FROM THE PULPIT: IT'S A GRAND OLE FLAG...

Today is Flag Day. It seems like a forgotten holiday to most Americans. Flag Day was once a day when America honored the inspirational, unifying and patriotic effects of our flag.

Our flag is more than a piece of cloth, it is the symbol of all that is good in our country.

The Supreme Court Justice John Harlan spoke about the connection between patriotism and our flag when he said, "Love, both of the common country and the state, will diminish in proportion as respect for the flag is weakened."

There can be no doubt that respect for the flag has weakened, and that is tragic, for when love of the country is diminished, so is our country.

Most of us were greatly offended when a so-called artist submerged a crucifix in a jar of his own urine.

We were outraged because the artist chose the most common symbol of our Christian faith and desecrated it. It wasn't the wood or the figure, it was what it represented to us.

When "art" like this can be protected by our courts one has to wonder how we drifted so far away from Proverbs 14:34, "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."

Our most serious problems are morally based, and that morality, values and patriotism, which are inseparable, are eroding.

This erosion has serious consequences. Our churches and homes should symbolize our faith in the Lord and fly your flag proudly for all to see.

Many gave their lives for the country they served. How many would give their lives for the country we are becoming?

By flying our flag we remind others that it was not the Supreme Court that gave us freedom of the press. Our patriots did.

It is not the ACLU and the media that gave us freedom of speech. Our patriots did.

It is not the campus demonstrators, burning our flag, who contribute to peace. It is the men and women who served and sacrificed under the flag that has brought us the peace we have.

Psalm 33:12 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord ..." I pray for God to continue His blessing on us as a nation. May God always bless America.