Veterans Day is an official United States public holiday, observed annually on November 11, that honors military veterans, that is, persons who served in the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with other holidays, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I; major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. The United States previously observed Armistice Day. The U.S. holiday was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.
Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who gave their lives and those who perished while in service.
History:
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. In proclaiming the holiday, he said
“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.”
The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. A Congressional Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday: “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”
In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I. Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947 in Alabama and annually until his death in 1985. President Reagan honored Weeks at the White House with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 as the driving force for the national holiday. Elizabeth Dole, who prepared the briefing for President Reagan, determined Weeks as the “Father of Veterans Day.”
U.S. Representative Ed Rees from Emporia, Kansas, presented a bill establishing the holiday through Congress. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, also from Kansas, signed the bill into law on May 26, 1954. It had been eight and a half years since Weeks held his first Armistice Day celebration for all veterans.
Congress amended the bill on June 1, 1954, replacing “Armistice” with “Veterans,” and it has been known as Veterans Day since.
The National Veterans Award was also created in 1954. Congressman Rees of Kansas received the first National Veterans Award in Birmingham, Alabama for his support offering legislation to make Veterans Day a federal holiday.
Although originally scheduled for celebration on November 11 of every year, starting in 1971 in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. In 1978, it was moved back to its original celebration on. While the legal holiday remains on November 11, if that date happens to be on a Saturday or Sunday, then organizations that formally observe the holiday will normally be closed on the adjacent Friday or Monday, respectively.
BUT NOT JUST THE USA, BUT THANK YOU TO ALL THE VETERANS AROUND THE WORLD FOR SERVING YOUR COUNTRY!
Celebrate the 4th of July with Video Gaming’s Finest Fireworks!
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain rule. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. 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. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.
Adams’s prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.
Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.
Fantavision (PS2)
In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired in salute, once at morning and once again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.
In 1778, from his headquarters at Ross Hall, near New Brunswick, New Jersey, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute (feu de joie). Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.
In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 5.
In 1781 the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration.
In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, held a celebration of July 4 with a challenging music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled “The Psalm of Joy.” This is recognized as the first recorded celebration and is still celebrated there today.
In 1791 the first recorded use of the name “Independence Day” occurred.
In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees.
In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday.
Boom Boom Rocket (Xbox 360)
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20
Every year on July 4th America remembers its freedom from British rule, but as citizens of heaven who are only incidentally American citizens, we daily have a more significant liberty to celebrate.
What freedom do citizens of heaven have to celebrate?
Freedom from bondage
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
Freed by Christ
John 8:32-36 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Freedom is universally desired
Heb 2:15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
2 Pet 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity–for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
Freed from the law of sin and death
Rom 8:2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Freed from the bondage of satisfying God’s law
1 Cor 9:21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.
Gal 2:4 This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.
Gal 4:22-23 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
Gal 4:30-31, 5:1 But what does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Freed from the sins committed under the first covenant
Heb 9:15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance–now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
Freed from our sins by his blood
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
Freed from accusation
Col 1:22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation–
Freed from the power of sin
Rom 6:7, 18, 20, 22 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin … You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness … When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness … But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Caution: Do not think your freedom is permission to sin
1 Pet 2:16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
Gal 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Free to approach God with confidence
Eph 3:12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Freed from spiritual blindness
2 Cor 3:16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Freed from the curse of a decaying body
Rom 8:21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Free to be a slave to others
1 Cor 9:19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
1 Cor 10:29 the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience?
Caution: Don’t let your freedom from the law lead others to violate their consciences
1 Cor 8:9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
Freed by the law of love
James 1:25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.
James 2:12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.
May you have a blessed time with your families, and when your able to say a prayer over the food. I encourage you to be the one to pray and in the prayer acknowledge our Lord & Savior’s birth. Without His grace, we would all be dead. Thank You, Jesus!
If your not with your family for the Holydays, may you spend some alone time with our Lord & Savior. Jesus bless you all!!!
4th of July was just in America, but the freedom we have in Christ is worldwide!
“God places the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But He makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.” – Psalm 68:6
“Save me and rescue me, for you do what is right. Turn your ear to listen to me, and set me free.”
