"The American Dream,"

Message by Peter Marshall:

An Excerpt Affirming America is a Covenant Nation!

"World events are forcing us, whether we realize it or not, to rediscover the meanings and the significances of the things that make America different from other nations...the hope of a world weary of war, heartsick and hungry.

"What is the American Dream? What is it that makes our country different?

"Ours is a Covenant Nation...The only surviving nation on earth that had its origins in the determination of the Founding Fathers to establish a settlement 'to the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.'

"That was what William Bradford and George Carver had in mind when, beneath the swinging lantern in the cabin of the Mayflower, they affixed their signatures to the solemn declaration which established the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

"They had come from the Old World and were seeking refuge in the New. They had come from tyranny and oppression...they had come from fear and coercion...they had come from famine and from difficulty...from wars and threats of wars...and they sought a new life in a new land.

"Religious liberty to worship God according to the dictates of one's own conscience and equal opporltunity for all men...These are the twin pillars of the American Dream.

Now a Covenant Nation is one that recognizes its dependence upon God and it responsibility toward God. This nation was so born. God was recognized as the source of human rights. The Declaration of Independence says so.

A Covenant Nation is one which recognizes that God and His purposes stand over and above the nation...that the highest role a nation can play is to reflect God's righteousness in national policy.

"That is what Bradford and Carver certainly intended. That is what Roger Williams sought, when he set up his settlement in Providence, Rhode Island. That is what William Penn was striving after in Pennsylvania. That is what they wanted in Maryland, when, in 1669, the Maryland Act of Toleration set it down in writing. "There have been periods in our history when the American Dream has faded and grown dim [such as America in 2006--Ed]. Today there is real danger that the American Dream will become the Forgotten Dream.

"For freedom is not the right to do as one pleases but the opportunity to please to do what is right. The Founding Fathers sought freedom...not from law but freedom in law; not freedom from government--but freedom in government; not freedom from speech--but freedom in speech; not freedom from the press--but freedom in the press; not freedom from religion--but freedom in religion. We need to ponder these things today."

Time and copyright restraints prevent us from giving any more at this time of this marvelous message, just the thing needed to turn our hearts and minds back to the Biblical principles and faith upon which America, these United States of America, was founded. Please seek out this book and the message in its entirety in your local library or by a search at amazon.com. It will be well worth your effort.--Ed.

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