All i/c 20 Seal jacks 20 Plank jacks Mosey around circle 20 Mountain man pooper 20 Cherry picker side shuffle around circle, switching halfway 20 SSH 20 Seal waves Nur around circle 20 Imperial walkers 20 mountain climbers
The Thang
Mosey up Bradford street to park past church on left. Each pair will play Frisbee golf through park and down Edward street to other field by other church doing an exercise as many times it takes to get to the hole. Hole #1 Burpees Hole #2 Lbcs – 40 extra at end of hole Hole #3 Lunge between shots Hole #4 Squats x 5 Hole #5 – throwing with non-dominit arm E2ks (per knee) x 5 Hole #6 Sshs x 5 Hole #7 Merkins x 5
3RD F
Wavewalker song lyrics (abbreviated)
How’s it so simple? Faith like a child I give you an inch and you take me a mile I feel the wind rush and the thunder roll And two feet on the water, only one way to go, yeah
I don’t gotta be afraid no more ‘Cause I know You’ll walk me through the storm I’m more than just a talker
I’m a wavewalker I’m dancing on water When the devil tried to shake me, I just pray harder Even in my darkest hour Got Holy Ghost power When I keep my eyes upon You, Jesus I’m a wavewalker (wavewalker)
I walk over my fears, over my doubt The supernatural, it feels so natural now
I don’t gotta be afraid no more ‘Cause I know You’ll walk me through the storm I’m more than just a talker I’m a wavewalker
This song made me think of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. How we need to keep our eyes on Him at all times.
Did a warm up on the circle and headed to the soccer field at St. Michael. Teamed up to do 100 dry docks, 200 squats, and 300 LBCs. One PAX did the exercises while the other ran across the field and back. Then we went to the parking lot at Georgetown Presbyterian. PAX planked up and took turns running to the other side and doing 10 burpees.
The PAX special requested that I put my message up for you all.
Message Title: But I Found None!
Ezekial 22:29-31
“The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the immigrant without justice. And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath.”
The Context: This was a message of judgement from the Lord to the Jewish people in Jerusalem. Murder, extortion and incest had become a prevalent and accepted part of their culture. God would judge them for the prevailing evil in their society.
The Wall: The wall here is not referring to the physical wall around Jerusalem. The physical wall would protect them against foreign forces but not against God’s judgment. The wall that need repaired and defended in this verse is a spiritual and moral wall protecting their society and culture from the judgment of God. Without a man to fix and defend it, the Jewish people were defenseless against God’s wrath.
The Search: God was looking for a man, not a woman or child. This is because God needed a strong leader to repair the wall. In this case, He was looking for a man to stand up and say NO to the prevailing evil in the culture of Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul may have had Ezekiel 22 in mind when he wrote “Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong.”
One Man: Notice that God did not need an army or a committee. He only needed a single man strong enough to stand up to the evil in the culture and spare the city from God’s wrath. The great and shocking tragedy is that God couldn’t find a single man strong enough to do that. EVEN WHEN YOU STAND ALONE, GOD CAN USE YOU! It only takes one man with the strength to say NO!!! to the popular evil in whatever culture he happens to find himself in. Will you be that man?
The Contrast: Notice the difference between how God through the prophet Ezekial describes a strong and courageous man compared to how our popular culture does. The popular singer Harry Styles recently posed in Vogue magazine wearing various feminine dresses. Newspaper headlines around the western world were quick to give their approval. Harry Styles was declared to be revolutionary and courageous. God sees a strong and courageous man as one willing to oppose the popular injustice in the culture, even when it means standing alone. Our newspapers see a strong and courageous man as one willing to wear a dress. We all live in a culture. All of our cultures have various evils of some kind that are popular and accepted. What kind of man will we choose to be?
The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
We need to listen to wise counsel. Look for other HIM to pull up into leadership roles. We as men want to do everything on our own. We can’t. We need to ask for help or delegate so we can prosper.
