State Of The Church Address:
Could you imagine if someone each year got up in front of the world and let everyone know where the church was currently and where it was heading? This leads me to a catastrophe of thoughts, but needless to say it's interesting to think about. Here are a few quotes from two of our most beloved presidents. In times when Americans needed reminding of who they were and the values they stood for, Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy both delivered thoughts that will resonate in us for a lifetime. If the church had a president, I wonder how close in resemblance to these statements he would come to remind us of who we are and what it is we stand for? (I'm asking for a long leash here, there are obvious thoughts that don't relate, but create context for the remaining quote, thanks for reading.)
Ronald Reagan, our 40th president.
"Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty."
"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."
"Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."
"I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress."
"If the federal government had been around when the Creator was putting His hand to this state, Indiana wouldn't be here. It'd still be waiting for an environmental impact statement."
"If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen."
"Man is not free unless government is limited."
"There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect."
"There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder."
"They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong."
John F. Kennedy, our 35th president.
"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."
"I look forward to a great future for America - a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose."
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic."
"The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds."
"The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining."
"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly."
