By John Warren

What does the Fourth of July mean to you? My wife and I have had the joy of spending the 4^th in various places over the years. Last year we were in a small town in Colorado on our way to the Grand Teton National Park we sat in the car with the top down watching the fireworks from a distance. But the real action came from behind us when the families gathered in back of their homes shot their own fireworks display. When all of a sudden I heard someone yell “FIRE” and a stampede of people came with buckets of water right behind our car to put out the fire. Other years we have been on the beach in Mississippi or at a rodeo in Brice Canyon, Utah but sometime is just good to be home.   My nephew enjoys the 4^th as a way of making a living selling the fireworks we enjoy. But for our forefathers it was the beginning of a new opportunity a new way of life for a people to live without a government dictating their religious preference only that the nation they were beginning would be run under the influence of one God the Creator of all. So they were not considering creating a nation of unbelievers but people free to believe in God. In fact “the Father of the American Revolution” Samual Adams, said upon the signing of the Declaration of Independence, said, “We have this day restored to Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His Kingdom come.” In fact it was Adams view that in declaring their independence from Great Britain the colonists were placing themselves under the only true sovereign, the King of Kings the Lord of Lords the one true God Almighty. .May we all learn to appreciate the wisdom of our forefathers in creating a country meant to give honor to God. And the best way do to that is to treat one another like we were brothers and sisters of the same Father. Happy Independence Day!