Mosey to armory
10 ranger merkins, mosey up steps and back
10 diamond merkins, mosey up steps and back
20 wide arm merkins, mosey up steps and back
20 merkins, mosey up steps and back
Mosey back to AO
20 gas pumpers
20 split squats, per leg
20 derkins
Mosey around circle
Toy soldier set
50 lbc
30 e2k
20 big boys
20 squats
20 erkins
Side shuffle around circle switching halfway
10 burpees
Round of Mary; American hammers, flutter kicks, 4 count Freddie, mountain climbers, scissor kicks
Number Rama
Name Rama
COT
9 HIM showed today: Semi, Quarto, Swabby, Waler, Chappie, Toy Soldier, Cowbell, Doubtfire, Fireplex
F3 Nation, Inc. (“F3″) is a peer-led, zero-cost non-profit workout group. F3 makes no representations with regard to the skill level of workout leaders, the safety of the exercises performed during workouts or the hazardousness of the premises upon which workouts are conducted. The men who lead F3 workouts are not paid to do so and no representations of any kind are made by F3 about their skill level. The premises upon which F3 workouts are conducted are not owned or maintained by F3. F3 makes no representations of any kind regarding their safety. Although F3 workouts vary widely in intensity, all F3 workouts tend to be rigorous and are undertaken upon uneven ground during periods of limited visibility. Therefore, there are certain dangers inherent in participating in an F3 workout. Participants must be 18 or older and are assumed to have made their own reasonable decision as to whether they should so participate. Participants under 18 must be accompanied by a father or male legal guardian. F3 disclaims any and all responsibility for any individual’s decision to participate in an F3 workout. By participating in an F3 workout, an individual assumes the risks inherent in doing so. This Disclaimer and Notice is made by F3 on its own behalf and on the behalf and for the benefit of any person leading an F3 workout and/or otherwise acting for the benefit of F3.
Warmup –
19 of each IC
SSH
CHERRY PICKERS
IMPERIAL WALKER
WINDMILL
MOROCCAN NIGHT CLUB
SHOULDER TAPS
Mosey to old Napa –
F3 is a national network of free, peer-led workouts for men. Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.
Toy soldier set 40-20- 10
Hold plank til 6 is in
Circle up – One PAX does 25 merkins
While all other PAX do squats. As soon as merkins are done , next pax jumps in and does 25 merkins while everyone else continues squats. Go until everyone has done 25 merkins.
Mosey to random spot on a Georgetown street.
F3–
We welcome men of all fitness levels to our workouts and have no requirement for membership other than that you show up at the appointed time and place and follow what the workout leader (the “Q” in F3 lingo) does.
The F3 Credo is: Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.
PAX line up for round of 11’s-
One end- burpees starting with 10
Side shuffle to designated spot.
For 1 big boy. Shuffle back.
continue until done 10 big boy and 1 burpee.
Stop after 6 burpees and 5 big boy.
Circle up and
Break into groups of 3 – This time pax take turn doing 25 merkins while others are doing lunges
In groups of 3 – Another round of 25 merkins while remaining pax do squats.
Mosey back to circle.
An F3 Core Principle is to end each Workout with a Circle Of Trust, what we call the COT. Like most things F3, the COT was not part of the original design. It evolved to fill a need. Men told us that they didn’t feel right just jumping in their cars after the Workout without some type of minor ceremonial send off. So we conjured up the COT, which is where we recognize each man individually and say a brief prayer.
Within the COT, we often find ourselves asking the Creator for help at being better husbands, fathers, friends, mentors and workers. We don’t know the source of this particular petition, it just came about and seemed to spread across F3Nation. It is a recognition that as men, we yearn to be better at the things we were created to be, and have learned the hard way that we cannot do it alone. We need help. We need truth that is hard-earned and hard-learned. We need Wisdom.
But which of us is wise? How do we know what we are hearing is Wisdom and not the song of a fool? How are we to discern the voice of the shepherd from that of the wolf?
Because the Q is a Leader who takes responsibility for the Outcome, he is also a man who seeks help answering these questions. In turn, because he is part of a Community, he is obligated to help other men find them as well. The source of the Q’s Wisdom, the QSource, is best discovered through the mutual iron-sharpening that occurs when people unite and search for answers together, the old-fashioned way.
