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Show Natl Day Of Prayer Celebrated KANAB It was an evening of unity and hope where some 100 Kanab faithful gathered to mark the 2004 National Day of Prayer last Thursday evening. Several patriotic Garfield County residents joined the event held at the Kan;ib Ilij.'S School auditorium where representatives repre-sentatives of every local denomination denom-ination had been invited to speak and to pray for the nation. Kanab Mayor Kim Lawson who served as master of ceremonies cere-monies pointed out that the very first day of prayer was declared in 1775 by the Continental Congress. On May 5, 1987, President Ronald Reagan instituted insti-tuted an official national date, the first Thursday in May. Prayers were offered throughout the evening, interspersed inter-spersed with patriotic and spiritual spiri-tual observations. Arnold Thompson, pastor of Trinity Church in Fredonia, Ariz., welcomed wel-comed the crowd and opened with prayer. A flag ceremony was performed by local boy scouts under the direction of Scoutmaster Robert Gurr. Janet Travis of the Catholic Church prayed and Ruth de Jesus, pastor of the United Church offered the concluding prayer. The Kanab High School Orchestra joined by members of the Symphony of the Canyons performed several musical selections under the direction of Jerry Crosby. They included "God Bless America", "Now Thank We All Our God", "America the Beautiful", and "The Star Spangled Banner. The Kanab High X-Press Choir performed a beautiful rendition ren-dition of "Prayer of the Children" under the direction of Merilee Terry. Mike Noel State Representative Mike Noel, a former Kanab area LDS stake president who now serves on an LDS Stake Presidency in Kanab, spoke in behalf of the two Kanab LDS Stakes and highly praised the patriotic message mes-sage of Pastor Arnold Studebaker whose remarks follow fol-low below in full. Noel noted the importance of prayer in personal per-sonal lives and how the first prophet of the LDS church came to revelation through his prayer. He remarked how he personally knows God answers prayer and that prayer must be more than lip service, it must be from the heart. He stressed to all that' prayers "unlocks the powers of r heaven." Pastor Charles Sivley Charles Sivley, pastor of Rivers of Life Fellowship stressed the importance of returning Bibles and prayer back into schools. He noted that prayer is our "union and communion" com-munion" with God and that according to 1 Thess. 5:17 we are to "pray without ceasing." Sivley noted that according to Rom. 2:11 "... there is no respect of persons with God," but that heaven can be shut up to prayers when people don't observe to do Mark 11:24 which says "... when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any." He stressed the importance of praise being continually on our lips and that we should as in Phil. 4:6 "be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with r ' : . v I , ; w " J j 1 VJ Pastor Arnold Studabaker thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Sivley also pointed out that we must "believe" when we pray and that the "fervent, effectual effec-tual prayer of a righteous man availeth much" and most importantly impor-tantly that prayer changes things. Arnold Studebaker Highlight of the evening's program was undoubtedly a pas- . sionate patrioticspiritual discussion dis-cussion of the state of our nation by Arnold Studebaker, pastor of New Hope Bible Church. Because of the outstanding message mes-sage and urgency Studebaker's address, the Garfield County News spent several hours transcribing tran-scribing his keynote address verbatim which follows in full: "Historically, calls for a National Day of Prayer have begun to call for repentance. Such a call would be appropri (See PRAYER on page 2A) 1 Nat'l Day Of Prayer From Front Paee ate on this National Day of Prayer. "We learn from scripture and from history that God deals with individuals as individuals in every situation. We are grateful for that in our present situation. We observe also that God deals with nations as nations and for that we are gravely concerned in our present situation. "To understand any subject, we must know its beginning. To comprehend our present national nation-al crisis, we must revisit the point of our natural origin. "On July 4th, in the year of our Lord, 1776, our national birth certificate was issued. The cornerstone of our Republic was laid. The charter was established estab-lished for the government of the United States of America. "That formal founding document docu-ment is called the Declaration of Independence. It was approved at Philadelphia by the Second Continental Congress, whose delegates represented the 13 American colonies. "By the summer of '76, war with Great Britain had already begun. The first Congress had come and gone, failing to achieve reconciliation with the mother country. The British Parliament had already declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion. British troops were on American soil and British war ships blockaded American ports. "Colonial governments had been replaced with patriots. The Continental Army had been organized and George Washington appointed its leader. Battles had already been fought at Lexington, Concorde, Boston and Montreal. "But progress to that point of decision was more than a matter of politics, it was a matter of faith. "The Second Congress convened