Faith News Network

Happy Birthday U.S.A.! This weekend city streets and town squares across America were lined with the Stars and Stripes. The flag that is recognized around the globe as the symbol of the United States was flown with respect and appreciation by most Americans. The flag elicits a range of emotions from those who view it. With a sense of pride, I fly the flag from the front of my home. I don’t fly it with blind patriotism believing America has a spotless history, or that we make righteous decisions today. I fly it because our forefathers valued freedom and were willing to make the sacrifices to obtain it, while acknowledging freedom could not be of their own initiative and therefore they publicly voiced their faith and proclaimed, “In God We Trust.”

One of the most successful Christian movies of 2014 was a low-budget film about apologetics called God’s Not Dead. It was made for a little over $1 million, but grossed $100 million at the box office, including DVD sales. It now has more than 7 million fans on Facebook.

God’s Word says that He is love, (1 John 4:8 and 4:16).  If He is love and we are to be like Him, then we should be love.

Although I believed I was healthy and fit, by the time I reached my 22nd birthday, my 6-foot-2 frame had skyrocketed to 270 pounds and I was diagnosed with borderline hypoglycemia. My blood pressure and my cholesterol levels were high and my health was rapidly deteriorating.