Toy soldier set 40-20-10
Hold plank until 6 is in
Circle up in groups of 3 and Repeat the 25 merkins / lunges
We started this morning off with a Patirot Run to church. PAX lined up behind 2 shovel flags and we took off in a friendly manner to the back field at the church. We posted flag in the middle of the church field and completed bear crawl ring of fire
Bear Crawl Ring of Fire
Combines exercises we have all come to love/hate. Circle up around shovel flag. Begin by bear crawling around in circle until Q says stop. Upon stopping, first Pax completes 10 merkins while other Pax plank, then next pax in line completes 10 merkins while other pax plank. Keep going around until all pax have completed the 10 merkins. The suck factor greatly increases the more pax you have (longer planks). PAX circled up and we bear crawled in a cirlcle until Q shouted HALT. We then planked it up while each HIM (19 of us uggg) completed the merkins. in between sets we recovered to our 6 to complete an ab exercise.
1st round _10 merkins, DR W AB exercise- Dr. W is a sufferable 8-count ab exercise that combines Dolly, Rosalita, and the W; often within the 6MOM. Always a #CrowdPleaser. 1 is legs apart like a Low Dolly, 2 is legs together, 3 is raise the legs to Rosalita position (45-60 degrees-ish), 4 is spread ‘em, 5 is The W (hands together and stretching forward between your legs), 6 is the return to your back (legs still up), 7 is legs together, 8 is legs down. 5-8 Dr. W’s is a good start to get the pax coordinated with the counting. 10 is a magic # that most build up to 15 is just dumb and torture #FetalPositionMaker Qtip – We always emphasize that the W is on the 5 count. Kinda breaks down the motions and gives a 2nd starting point.
2nd round 10 diamond merkins, 10 IC Seated Flutter Kicks with hands raised in Hallelujahs. Move immediately to hands behind you. 10 IC slightly reclined flutterkicks. Move immediately 10 IC normal flutter kicks.
3rd round 10 werkins, Toy soldier set, 60 LBC, 30 E2K each leg, and 15 BBSU
F3 message was inserted here, it will be at the end of the backblast
FInal Round- 10 ranger merkins. We recovered to our feet once we finished the Bear crawl ring of fire, and lined back up to head back to the AO.
once we got back to AO the real final round was 15 burpees to wrap things up.
Number o rama- 19 HIM beat the fartsack and faced the Gloom.
Name o rama- we welcomed 2 FNGs to the group and named them Waterboy, and Cowbell
Circle of trust- we ended like we always do in strength we circled up and offered prayers to JESUS.
Third F message
A few weeks ago it was RovingRuckfest and it was at broadkill Beach. Just so happens Chappie was on vacation so naturally I was alone for this trip. I kept thinking, im going to go home and go back to sleep, but I didn’t. I decided to pray ruck. I hit the beach with 20 lbs in my ruck and a 40 lb sandbag, and I’m praying, and rucking. It was fabulous. The moon lit the sky and the tide had recently passed for the night leaving the beach entirely deserted.. There wasn’t a single foot indentation on the whole beach. I reminisced as if in a daydream about a poem. I’m sure we have all heard the poem, footprints in the sand”. I chuckled to myself as I turned around to my surprise, there was but 1 set of footprints in the sand. I said “Lord I see 1 set of footprints here and this Ruck is getting heavy. His reply to me was, how do you think I feel, these footprints you see behind you are my footprints. You see we tend to carry on our shoulders, to much weight. We cary stress, worries, failures, disappointments, and it weighs us down and restrains us from doing what God has truly called us to do. When we carry these things, just like the Ruck it slows us down, it holds us back, it weighs on us heavily and God already paid the price. I reluctantly carried on, with a new appreciation about my day. We are not alone, Life may seem hard at times but with faith in Jesus we will endure the race that has been set before us. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
10 HIM got better, faster, stronger and a little fatter (thanks to YHC’s Coffeeteria, complements of Dunkin. Hey, the coffee was good!). No worries, PAX got fatter in fellowship too! Bonus: The impromptu car show was cool! Big welcome to FNG’s Timmy Rogers (n.k.a. F3 Biddie) and Luke Maloney (n.k.a. F3 Bolt). Among 16 PAX on our Q list YHC was super excited to be able to Q 2x in less than a week. Here’s the break down from a very muggy Saturday morning:
WARM-O-RAMA
• SSH – 18 IC
• Sealjacks – 30 IC
• Crabflippers – 18 IC
• High knees (in place) – 18 IC
• Compass Squats – Jump Squat & turn N, E, S, W (1 rotation = 1 rep) – 10 OYO (a new crowd-pleaser for sure, based on the mumble chatter
• MNC – 10 IC
PATRIOT RUN to North Bedford Street Park
THE THANG – Blackjack 21’s – Merkins/Reverse LBC’s
• “Hit me!” option from the F3 Workout Deck – 5x deal/per PAX
(21/Blackjack = a pass)
(Other draws = #of exercise on the cards)
(Sandbags = 4 sandbags/10 PAX. Never pass 1 by, carry to middle or end)
Keep track of your rounds. YHC was able to get to 9 Merkins/12 Reverse LBC’s/Gas Pumpers before time ran out
PATRIOT RUN – Return to AO
3rdF shared about mid-workout:
SUA SPONTE LEADERSHIP YHC first heard of Sua Sponte leadership years ago from an illustration shared by Greg Laurie, making the point that Christ himself was a Sua Sponte leader.
