Kudos to the communities celebrating the 4th on Monday, or Sunday afternoon

I'll be among many who gather with friends and family to celebrate America's 234th birthday tomorrow AFTERNOON!  And I want to extend my kudos to the South Dakota communities who are celebrating the fourth here on Saturday the third, or on Monday the fifth or at least in the afternoon/evening of Sunday the fourth.

Tomorrow marks the thirty-third time in the history of our nation when July 4th, Independence Day, falls on a Sunday. The last time was 2004 and the next time will be 2016. The first time the Fourth of July fell on a Sunday was in 1779 when our nation was just three years old. Out of respect for Sunday being the Sabbath, the Lord’s Day, Congress ordered all celebrations for the holiday be held on Monday July 5th.

I know many municipalities all over America have scheduled their parades for Monday, July 5. And, some communities are opting for later celebrations Sunday afternoon or evening. I noticed Sioux Falls new Mayor Mike Huether is starting our city’s celebration at eleven o'clock Sunday morning.  It's called "Mayor Mike Huether's 4th of July Family Parade and Picnic."

Of course I commend him for a family event. Yet, how hard would it have been for the Mayor start things up at 2 P.M. and encourage people of all faiths to devote the morning to thanking God for our freedoms and seeking heaven's help for the enormous problems facing our nation?

People don’t even really squawk about stuff on Sunday anymore. I guess we figure we lost the battle or it really doesn’t matter. Neither is true. In our case, we've canceled two of our three services tomorrow and are only offering one at 10:30 AM.. Maybe we should have gone with our earlier service instead so people could participate in the festivities in our city. Of course, many will be heading to church Saturday PM or early Sunday and then over to Falls Park in the early afternoon. Bummer that the rest of us will be too late to enjoy the parade.

On a related note, I see the (what I call) "Keep America Out of Church" voices are making hay about the appropriateness of flags in church and the baptism of patriotism (see… Be careful what you worship on July 4th). There's never been any confusion about who we worship at Church at the Gate. Tomorrow we are joining tens of thousands of other Call2Fall churches nationwide in kneeling before God on behalf of our nation.  I'll be speaking on the topic of Josiah and National Reformation and yes, I will tackle head-on these "Keep America Out of Church" voices.  If you want to hear that, show up at 10:30 AM.

God Bless America. Happy Fourth of July to everyone!