SPECIAL FEATURED WRITER FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY - JACK BLANKENSHIP - LANCASTER, OHIO

"SHOOT THOSE FIREWORKS HIGH"
BY: JACK L. BLANKENSHIP


Sun's goin' down and we all can see the nightfall
Sundown is telling us why we're at the fairgrounds most of all
We all can't wait until we look up at the sky
Shoot'em! Shoot'em! Shoot'em! 
Shoot those fireworks high!


Ferris wheels and roller coasters tell us how our day began
Marching bands in a parade celebrating freedom in our land
Family reunions at the park gave us sunshine in the sky
Shoot'em! Shoot'em! Shoot'em!
Shoot those fireworks high!


Now here we are at the fairgrounds ready to shout loud
While we're huddled close together in a mighty big crowd
Bang! Bang! Boom! and with more Bang! Bang! Boom!
Sky full of God's glory is better than a witch's Halloween broom.


Red, white, and blue is what freedom is all about
Fourth of July will testify to us without any doubts
God proved America's flag is still waving in the sky
Shoot'em! Shoot'em! Shoot'em!
Shoot those fireworks high!


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"AMERICA ON ALTAR CALL"
BY: JACK L> BLANKENSHIP


Join me in prayer and please follow me every where
Join me and soon we'll be one on one in joyful prayer
Soon the two of us will have a prayer line no longer small
For forty days; we'll have America on altar call.


Hand in hand in back yards, town to town, and highways
Churches of all faiths and rich or poor will begin to pray
Children, mamas and daddies, and folks we don't know at all
For forty days; we'll have America on altar call.


For forty days; we'll have America on altar call
For forty days; throughout court houses and malls
Message in our prayers will say it was worth all the time
We pray no more hunger, wars, hate, or never-ending crime.


Angels in Heaven will see America has returned like it used to be
Angels in Heaven will see that our flag is still waving free
Started with two and now there's a million big and small
For forty days; we'll have America on altar call.





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"LOST SOMEWHERE IN TIME"
(JODY'S SONG)
BY: JACK L> BLANKENSHIP


Mama will see my sister Jody's photo every Friday
Mama sees it on a milk carton and she gets sad right away
Price of the milk is $1.95 and Jody's picture is more in her mind
Now my sister Jody is lost somewhere in time.


Jody's open bedroom window five years ago is the only clue
Jody's missing and every day mama's heart is broken and blue
Whoever took Jody much of been touch in his crazy mind
Now my little sister Jody is lost somewhere in time.


What keeps Jody's memory alive is every Friday at the store
Mama pushes the shopping cart and she cries even more
When she opens the store's freezer door where the milk is
Photo on the carton tells her she can't take anymore of this.


Shuts the freedom door and starts to pray to Jesus above
Now I'm a little boy who also lost someone we both love
Together we'll have Jody's photo price at the cashier's line
Now my little sister Jody is lost somewhere in time






Blankenship, a correspondent for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, performs stand-up comedy and is a storyteller who talks about his life, family, and relationship with Jesus. He has written 18 books of poetry, and his latest book, "Safety Deposit Box," was released in May.


A recipient of numerous awards, Blankenship was married to the late Karolyn Sue Blankenship and has two grown sons, Shawn Patrick and Michael Allen.

DAY 40 - DAILY BIBLE VERSE (FREEDOM) - JULY 3, 2012

July 3



Luke 2:30 (The Voice Bible)


30You promised me that I would see with my own eyes
what I’m seeing now: Your freedom,

http://hearthevoice.com/search-bible

DAY 40 - DAILY DEVOTION - JULY 3, 2012

July 3

Standing on the Promises

“…He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23b)

Don’t you hate when people break their promises? I am so glad to know that God never breaks His promises.

Has God given you a specific promise that hasn’t come to pass yet?  Is someone or something trying to deter you from continuing to believe in the promise God gave you?  I want to encourage you to stand on His promise!  He will fulfill His Word. He is forever faithful!

As I was preparing for this devotion, I was reading about Russell Kelso Carter (1849-1928). Carter seemed to have a great life from being a great athlete, a successful teacher, and coach.  Then, he went on to become a Methodist preacher and a medical doctor.  Believe it or not, Carter was also a musician & songwriter. Around the age of 30, Carter began to have heart problems to where it was very serious, and the doctors did all they could to help him, to no avail. That is when he determined healing or no healing He took God at His Word.  Carter turned to God for his healing and began standing on His Promises for his healing.

Over the next months, Carter began to feel better and he was healed.  He lived another 49 years.  During the course of the months when he was still standing on the promises of God for his healing, he wrote the beautiful song, Standing on the Promises:

Standing on the promises of Christ my King, Through eternal ages let His praises ring, Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God.

 Standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Savior; Standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises that cannot fail,

When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises, I now can see, Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me; Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free, Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord, Overcoming daily with the Spirit sword, Standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises I cannot fall, Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call Resting in my Savior as my all in all, Standing on the promises of God.

Carter stood strong on God’s Word & Promise.  Let’s stand strong on all of God’s promises! He is faithful.

I believe God is anxiously waiting to fulfill all of His promises in and through you? Don’t let anyone or anything cause doubt or fear.

Let’s believe God for what He’s promised, and believe Him for even greater things!

“…He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23b)

In partnership with Katherine Clift of DailyLiveWorship


http://dailyliveworship.com/blog/standing-on-the-promises/

DAY 40 - DAILY PRAYER (FREEDOM) - JULY 3, 2012

July 3



A Fourth of July Prayer




We lift up our hearts, O God, on this day of celebration in gratitude for the gift of being Americans.


We rejoice with all those who share in the great dream of freedom and dignity for all.


With flags and feasting, with family and friends, we salute those who have sacrificed that we might have the opportunity to bring to fulfillment our many God-given gifts.


As we deny all prejudice a place in our hearts,
may we also clearly declare our intention to work for the time when all people, regardless of race, religion or sex, will be granted equal dignity and worth.


Come, O gracious God,
who led your children Israel from slavery, keep us free from all that might hold us in bondage.


Bless our country and join our simple celebration that we may praise you, our Source of freedom, the One in whom we place our trust. 



Ed Hays
A Pligrim's Almanac:
Reflections for Each Day of the Year, p. 111

DAY 40 - DAILY HISTORY - AMERICAN MINUTE FOR JULY 3, 2012

July 3



Washington, D.C., was in a panic as 70,000 Confederate troops were just sixty miles away near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 


The furious battle had lasted three days. 


As General Lee found his ammunition running low, he ordered General Pickett to make a direct attack. 


After an hour of murderous fire and bloody hand-to-hand combat, the Confederates were pushed back and the Battle of Gettysburg ended JULY 3, 1863, with over 50,000 casualties. 


President Abraham Lincoln confided to a general wounded in the battle: 


"When everyone seemed panic-stricken...I went to my room...and got down on my knees before Almighty God and prayed." 


Days later, July 15, 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving, Praise and Prayer: 


"It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father and the power of His hand equally in these triumphs and in these sorrows...


I invite the people of the United States to...render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in the nation's behalf and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion."

Lincoln, Abraham. 1863, in conversation with a General who was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863, relating the panic in Washington, D.C., as General Robert E. Lee was leading his army of 76,000 men into Pennsylvania. Thomas Fleming, Lincoln's Journey in Faith" (Carmel, NY: Guideposts, February 1994), p. 36.

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