– Psalm 71:2
“In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free.” – Psalm 118:5
“I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to Me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” – Isaiah 44:22
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,”
– Luke 4:18
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:32
“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” – John 8:36
“For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.” – Romans 6:7
“Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!” – Romans 6:15
[ Freedom in Christ ] “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” – Galatians 5:1
“You have died with Christ, and He has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,” – Colossians 2:20
“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” – Hebrews 2:14-15
“Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deedsso that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered Himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why He is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.”
– Hebrews 9:14-15
“But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” – James 1:25
“So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free.” – James 2:12
So when you out watching the fireworks or out with family or friends. Take a moment and thank Jesus for freeing us. Jesus bless you!
What a perfect day to share with someone about freedom in Christ. (116 Unashamed: Be it! Do it! Live it!)
The word holiday derived from the notion of “Holy Day”, and gradually evolved to its current form. The word holiday comes from the Old English word hāligdæg. The word originally referred only to special religious days. In modern use, it means any special day of rest or relaxation, as opposed to normal days away from work or school.
Definition of holiday: holy day: the day or days of a religious festival.
Ho”ly*day`\, n. 1. A religious festival.
2. A secular festival; a holiday.
Born-again Christians, I know majority of us, when pronounce, Happy Holidays (hóllə dày) But Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Passover. Are not a secular festival. We need to speak, Happy Holydays. This brings me to my next point.
Correct english, you need to switch the first “y” in holydays, and switch it to an “i”. Now looking holidays where do you get holla-days? Again, the pagans switched word, like the word, Christian (CHRIST-EE-uh n) not [ kríschən ].
Now, Valentines Day is not a “religious day,” this is a secular day. Everyday is the day of Love.
So please pronounce holiday (holy day) Happy Holy days!!! Jesus bless you!
By the way, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you and your family spend quality time and be thankful for what you do have. And kick back with the family watch football. Oh wait, Thanksgiving this year is a little bit different all the other years. Why? Because big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Sears are opening their doors at 8 p.m. Thursday — just as Thanksgiving dinner tables are being cleared in many homes. Target will follow suit at 9 p.m., enticing shoppers out of their homes during the final football game of the day.
Some history of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the USA and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the fourth Thursday of November in the USA and on the second Monday of October in Canada. Because of the longstanding traditions of the holiday, the celebration often extends to the weekend that falls closest to the day it is celebrated. Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations. Historically, Thanksgiving had roots in religious and cultural tradition. Today, Thanksgiving is primarily celebrated as a secular holiday.
Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among almost all religions after harvests and at other times. The holiday’s history in North America is rooted in English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation. It also has aspects of a harvest festival, even though the harvest in New England occurs well before the late-November date of the holiday.
But this year and next years, Thanksgiving will probably be wiped off the calendar. Please let Black Friday be Black Friday and leave Thanksgiving alone, remember. Those businesses are all about the money and greed. If your going out for Black Friday, please support the businesses that do not interupt Thanksgiving and let business know that too, tell them thank you.
THE HARM OF HALLOWEEN – Halloween is a dangerous day and here are the reasons why…
HALLOWEEN IS FOCUSED ON VIOLENCE – In January of 1988, I stopped at a restaurant to pick up a bite to eat before my next appointment. I picked up a paper on the way in. As I was eating I came across Ann Landers column entitled “Parents must tackle violence.” The parent wrote “I heard something today that made my hair stand on end… Last October, the teacher of a fourth grade class asked her students to write a short essay on what they would like to do most to celebrate Halloween. Eighty percent of her 9 year olds expressed the wish to “kill somebody.” Where do children get such ideas?” she asked.
The answer is a simple one Halloween accentuates mutilation, murder, blood, guts and gore. It even glorifies it! I well remember seeing the large picture in the newspaper of a mutilated corpse in a blood stained bathtub. It was utterly repulsive. The accompanying article lauded a community organization’s youth work using this “haunted house.”
The truth is, millions of people, and likely your kids will be exposed to some of the almost endless string of TV programs, videos, community and church activities that GLORIFY MUTILATION, TORTURE, and BIZARRE MURDERS this Halloween. Now before you say “it won’t hurt them, it’s only fantasy,” perhaps you should consider what a horrified mother discovered in her teenage son’s diary. She read, “Last year I stole a car at Halloween and ran over a kid and killed him for the Devil. I plan on doing it again this year.” The boy is now incarcerated.