Many, following the movie The Passion of the Christ, were claiming the film was anti-semetic. People were pointing fingers faulting the Jews, the Greeks and Romans, and everyone but themselves for the death of Christ. Fact is, he died for each of us as sinners and I’ve heard people say that if you were the only person who needed saved, Christ still would’ve died for you. In fact, 1 Timothy 2:4 says, “God…desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
He died in our place on the cross. He was arrested, beaten, tried and killed ALL FOR US and FOR ALL OF US. In reality, it was all my fault that he died! But as we bear the guilt or lay the blame on others (It was the Jews! It was the Romans! It was the Greeks!) the sinless Savior Himself was practicing Sua Sponte leadership, as He stated in John 10:18 – “No one takes it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from the Father.”
He chose to die for you and for me…of His own accord!
The book, QSource, by one of F3’s founders, Dredd, says, “Sua sponte is Latin for of his own accord. [A man] acts Sua sponte when…he takes the initiative to act on his own accord. Sua sponte is also the motto of the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Reg. It is a recognition that to become a Ranger a man must be a triple volunteer: first the Army, then Airborne School and finally the Ranger Regiment. Rangers aren’t drafted, they must make the choice themselves–3x! The Rangers are elite because every man there is taught to be a Leader and every leader is directed to take the initiative to do what is necessary to accomplish the unit’s mission. (I.e. “I got this!”)
In F3, a Sua sponte leader is a man who has been freed to Lead. He is a Leader who exercises Individual Initiative (I2) by taking action in furtherance of his group’s articulated purpose WITHOUT SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS. He initiates movement toward advantage for his group in the absence of explicit authority because he is the rare man who will Lead with or without another Leader to direct him. He is That Somebody.
F3 could not function without HIMs willing to be That Somebody.”
F3 is an organization that was created in order to invigorate male community leadership. THAT is our mission. Carrying out that mission, whether it be communication, Site-Q’ing, organizing a 2ndF or 3rdF outreach opportunity, just plain old Q’ing, keeping each other accountable, stepping up to take someone’s place to Q, planting, growing, serving, etc., means each of us must be That Somebody, it means we must practice Sua sponte leadership…just like the Rangers, like many others before us, like Jesus Christ himself! (Quotes adapted from: Qsource, 189)
A shameless plug for the tools of the trade in the above pic: Both are available at F3nation.com where you can click on the Gear button to pick up your own.
BOM/COT:
Announcements: Q schedule is out and includes a leadership Pow-Wow scheduled for Wednesday evening 9/2 @ 6:30 pm. Summit volunteered to host, details TBA. All invited!
Naming of FNG’s: Welcome again to Bolt & Biddie
Prayer: Prayer offered for a few PAX’s marriages. For Brineball, having a doc look at a nerve issue. For Chattahoochee. And a few others which slip YHC’s mind as of this writing, but they never slip God’s mind.
Lawn Chair Coffeeteria: YHC invited all PAX to stick around the circle after the COT for coffee/munchkins. Good times. Camaraderie.
