A Thanksgiving Proclamation

by Nicholas A. Catania

November 2012

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This month we will once again celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. I thought it a good idea to quote Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation from October 3, 1863.

"The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions of foreign States, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

The needful diversions of wealth and strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the nationaldefense have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship. The axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore.

Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battlefield; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people; I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens.

And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him that, for such singular deliverances and blessings; they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon asmay be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth."

Abraham Lincoln.

One can quickly see how far our current administration has strayed from our forefathers respect and thankfulness for a sovereign God.

Over the past several years, President Barack Obama has repeatedly claimed that America is not a Christian nation. He asserted that while a U.S. Senator repeated it as a presidential candidate and on a recent presidential trip to Turkey announced to the world that Americans "do not consider ourselves a Christian nation'.

(He made that announcement in Turkey because he said it was "a location he chose to send a clear message".) Then preceding a subsequent trip to Egypt, he declared that America was "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world" (even though the federal government's own statistics show that less than one-percent of Americans are Muslims.)

* May 2009 — Obama declines to host services for the National Prayer Day (a day established by federal law) at the White House.

* October 19, 2010 — Obama begins deliberately omitting the phrase about "the Creator" when quoting the Declaration of Independence " an omission he has made on no less than seven occasions.

* November 2010 — Obama misquotes the National Motto, saying it is "E pluribus unum" rather than "In God We Trust" as established by federal law.

* June 2011 — The Department of Veterans Affairs forbids references to God and Jesus during burial ceremonies at Houston National Cemetery.

* October 2011 — Obama's Muslim advisers block Middle Eastern Christians' access to the White House.

* February 2012 — The Obama administration makes effulgent apologies for Korans being burned by the U. S. military, but when Bibles were burned by the military, numerous reasons were offered why it was the right thing to do.

If Abraham Lincoln were alive today I am sure that our current president would be put on trial for treason. Our forefathers acknowledged that the only reason this country was great was because God almighty made it great.

"No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy". (Abraham Lincoln)

* November 2011 — Unlike previous presidents, Obama studiously avoids any religious references in his Thanksgiving speech.

This type of disgraceful behavior you may expect from a politician however, the decay of America goes much further than the white house.

* By Associated Press,

Oct 18, 2012 06:19 AM EDT
AP Published: October 18
BALTIMORE: Maryland clergy from multiple denominations will hold two news conferences to express support for same-sex marriage.
The first will be outside the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland: Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore on Thursday.
* By Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter

September 4, 2012  |   5:50 pm
A group of black pastors in Virginia held a meeting to discuss how to encourage their congregations to vote for President Barack Obama.

All one needs to do is go to the internet, news paper, etc. and you will quickly find that many of the so called Christian Clergy/community has turned their back on God.

Leviticus 18:22 ²²Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Leviticus 18:24-25 ²⁴ Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:²⁵And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

The east coast of the United States has just experienced yet another devastating storm. This storm with 80 mph sustained winds killed at least 62 people in nine states, cut power to more than 7.8 million homes and businesses from the Carolinas to Maine. It caused scares at two nuclear power plants, stopped the presidential campaign cold, and more than 18,000 flights domestic and international were cancelled.

Just so I'm not misunderstood, yes, I am saying that I believe that if we, as a nation keep rebelling against God, national disobedience will be punished with national disasters as demonstrated by the Old Testament scriptures on multiple occasions.

In the past, our forefathers would repent and encourage the nation as a whole to repent and call upon the Lord. This doesn't seem to be possible with our current administration.

However, there are still godly men and woman in office and there is still a remnant of uncompromised believers. Christians who still believe the Word of God is His will for mankind; men and woman who will stand on the truth that the Bible is the revealed Word and Will of God.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

We can call on the name of the Lord and make intercession for our government and our nation. Our God is bigger than any nation, government, political party, or individual.

Psalm 50:14-15 ¹⁴Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: ¹⁵And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Psalm 106:1 Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Join with me this day and every day and give thanks to God that we may continue to live in a free nation.

For the promise that God's Word will not return void.

Psalm 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. ÿ

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Note: All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NLT indicates the New Living Translation, NAS indicates the New American Standard version, NKJV indicates the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, NJB means the New Jerusalem Bible, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation,  NAU means the American Standard Version, 1995 Edition, and NAB means the New American Bible translation.  For more information, go to the Works Cited page.