HALLOWEEN IS HARMFUL BECAUSE OF ITS FOCUS ON VIOLENCE. Don’t you see the paradox. When we read of a violent murder any other time we gasp. But we laugh, tease, call it fun and glorify the same things when Halloween comes. Halloween’s focus on VIOLENCE breaks down the inhibitions of our children toward murder. They have difficulty separating between fantasy and fact. And that is taking it’s toll on our society. There is another reason Halloween is harmful.
HALLOWEEN IS HARMFUL BECAUSE OF THE EMPHASIS ON FEAR. I read an article in The Milwaukee Journal entitled “Haunted house fun: It could become a nightmare for kids.” It started out “ITS JUST FOR FUN, you know that. But to a young child, a trip through a “haunted house” created for Halloween could be a nightmare.” Fear is no joke. Fear is a powerful and often damaging emotion. The writer of the article quoted developmental psychologist Marvin Berkowitz of Marquette University. Berkowitz said “Some haunted houses can frighten an adult.” Children must “go in with the right mental set. Make sure they know it’s going to be a fun scare, not a real scare.” The article went on the say, “Even the most careful parents can misjudge the kid’s traumatized and shricking, you hold him and comfort him. Give him physical security.” The question is, why expose your child to such traumatizing influences? They serve no useful purpose. In fact long lasting emotional problems can develop as a result of the frightening experiences that are encountered at Halloween activities, such as going through a “haunted house.”
BUT there is another aspect I want to share with you relating to fear. Dr. Grace Ketterman M.D. says in her book, You and Your Child’s Problems: How to Understand and Solve Them. “A tragic by-product of fear in the lives of childen as early as pre-adolescence is the interest and involvement in supernatural occult phenomena.” Which leads me to the next point.
HALLOWEEN IS HARMFUL BECAUSE OF ITS FOCUS ON THE OCCULT. The two most frequent ways childen are introduced into the occult are through rock music (secular) and Halloween. I was introduced to the occult at a Halloween party. Tragically, more and more children are being introduced to the occult by teachers in the public schools. And unfortunately, Halloween is one of the two Holidays that public schools celebrate. They choose Halloween (and Valentine’s Day) because supposedly there is no “religious” significance. How wrong they are about Halloween. To be sure, there is no Christian significance to Halloween but it is obviously a religious day.
Our forefathers recognized Halloween’s assocation with the occult. The Pilgrims banned celebrating Halloween in America. The ban lasted until 1845. At that time multiplied thousands of Irish emigrants flooded into New York because of the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-46. They brought Halloween with them and gradually it spread throughout the rest of the country.
You could not celebrate Halloween without the WITCH. The oldest known illustration of a witch dates back to the pre-Columbian era. The drawing shows the pagan goddess Tlazolteolf naked, wearing a pointed hat and riding a boomstick. Where you find witchcraft you will find nudity, divination, gross immorality and occult practices just to name a few. According to the Old Testament of the Bible witchcraft and the whole spectrum of the occult were capital crimes, punishable by death. In the New Testament, in Galatians 5:20, witchcraft is listed among those things that are to be renounced by believers. In fact, Acts 19:18,19 records how that those who became Christians renounced all dealings with the occult and burned any occultic material they had. Popular west coast Bible teacher, Dr. John MacArthur expresses it clearly enough when he says, ‘Dressing up like witches, ghosts, or goblins is incompatible with a Christian’s testimony. Furthermore, many of the customs of Halloween are associated with the worst kind of pagan ceremonies; they are usually centered on the sinister things such as demons, witchcraft, and superstition.’
The other heroes of Halloween aren’t any better. Consider Dracula. Did you know he was a real person? He lived from 1431 to 1476. During his six year reign this demented maniac massacred 100,000 men, women and children in the most hideous ways. He devised a plan to rid his country of the burden of beggars, handicapped, sick and aged. He invited them to a feast at one of his palaces. He fed them well and got them drunk. Then he asked them, “Do you want to be without cares, lacking nothing in this world?” They yelled “Yes!” Dracula then ordered the palaced boarded up and set it on fire. No one escaped. This tragic event was the original House of Horror.
The overwhelming majority of Halloween Heroes are evil, demented or demonic. That should not surprise us. Halloween is the devil’s day! But there is something else that concerns me even more…
Follow
Follow
Follow
Like
Subscribe
116 Boyz 