Lincoln's Ghost
Lincoln's words live on. His impact lives on. His faith still lives on. Why? Because the God of Lincoln is still alive. As Lincoln drew solace and strength from the workings of God in his life, may you too be blessed as we reflect on the God who still lives.
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Only the Dead have seen the End of War
Monday, April 24, 2023
Pausing The Pain
In the autumn of 1864 Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew wrote to President Lincoln asking him to express condolences to Mrs. Lydia Bixby, a widow believed to have lost five sons during the Civil War.
Lincoln could relate because he had lost a son during the war. I'm sure he wrote with a heavy heart as he penned these words, "I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom." Nov. 21, 1864
Life can be filled with unwelcome distractions, like those annoying TV commercials that suddenly, abruptly, increase in volume. It is at times like that when I hunt for the mute button. I confess I'm a hopeless channel surfer. In a day where the average person has hundreds of programs to choose from, my fingers are constantly switching from channel to channel. If I see something I don't like, I just quickly remove it from my view. I don't like to watch or listen to anything that makes me feel too sad or uncomfortable.
Wouldn't it be great if we had a mute, pause, or change channel button for life. If such a button existed, we could simply avoid some of the pains and uncomfortable situations that suddenly pop up in life. I believe one of the saddest moments in life are connected to this phrase, good-bye! That word pops up in so many heart wrenching events in life. Can I change channels, please?
Today, I again said the word good-bye with a big lump in my throat. This was our last day visiting with our son, daughter, and grandchildren in Arizona. With hugs and kisses, we said our goodbyes at the airport. I will not see them again until Christmas. Goodbyes can stink sometimes.
Where is that pause button?
Life is filled with good-byes: Good-bye to our childhood, Good-bye to our parents, Good-bye to college friends, Good-bye to our children, Good-bye to our health, and ultimately, Good-bye to our lives. As I have stated good-bye is a depressing word.
Praise be to God, there is a day coming when the phrase good-bye will no longer be needed. The Scripture in Revelation 22:4 says when we are in heaven, "He will wipe away all our tears." To me, that means no more good-byes. Every day with Jesus will be an eternal Hello. Hello to God in person. Hello to eternal health. Hello to eternal youth. Hello to eternal relationships. No more good-byes, only everlasting Hello's.
Heaven is the ultimate Pause Button!
Higher Authority
When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, he was certainly not thought of as a man given to religious fervor. But over the next 4½ years, when thousands of Americans were dying in the Civil War, the 16th president began to evolve, using the language and concepts of the Bible to reflect on the war’s larger meaning.
Lincoln
frequently used the Bible as his moral compass with respect to contemporary issues. He applied its principles to any political issue
he could, often citing the Bible's teachings as support for his positions.
Why, for instance, did Lincoln begin the Gettysburg
Address with the words “fourscore and seven years ago?” It wasn't because he
usually spoke that way. He knew that his audience was deeply familiar with the
King James Bible and would recognize the language of the Psalms: “The days of
our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be
fourscore years.”
Abraham Lincoln grew up in a highly religious Baptist family. He never joined any Church, and was a skeptic as a young man and sometimes ridiculed revivalists. He frequently referred to God and had a deep
knowledge of the Bible often quoting it. Lincoln attended Protestant church
services with his wife and children. After the death of his young son Willie in
1862, Lincoln seemed to have moved away from his earlier religious skepticism.
Throughout the war, in his letters and speeches Lincoln would plead with a divided Nation to remember, honor, and be guided by the principles and laws written in the Constitution. These were his words, "Let us then turn this government back into the channel in which the framers of the Constitution originally placed it." July 10, 1858
But we can see by his many other writings that he saw the need to direct people’s hearts and minds to a higher authority, The Bible. His country, his administration, his people, needed a moral compass to redirect a divided nation. What was needed were truths far greater than any skillfully worded human document, or any eloquent speech writer’s flowery words. In the New Testament book of Hebrews, the power of the Word of God to penetrate men’s hearts is boldly stated.
“For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the
heart.” Hebrews 4:12
Lincoln used the
Scripture as a spiritual mirror so the Nation would hopefully take a closer
look at what true righteousness is for a Nation and a People. The admonitions of the Apostle James hammer home this powerful point, “But prove
yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and
not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at
himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he
was. But one who has looked
intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has
continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an
active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does.” James1:22-25
Lost in plain sight
Commands and instructions on the Civil War battlefield took many forms: flags were waved, torches lit at night, telegraph messages were transmitted. However, the most common way orders were communicated to the waiting soldiers were by voice. A horseback messenger would ride up and say, "General Lee's compliments, sir. He commands you advance your command and engage the enemy in your front, sir." It was essential during the war to hear and obey the voice of your commanders.
A world forever changed
The Civil War changed many things in the country. It led to the freedom of more than 4 million enslaved Americans. A more powerful centralized federal government was established. The Northern economy vastly developed its industrial production and expanded its railroads. But more importantly the Civil War changed Lincoln too. He went from ambivalent, pragmatic, even conflicted on the issue of slavery saying "I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District, not but I would be glad to see it abolished, but as to the time and manner of doing it." March 24, 1862
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Christian Contrails
During the war, both Union and Confederate artillery could fire multiple types of ammunition. Cannonballs were solid, round objects that would ricochet off the ground and kill assembled soldiers, as well as used to target fortifications and enemy artillery. As the enemy got closer, the gunners would switch to canister or grapeshot. The crew would load the gun with a coffee can-sized container filled with small metal balls. Once fired, the can would disintegrate, spreading the balls outward in a cone shape, essentially like a giant shotgun. Along with these deadly cannon munitions a variety of rockets were also used during the Civil War by both sides.
Friday, March 27, 2020
Let Your Yea be Yea

Oh, that every politician would take that admonition to heart. And not only government officials, but every public figure that has a forum to speak from, social media influencers and Hollywood personalities alike. We live in a time like never before, where technology has allowed for the average man, woman, and teen to have their musings, opinions, and rants recorded for time and eternity. Not only recorded, but transmitted to the masses in the flash of a keystroke. I'm quite sure many a person has experienced the misery and regret of hitting the 'Send' button without first taking pause to reflect on what they had just typed. Then, there are the individuals who make bold pronouncements and affirm their unwavering commitment in support of some ideal, only to backtrack from it when the wind of public opinion shifts. Paul warned his fledgling church at Ephesus about this dangerous tendency. "We should no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different." Ephesians 4:14
First, choose your words carefully, for you will have to account for them at some point in time. If not in this life, then in the life to come. "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the Day of Judgment." Matthew 12:36
Second, own up to your words, and stay committed to your values and beliefs, even in a value shifting, increasingly hostile social environment. "Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No' be 'No'..." Matthew 5:37
"It is foolish and rash to make a promise before the Lord without counting the cost." Proverbs 20:25
Think before you speak. Speak what you believe. Stand behind what you say.