Happy Birthday to this great experiment! 250 years ago, these brave young men, with trembling hands, signed words to a document that would forever change the course of history. David McCullough, the late great historian, said that never in human history had this been tried. There have been many revolutions in world history. Few survive. Most replace one form of tyranny with another. But the American Revolution stuck because the new nation was based not on blood and soil, but on an idea. This mix of Judeo-Christian principles and Enlightenment thinking produced this concept of ordered liberty. These men didn't want a state church; they wanted checks and balances; they wanted freedom. But they also knew that it would only endure with a healthy foundation of virtue, of religion, and arguably Christianity. These men could not have fully understood what they wrought, but we, two and a half centuries later, are the beneficiaries. And we are also its stewards. I am thankful for this great land. For the Founders who risked their lives and reputations. For the courageous soldiers who gave their lives in Trenton and Saratoga, who stormed the beaches of Normandy, who braved the swamps of Vietnam, who fought in places near and far for a freedom we enjoy today. We should, today, listen to John Adams and celebrate. But we should also pause for gratitude and thankfulness to have been born in America, for the great sacrifice that allows us to flourish here, and to pray for spiritual renewal and revival in our land. Lastly, once we are done celebrating, we should commit ourselves to stewarding this country for the next 250 years so our children and grandchildren will inherit what we have enjoyed.

I still remember the online theobros mocking me for hosting an anti-sports gambling event with pastors at my church last year. Texas was at the time contemplating the expansion of sports gambling. "Read the room," they said (meaning their own group chats and bro portion of the internet). I was reading the room. College and student pastors telling me how deep the sports gambling problem is. What generates outrage and revenue on this site isn't always the real problem people are facing.

Today at church we commissioned a young couple to be missionaries to an undisclosed location overseas. They became Christiana thru our college ministry to @TCU a few years ago. This is the good stuff.