con-vened on May 10, 1775. On June 12th they declared a day of prayer and fasting. Of which, John Adams told his wife, Abigail, "we have appointed a Continental fast. Millions will be on their knees at once before their great creator, imploring his forgiveness forgive-ness and blessings." "Congress hired for their spiritual guidance a Christian minister as chaplain and appointed chaplains for the army. In the Articles of War, Congress earnestly recommended recommend-ed to all officers and soldiers diligently to attend divine service. serv-ice. "That same Congress later authorized the procurement of 20,000 Bibles to be made available avail-able to the public. Yes, our forefathers fore-fathers laid for our nation the foundation of their Christian faith. "James Otis said, 'I think government has an everlasting foundation in the unchangeable will of God, the author of nature, whose laws never vary.' "John Dickinson said, 'Kings or parliaments could not give rights essential to happiness. We claim them from a higher source. From the King of kings and Lord of all the earth.' "Stephen Hawkins said, "We assert that the first planters of these colonies were pious Christians.' "Said John Quincy Adams, 'There was no anarchy. The people were civilized men and Christians. They were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledged acknowl-edged as the rules of conduct.' "Just weeks before the declaration decla-ration was issued, Congress proclaimed pro-claimed May 17, 1776 as a National Day of Prayer and Fasting. That proclamation declared 'the Congress desires to have all people, of all ranks and degrees, dully impressed with a solemn sense of God's superintending providence and of their duty devoutly to rely on his aide and direction, do earnestly recommend a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer. That we may, with united hearts, confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions. And by a sincere repentance and amendment amend-ment of life and through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain his pardon and forgiveness.' "And then, after that, they published these words: 'We hold these truths to be self evident. That all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. '"That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or ' to abolish it. '"It is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government.' govern-ment.' "They proceeded to itemize (See PRAYER on page 3A) Natl Day Of Prayer Frnm Pnop 9 A their complaints against Britain and then asserted that these united unit-ed colonies are and of right ought to be, free and independent independ-ent states. "Whereupon, in a war lasting eight long years, they threw off the government of the English king. "This document asserts the beliefs of our founders. As our national charter, it asserts the beliefs of our nation. If we are part of this nation, then this is officially what we believe. "Let's examine those beliefs. "First, we do believe in truths and we find that some truth is obvious. 'We hold these truths to be self evident.' "Second, the fundamental, obvious truth is that of creation. 'We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created...' creat-ed...' "This is consistent with what the bible says in Romans chapter chap-ter 1. That even if you've never read a bible, never heard a preacher, never seen Mel Gibson's movie, the creation itself reveals enough to you of the Creator, that you are without excuse if you fail to worship Him. "And third. In light of the creation, we are all equal. "Notice, if we try to secularize secular-ize this statement, it becomes false. If we remove reference to truth and creation, we end up with this. 'We think it's obvious that all people are equal.' That's ridiculous. What's obvious is that we are not equal. We are not equal in height, weight, strength, intelligence, skill, health, wealth, appearance, influence or longevity. Only in light of creation can we be called equal. "We refer in the Holy Bible to the Book of Beginnings, Genesis. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Possibly the most profound statement ever uttered. It goes on to tell how he made everything every-thing that is in them, including us, after his own likeness and in his own image. "We read that God ordered the earth to bring forth life, both plants and animals. But God personally formed man from the clay and breathed into his nostrils nos-trils the breath of life. "From which we conclude that human life is special and all human life is sacred. So we are all equal, in that we are created of God, we all share the life that he breathed into us. We all bear his likeness and image and we all have a part in His plan. "A fourth belief. We were endowed with certain rights at the time of creation. Our rights are inalienable can't be taken away. Because they are endowed by a higher power. And our rights reflect the attributes attrib-utes of the Creator. "First. God has life in himself him-self and is the giver of life. Bearing his likeness, we have a right to life. "Second. God is sovereign and is free to do his own will. Bearing his likeness, we have a right to liberty. "Third. God is a planner, a maker, a doer, Who pursues his purpose in His creation. Bearing his likeness, we have a right to the pursuit of happiness. "Not only does the doctrine of creation form a solid foundation founda-tion for our nation, but it is also a rewarding personal