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 Squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Windmills – 20IC
Toy Soldier Set – 50 LBC’s, 25 E2K’s (each side), 15 Big Boys
Mosey (Patriot Run) approx. .47 miles to the school
The Thang
PAX completed the Hindenburg BLIMPS routine from the exicon. We modified the sprint portion to a straight line between FOUR light poles that were approx. .02 miles apart. Sprint to pole#1 and perform an exercise at pole #1, sprint to pole#2 & perform exercise, sprint to pole#3 & perform exercise & lastly to pole #4 & perform exercise. Plank it up until all PAX are in. That completes Round #1. Reverse directions and perform the second exercise working back to the pole where it all started. Rinse and repeat until all 6 Rounds are complete. Round # 1 – 10 Burpees, Round #2 – 20 Lunges (10 each leg). Round #3 – 30 Merkins. Round #4 – 40 Imperial Walkers. Round #5 – 50 Plank Jacks. Round #6 – 60 Squats. Chattahoochee caught the planned spelling error on the reversal of the imperial walkers and the merkin sets. So…we completed 40 merkins to make up the difference when we returned to Aegis.
F3 Message – The 3rd F was shared after completing Round #4.
Mosey (Patriot Run) approx. .47 miles back to Aegis
PAX finished the beatdown strong with 40 merkins OYO.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all of our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Welcome to FNG – Yukon.
F3 Message – 07/04/2020 – Excepts from Tony Cooke Ministries
Quotes, Stories, and Illustrations for the 4th of July
“Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove religion from politics.” – George Washington’s Farewell Address to Nation
“Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.” – John Wayne
“America was established not to create wealth but to realize a vision, to realize an ideal – to discover and maintain liberty among men.” – Woodrow Wilson
General Omar Bradley said, “America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry, and when that momentum runs down, God help America.” Bradley also said, “We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount… The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.”
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not but religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” – Patrick Henry
“We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel.” – Benjamin Franklin (From the debates at the Constitutional Convention, June of 1787)
2 Chronicles 7:14 – if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Proverbs 14:34 – Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people… it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other…” – John Quincy Adams
Only in America
1. Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance. 2. Only in America are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink. 3. Only in America do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions, while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front. 4. Only in America do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke. 5. Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our junk in the garage. Hello. 6. Only in America do we use answering machines to screen calls and have call-waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place. 7. Only in America do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
The Inscription on the Statue of Liberty, written by Emma Lazarus Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
No King But Jesus! The Colonists grew in their resilience and confidence in God, to the point where one Crown-appointed Governor wrote of the condition to the Board of Trade back in England: “If you ask an American who is his master? He will tell you he has none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ.”
The Committees of Correspondence soon began sounding the cry across the Colonies: “No King but King Jesus!”
From America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, Fame Publishing.
“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” – George Washington
1 Timothy 2:1-4
1. Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2. for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3. for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4. who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
“In reading over the Constitutions of all fifty of our states, I discovered something which some of you may not know: there is in all fifty, without exception, an appeal or a prayer to the Almighty God of the universe…. Through all fifty state Constitutions, without exception, there runs this same appeal and reference to God who is the Creator of our liberties and the preserver of our freedoms.” – D. James Kennedy
“History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.” – General Douglas MacArthur
“I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one of two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity.” – John Quincy Adams
“Under God” and the Pledge of Allegiance The words “under God were taken from Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address, “…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth…” and were added to the Pledge of Allegiance on June 14, 1954 by a joint resolution of Congress, 243 (Public Law 83-396). (The Pledge was initially adopted by the 79th Congress on December 28, 1945, as Public Law 287.) On June 14, 1954, President Eisenhower signed into law the pledge:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which is stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
President Eisenhower gave his support to the Congressional Act, which added the phrase, “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, saying:
“In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.”
President Eisenhower then stood on the steps of the Capitol Building and recited the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time with the phrase, “one nation under God.”
From America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, Fame Publishing.
