9-11 Memorial Speech given by our Pastor on 9-11-2002 at the Santa Rosa County Commission Memorial Service.
Copyright, September 10, 2002, by Carl Gallups, Pastor of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church, Milton, Florida. All rights reserved. This speech or excerpts of this speech may not be reproduced in any manner without the express written permission of the author with the exception that it may be reproduced verbally or in writing in whole or in part, provided that the notice of Copyright is attached or read.
I am honored to have been asked by the County Commissioners of Santa Rosa County Florida to express, on this solemn day, "What it means to be an American." I am honored to stand before you as a fellow citizen of this great county and this great Nation.
WE WILL NEVER FORGET SEPTEMBER 11th, 2001 at 7:45 - for of all the things that it did to us and in us - one thing is undeniable - IT REMINDED US - why we are proud to be AMERICANS! Where at least we know WE ARE FREE!
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN AMERICAN?
I means that:
You live in the only nation in the world that has EVER existed that is a Constitutional, Democratic, Republic wherein the government exists "of the people, by the people and for the people."
You are a part of the grandest and boldest of human Experiments of Government. Envisioned by our forefathers, based on principles found in the Holy Bible.
We are the ONLY nation so conceived - that declares - that human beings and the human spirit thrive best and accomplish the most when allowed to live in freedom constrained only by biblical morality.
Freedom to worship, to work, to do business, to own private property, to think and to express those thoughts without governmental intervention. This experiment is only a little over 200 years old in a total of some 10,000 years of human history. It is working and the world is astounded by it and YOU are a part of it! YOU ARE AN AMERICAN!
You live in the most powerful nation on the face of the earth.
Therefore, you live in the most secure nation on the face of the earth.
You live in the richest nation on the face of the earth.
Therefore - You live in the nation of the most opportunity - bar none.
You live in the most benevolent nation in the world - giving more to charitable causes, per capita, than any other nation on the planet.
You live in the nation that gave the world - the automobile, the airplane, the locomotive, the first man on the moon, electricity, the telephone, the television, the computer, modern farming and mass food production techniques, the cellular phone, and the cure for many diseases and plagues.
For 9,900 years man walked or rode animals every where he went.
You live in the nation that took the WORLD from walking and riding horses and camels to jet air travel and interstate highways and that took the WORLD from the dark ages to the jet age all in the last 100 years. America did that -
And YOU ARE AN AMERICAN!
You live in the nation
That literally saved the WORLD in WWI.
That LITERALLY saved the WORLD in WWII.
THAT has literally saved nations, governments and millions of lives since WWII.
at the cost of the blood of its own sons and daughters - all without colonizing
or demoralizing a single one.
You live in the nation;
That gives more to world hunger relief that any other nation.
That gives more to world medical relief than any other nation.
That gives more to world financial disaster relief,
That gives more to world ecological disaster relief than any other nation,
That sends more missionaries of the gospel,
That prints and distributes more bibles,
That cares for more of the world's orphans and widowed than any other nation of the world.
PEOPLE from all over the World - even from among the most civilized and wealthiest nations of the world cross our borders every day seeking -
American style freedom
American jobs
American homes
American medical care
American education
American military knowledge
American opportunity
American safety
American prosperity
And. the opportunity to worship in complete freedom...America's greatest gift to the world.
I WOULD NOT WANT TO BE;
Arrested in any other nation of the world
Go to court in any other nation of the world
Attempt to defend myself legally
Go to jail or prison
Have brain surgery or heart surgery or an organ transplant
Serve in the military in any other country
Down and out and in need of a helping hand...in any other nation of the world.
AMERICA IS:
The only nation founded on Biblical Principles and a belief in the God of the Bible and so noted in our founding documents and history books.
The only nation founded by people who got on boats, left their countries of origin and came to an untamed, unsettled land so that they could worship Jesus Christ in un-persecuted freedom.
The only nation that requires its national political head - the President to place his hand on a bible, take his oath and proclaim, "So help me God".
The only nation whose pledge declares – "0ne nation under God".
The only nation whose money contains the phrase – "In God we trust."
We are the only nation in which practically every one of its Presidents - since the founding of the country, in one fashion or another has appealed to and quoted the Word of God as a source of inspiration, wisdom or direction for national and world affairs.
America is one of the few nations in the world wherein you may worship in, meet in and pray in the name of Jesus Christ without fear of arrest, imprisonment or even death.
America is one of the few nations of the world where I can freely PREACH the gospel of Jesus Christ and where I could even give a speech of this sort - without fear of arrest, imprisonment or even death.
America is the ONLY nation in the world where my RIGHT and YOUR RIGHT to do these things has been voluntarily and repeatedly secured through the blood of men and women - some, who do not even hold the same beliefs in God - but who hold the common belief that we should all be free to worship or not to worship - without fear of Government authority intervening in that freedom.
It is true that IN AMERICA;
Some go so far as to idolize movie stars and sports figures. But many, many more of us hold as heroes - the most humbly and commonly heroic among us - the everyday heroes who protect our lives, preserve our lives and shape our lives - firefighters, law enforcement officers, medical personnel, military personnel, teachers, spiritual leaders, and the bold American spirit among us that says to a plane full of people hijacked by terrorists on a cool September Morning – "LETS ROLL!"
THE WORLD LOOKS AT US with envy - jealousy - disbelief - and awe. But whenever there is trouble in the world, whenever there is tyranny, disaster, gross violations of human rights, genocide or the threat of a devastating war - no matter what the world thinks of us - THEY LOOK TO US - THEY LOOK TO AMERICA!
AND YOU ARE AN AMERICAN!
IN AMERICA
We work hard, we play hard and when need be - we fight hard.
We have never instigated an unprovoked war - and we have shown constraint when threatened like few other nations have, but when pressed with the prospect of losing our freedom, our nation and our very way of life - hear us world...we will unleash the unparalleled strength that God has blessed us with in order to stay free.
We will not be slaves to another nation - give us liberty or give us death - but you will NOT give us your FEAR and your TYRANNY. We are a nation that was founded on our belief in God, His Word, His power and His protection. We are one nation under God and in God we trust... and thus, with all of our hearts we believe, with the continued blessings of Jesus Christ, "that this nation, of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
America, America, God has shed his grace on Thee! -
And crowned Thy good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea!
Copyright, September 10, 2002, by Carl Gallups, Pastor of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church, Milton, Florida. All rights reserved. This speech or excerpts of this speech may not be reproduced in any manner without the express written permission of the author with the exception that it may be reproduced verbally or in writing in whole or in part, provided that the notice of Copyright is attached or read.
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