philosophy. philoso-phy. "To make meaning of my own life, I start at the beginning. My origin is the creation. I am somehow from God. My destiny des-tiny is to return to God, by way of his provision and to enjoy him forever. My duty is to know him, obey him and implement in my life his plan. "In this construct, I view my fellow man as my equal, his life as sacred. I treat him with the same dignity, courtesy and respect that I show to the creator, cre-ator, whose image he bears. Realizing that my fellow man also has a place in God's plan, I recognize that we must somehow some-how work together to fulfill it. "So, as a nation, our point of origin is found in a strong, formal for-mal statement of faith in God. Derived from the doctrine of creation, issued by a God-fearing, Bible-believing, patriotic Christian people. "Now, how does this information infor-mation from our collective beginning, inform our grasp of our national present? "What are we to make of the home grown American tyrant wearing a long black robe, who has decreed that our government cannot acknowledge God? "Where did that rascal get the notion and why have we left him on the bench? "Without God we have no foundation. We have no rights. We must abandon the doctrine of creation. We must embrace the only alternative the doctrine doc-trine of evolution. Of course, some . would say, that's okay, maybe God used evolution for creation. "Skip it! Even that timid description of God won't pass muster with the tyrant. He has decreed that our government cannot acknowledge God at all. "So we are left with a national nation-al philosophy consisting of the dismal doctrines of Darwin. How do I make meaning from that? My origin is obscurity, my destiny oblivion, my duty struggle. Struggle to survive, to reproduce, to advance the species, for what? "In that construct, my fellow man is my competitor. I must crush him. Of course, we don't have to worry about God and his 10 suggestions. We shall be as Gods. But there is one law. Yes, even the apostate Darwin recognized recog-nized one law.' The survival of the fittest. Of course, there is no equality there." Because some are more fit to survive than others. oth-ers. And some may not be fit to survive at all. "How would you like to live in a country whose government was based squarely upon that premise? Tens of millions have and more than a billion still do. Hitler sought to advance the human species by initiating a struggle to promote the race he thought was superior and to destroy the rest. "Karl Marx was a contemporary contempo-rary of Charles Darwin. When he read Charles' book about origins, ori-gins, he was thrilled. He thought, yes, this is it, this is the pattern. I will do for sociology what Charlie has done for biology. biolo-gy. He based his political ideology ideol-ogy on evolution. Think . Nazism, Marxism, Communism. It's a philosophy of personal despair and national catastrophe. "Only a nation of fools would purposefully indoctrinate its young with that bankrupt ideology. ideol-ogy. We say, God Bless America. The Bible says, 'blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.' (Psalm 33: 12) "The birth of our nation demonstrates that God can indeed raise up a nation miraculously miracu-lously and bless it richly. "But what of the nation that repudiates God? That diligently erases him from every public venue. That carefully excises him from its curriculum. That systematically expunges him from the public consciousness and national conscience. "I refer to the 9th Psalm, verse 17. 'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all nations that forget God.' How far have we come in the process of forgetting? for-getting? How far have we progressed pro-gressed along the road to perdition? perdi-tion? Does God really judge wicked nations? Yes. Isn't America somehow a special exception? No. "We could open the Bible and ponder Ninevah. We could delve into history and study Carthage. But we need not look so far to learn our lesson. America, even in this, is our example! "Less than a century after its founding, our nation suffered a great civil war. We were devastated devas-tated and shattered and scarred our government altered. A huge fortune was squandered. Americans used the latest tech-' nology to slaughter each other. In fact, the American Civil War cost more American lives, than all other American wars combined. com-bined. "God gave this nation that war, as judgment on this nation as a nation, for the national offense of slavery. I know that's heavy. But it is not my idea. I have simply summarized the second inaugural address of President Abraham Lincoln. "Shortly before the end of the war, arid unwittingly the end of his life, that was his assessment. It's carved in stone on the walls of his memorial in Washington, D.C. That's where I first read it. "By the way, in that great time of judgment, when God willed to remove from this nation, the offense of slavery, it wasn't only the slave owners who suffered, the whole nation did. "On this National Day of Prayer, despite America's present pres-ent offenses, too numerous to list, we find hope and take heart (See PRAYER on page 5A) Prayer From Page 3 A in this promise from the word of God. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble hum-ble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive for-give their sin, and will heal their land.'(2 Chron. 7:14) "May God Bless America. "May God Forgive America." |