From My Perspective - - -

The Liberty Bell was cast for a particular purpose. “The Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the Bell in 1751 to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, Pennsylvania's original Constitution. It speaks of the rights and freedoms valued by people the world over. Particularly forward thinking were Penn's ideas on religious freedom, his liberal stance on Native American rights, and his inclusion of citizens in enacting laws…As the Bell was created to commemorate the golden anniversary of Penn's Charter, the quotation "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," from Leviticus 25:10, was particularly apt. For the line in the Bible immediately preceding "proclaim liberty" is, "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year." What better way to pay homage to Penn and hallow the 50th year than with a bell proclaiming liberty?” (USHistory.org).

Many may have forgotten the history behind the writing of The National Anthem. “In 1814, about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned, British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in the Harbor on September 13th to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes who had been captured during the Washington raid. The two were detained on the ship so as not to warn the Americans while the Royal Navy attempted to bombard Fort McHenry. At dawn on the 14th, Key noted that the huge American flag, which now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum, was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write a poem titled Defense of Fort McHenry. The poem was eventually set to music that had originally been written by English composer John Stafford Smith for a song titled "The Anacreontic Song". The end result was the inspiring song now considered the national anthem of the United States of America. However, most do not even recall there are actually four stanzas to that Anthem. The fourth stanza is stirring and worthy to be remembered:
 
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand, 
Between their loved home and the war's desolation! 
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land 
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! 
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, 
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust" 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

The Mike Huckabee Newsletter for July 2011 includes: “The following statistics are not typographical errors: 75% of students in the survey could NOT name the first president of the United States; 72% could not identify the Constitution as the supreme law of the land; 97% could not answer six in ten questions from a basic citizenship test correctly!” The crack in the Liberty Bell is widening because of the casual approach to our history as a nation as well as the lack of attention given to the foundations that “…our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” (The Gettysburg Address).

What is true for this nation is also true for what is called “The Church” today. The crack has been widening in terms of The Gospel; The Sacraments; Worship; Church Government; etc. Take just two of these areas: (1) The Gospel – Galatians 1:6-7 – “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” and (2) Worship – John 4:22-24 – “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know…the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." Take heed and return to the foundations quickly. Consider these things with me.