Pastor's Article May 28, 2023

Pastor’s Weekly Article
The word remember, in some form or another is in the Bible over 170 times. As you have probably heard me say before, I am amazed that God must tell us to remember things that should be so important to our life. We have an uncanny ability to forget things that should shape all aspects of our life. As we celebrate Memorial Day it is my prayer that we would remind our children and grandchildren of the cost of freedom, the cost of apathy and the cost of allowing evil to go unchecked in this World. 116,708 American military personnel died during World War I from all causes (influenza, combat, and wounds). Over 204,000 were wounded and 757 U.S. civilians died due to military action. As for World War II nobody has exact figures, but it is estimated that the U.S. counted around 407,000 military deaths and around 12,000 civilian deaths (due to crimes of war and military activity such as bombings.) The Korean War claimed at least 36,516 men to death in combat. The Vietnam War total death count for all Americans amounted up to 420,000. The U.S. National Archives shows that 58,220 U.S. soldiers perished.  America has a history of 105 wars with 2,852,901 total casualties and 40,031 MIA’s. Too many lives have been lost for us to simply sit back and let this great country give up its freedom to socialism, or communism. Our greatest battle in the future may be that of educating the next generation of the value of being a representative democracy. The United States is also a constitutional democracy, meaning that the functions and roles of the government are governed by the constitution that also protects the rights and privileges of the citizenry regardless of whether they are majority or minority. As we remember those who have lost their life, please remember why they gave up their life, please pray and stand remembering that our greatest enemy is forgetting who we are as a country and how freedom gives the greatest opportunity to be a God honoring country that takes the Gospel to the World. May God Bless America!
Pastor, Rev. Wayne Marcus