House occurred in 1804.

· The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect those who signed. If independence had not been achieved, the treasonable act of the signers would have, by law, resulted in their deaths.

· It was not until 1941 that Congress declared the 4^th of July as a federal legal holiday.

· In July 1776 the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation was 2.5 million.

· There is a greater than 1 in 4 chance that the hot dogs or pork sausages consumed on the Fourth of July originated in Iowa. The odds are 1 in 3 that your side dish of baked beans originated from North Dakota.

The Declaration of Independence was approved in wording by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776.On July 4, the delegates voted to accept it. On the day between, July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail: I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.

2 Peter 2:19, They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.