“In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gave you.” – Amy Tan
“My County, ‘Tis of Thee” was written by a Baptist minister, Samuel Francis Smith. “The Pledge of Allegience” was written in 1892 by a Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy. The words “In God We Trust” are traced to the efforts of Rev. W.R. Watkinson. Rev. John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
“The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as American citizens. The time is come – it is now – when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship. America’s future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God’s government.” – Peter Marshall
“Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” – Pope John Paul II
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” – John Adams
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of Liberty.” – President John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Friday, January 20, 1961
“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility — I welcome it.” – John F. Kennedy
“Freedom is the last, best hope of earth.” – Abraham Lincoln
“…I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’” – Martin Luther King, Jr. (From his “I Have a Dream speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963)
“Patriotism is not so much protecting the land of our fathers as preserving the land of our children.” – Jose Ortega Y Gasset
A teacher went into her classroom about fifteen minutes before the class was supposed to begin and caught a bunch of boys in a huddle on their knees in the corner of the room. She asked what they were doing, and one of them shouted back, “We are shooting craps.” She replied, “That’s all right. I was afraid you were praying.”
During the dark days of the American Revolution, when the Continental Army had experienced several setbacks, a farmer who lived near the battlefield approached Washington’s camp unheard. Suddenly his ears caught an earnest voice raised in agonizing prayer. On coming nearer he saw it was the great General, down on his knees in the snow, his cheeks wet with tears. He was asking God for assistance and guidance. The farmer crept away and returned home. He said to his family, “Its going to be all right. We are going to win!” “What makes you think so?” his wife asked. “Well,” said the farmer, “I heard General Washington pray out in the woods today—such fervent prayer I have never heard. And God will surely hear and answer that kind of praying.” And the farmer was right! It happened because Washington put his hope in God.
“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” – Thomas Paine
“I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” – Patrick Henry
“The U. S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.” – Benjamin Franklin
In June of 1863, just weeks before the battle of Gettysburg, a college president asked Abraham Lincoln if he thought the country would survive. President Lincoln replied: “I do not doubt that our country will finally come through safe and undivided. But do not misunderstand me… I do not rely on the patriotism of our people… the bravery and devotion of the boys in blue… (or) the loyalty and skill of our generals… But the God of our Fathers, Who raised up this country to be the refuge and asylum of the oppressed and the downtrodden of all nations will not let it perish now. I may not live to see it… I do not expect to see it, but God will bring us through safe.”
“Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society, and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political, or literary. Let us cherish these sentiments, and extend this influence still more widely; in full conviction that that is the happiest society which partakes in the highest degree of the mild and peaceful spirit of Christianity.” – Daniel Webster.
The United States of America is 226 years old today (July 4, 2002). That’s a long time for a nation to remain free. But, when you take the long, historical view, America is just a CHILD among the nations. Egypt, China, Japan, Rome, or Greece all make America’s history seem so short. Consider what a brief time we’ve really been here as a nation: When Thomas Jefferson died, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 17. When Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was a boy of 8. By the time the nation mourned the death of President Wilson, Ronald Reagan was a boy of 12.
Edward Gibbon, author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, has attributed the fall of the Empire to:
1. The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society. 2. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies for free bread and circuses for the populace. 3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal. 4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within, the decadence of the people. 5. The decay of religion–faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people.
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Delivered November 19, 1863 Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
“I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in the Assembly every morning…” – Benjamin Franklin, 1787 Constitutional Convention
TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing. America: The Good Neighbor.
Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television Commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:
“This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts.
None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.
I’d like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10?
If so, why don’t they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon – not once, but several times – and safely home again.
You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.
I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don’t think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I’m one Canadian who is tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those.”
Stand proud, America! Wear it proudly!
Quotes by Ronald Reagan “I believe this blessed land was set apart in a very special way, a country created by men and women who came here not in the search of gold, but in search of God. They would be free people, living under the law with faith in their Maker and their future.”
“Our liberty springs from and depends upon an abiding faith in God.”
“The truth is, politics and morality are inseparable, and as morality’s foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide.”
“If we lived by the Golden Rule, there would be no need for other laws.”
“I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has so blessed our land. We need God’s help to guide our nation through stormy seas. But we can’t expect Him to protect America in a crisis if we just leave Him over on the shelf in our day-to-day living.”
“My fellow citizens, those of you here in this hall, and those of you at home. I want you to know that I have always had the highest respect for you, for your common sense and intelligence and for your decency. I have always believed in you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and others.
And whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way.
My fondest hope for each one of you, and especially for the young people here, is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here.
May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek Divine guidance, and never lose your natural God-given optimism.
And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill…My fellow Americans, on behalf of both of us, goodbye, and God bless each and every one of you and God bless this country we love.”