Memorial Day Thoughts

We recently celebrated Memorial Day, which is a day of remembrance – of those who gave their lives in their nation’s service. Originally called Devotion Day, then Decoration Day, Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. The first observance was on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red That grows on fields where valor led, It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving in the military during wartime. She was the first to wear a homemade poppy, sold some to her friends and co-workers, and gave the money to benefit servicemen in need. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to sell poppies throughout the nation.

Traditional observance of Memorial Day has sadly diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored and neglected. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

The younger generation view Memorial Day as a marker in their calendar - just another holiday to take off and enjoy. I’m a marine. I fought in Vietnam. When I first visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C., I touched that wall of 50,000 service men and women and could not help but weep. I survived by the grace of God, but some of my men did not. To tread upon the day in making it just another holiday pains me.

As a combat veteran, it grieves me to see the waning of this holiday, for now we celebrate the day has a “happy picnic day”; not a remembrance. In Scripture we are told about remembrance – to remember the great acts of God. The Israelites would leave huge stones to commemorate a deliverance from God or one of His miracles that demonstrated His power and protection. Christ, at the Last Supper, told us to eat the bread and drink the wine in remembrance of Him, proclaiming His death until he comes again.

Hopefully, we Americans will never forget the lives of those that died in service to our country. I pray that Memorial Day brings to mind the great act of Christ who gave His life that we may live eternally! God bless!

Synod Court Desires Unity over Purity of the Gospel

The Layman Online (May 22, 2012) reported by a vote of 125 to 51 that the Presbytery of Los Ranchos of the PCUSA adopted the following resolution: The Presbytery …affirms that the Bible, The Book of Confessions and the Book of Order...set forth the Scriptural and constitutional standards for ordination and installation. Los Ranchos Presbytery believes the manner of life of ordained ministers should be a demonstration of the Christian gospel in the church and in the world, including living either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness and will so notify candidates for ordination/installation and/or membership in the presbytery….

This vote was complained to the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii Permanent Judicial Commission, which was heard on May 4, 2012. It’s ruling, without sustaining the complainants’ specifications of error, admonished the presbytery for its adoption of the resolution that would potentially harm the peace and unity of the church. The court’s decision was as follows: The decision affirms that "the presbytery's resolution is a proper exercise of the powers that are reserved to presbyteries (F-3.0209). It is the presbytery's duty to bear witness to error in doctrine and immorality in practice within its bounds (G-3.0301c)."

After affirming the presbytery's constitutional right and even responsibility to exercise such oversight of its members and candidates, the court further ordered … that the Presbytery of Los Ranchos be admonished that while this PJC considers the resolution constitutional, the use of specific language known to be divisive and inflammatory flies in the face of the responsibility to seek the peace, unity and purity of the church.

Evidently, peace and unity are considered superior values than truth and purity of the Word. No wonder people and churches are leaving the PCUSA denomination. Such decisions mock those who lost their lives for truth during the Reformation. If the synod’s court had its way, there would have been no Reformation, for such a movement flew in the face of peace and unity. Romans 12:18 does admonish us to be at peace with all men if it is within our power to do so. Yet peace must not be at all costs when the purity of the gospel is at stake. If the sum of God’s Word is truth (Psalm 119:160), should we not promote it? In fact, those who do not promote truth actually deceive their neighbor (Jer. 9:5) and do not know God (Jer. 9:3). John says that “he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (John 3:2). Jesus equated those who abide in His Word as true disciples (John 8:31). Furthermore, Jesus did not come to bring peace and unity as the world or the PCUSA desires. He came with a sword that would divide people over the truth (Luke 12:51).

Not liking directives of God’s word leads people to follow their own sensuality, which leads to maligning truth (2 Pet. 2:2). This has certainly been the case in denominations that have a low view of Scripture and believe cultural redefinitions are more important that scriptural admonitions. For a synod court to say the Presbytery had the power to rule on error and to determine what is immoral within its bounds and then in the same breath admonish them for breaching the peace and unity of the church is a decision bordering on schizophrenia, for this court cannot tell right from wrong, real from unreal, and cannot logically see that the purity of truth is to be defended over and above co-existence with error and immorality.