Friend, did you ever have the opportunity to wish somebody a happy 372nd birthday?

Well, you do now. Our cherished National Guard, the first line of America’s defense since pre-colonial days, even before we were called America, was born 372 years ago this Saturday.

It had its beginnings in the colonies, when farmers had to drop their plows and pick up muskets to defend their settlements. Of course, when we became a British colony, we had to have defense, and again it was settler/soldiers who volunteered. Paul Revere and many of the signers of the Constitution were themselves members of what became known as our National Guard.

Today, half or more of our fighting men and women, wherever they are deployed around the globe, are still our volunteer soldiers who stop what they’re doing, leave their professions and families, and ship out to defend all of us.

The best way I know of that we can celebrate their 372nd birthday is to have – and give to loved ones – For My Country, The Ballad of the National Guard, complete with the documentary history of our fellow citizens who put it all on the line for our liberties.

Let’s celebrate and commemorate and pay tribute to our National Guard on their 372nd anniversary!

Pat Boone

Tags: For My Country DVD History Of National Guard National Guard Birthday

0 comments View Entry

Hi folks…

I hope everybody’s having a great time–and I wish I could be with you in person.

I’m in snowy Minnesota right now, where it truly is “beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” and I’m doing something I love…a full Christmas concert. I think I’m one of the last singers around who still does one. And I wish I were doing it for you right now.

But I’m in Minnesota, and you’re here. And I’ll be home for Christmas, while some of you may be shipping out. I’m told that maybe 250 of America’s finest may be looking at redeployment and a temporary separation from your families—and I don’t have the words or ability to thank you enough for your willing sacrifice for the rest of us. Only God can do that, and I pray He will.

But I do have a couple of Christmas presents for you, the kids and your families. One is a copy of my new Christmas CD, with 21 new songs, for each family represented. It’s not like any Christmas album ever, and should add some funny moments to your holiday, as well as a few new meaningful reasons to be thankful.

The other present is a deeply heartfelt tribute to the National Guard, and every blessed member of it. Some time back, I realized that there hadn’t been a well known song about the Guard, and felt there should be one. So I wrote and recorded “For My Country“, the Ballad of the National Guard. I went even further, and produced a music video and a full length documentary about the 372-year history of America’s historic first line of defense.

It’s a loving and grateful tribute to you and the Guard. I want you to see the music video, and then to know the Boone family prays for your successful mission and safe return to your family. God bless you, dear friends

Tags: Ballad Of The National Guard Christmas 2008 For My Country For My Countr

0 comments View Entry

Friend, we’re smack dab in the middle of the best time of the year, that period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Somehow, most everybody gets more mellow (unless they get too uptight about gifts and shopping)—and there’s a growing feeling of good will, nostalgia and memories of Christmas past, with loved ones and happy times.

Back in North Carolina, there’s a frail but incredibly brave elder statesman in a wheel chair, trying to make the most of these precious days without his first and only wife Ruth. Yes, he has most of his children and some of his grandkids around him, and lots of tender, loving care—but none of that can replace the company of that dear life companion of over 60 years.

Still, Billy Graham soldiers on, even through the celebration of his 90th birthday, using every opportunity to praise his God and point people to Jesus. What an amazing man!

May I make a suggestion, one I hope won’t be taken wrongly by anybody? As a Christmas gift to Billy, and to families and friends you love, what about slipping the “Thank You Billy Graham” video into their stockings? As you do, you’re paying your own tribute to one of this world’s best loved human beings, perpetuating his legacy to another generation and beyond–and contributing to the needs of people in other parts of the world, in Billy’s name. Doesn’t that seem kind of right, this Christmas?

Merry Christmas, Billy Graham–and God bless you, dear friend.

Tags: Billy Graham Billy Graham 90 Christmas 2008 Evangelist Dr Billy Graham

1 comments View Entry

He has promised …"Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."

The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, of created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

– Hebrews 12: 26, 7

As noted philosopher Jerry Lee Lewis once prominently proclaimed: "WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON!" Yep, our whole economy is being routed, uprooted, hung by its heels and shaken viciously. Not just the common folks who don't know much about banking and finance and bundled and bungled mortgages (but are in danger of losing their shirts anyway). No, even the "fat cats" and CEOs of Ford and Chrysler and GM. Even builders and suppliers and hedge fund managers and retailers. So many people in every walk of life are being shaken.

Marriage itself, the sacred institution around which all society is built, is being attacked and shaken. Yes, attacked with intent to contaminate it in a way that will eventually cause the collapse of American social order.

Even little babies, still being formed in their mothers' wombs, are being threatened with willful destruction, before they draw their first breaths. Abortion, already sanctioned by the highest court in the land, is settling in as a legal means of getting rid of unwanted or inconvenient children.

Having just come through the most extravagant, expensive and bitterly divisive national election in our history – which was itself a ground-shaking event – a relatively narrow majority of our citizens have elected an enigmatic young man president of the United States. He is already on record supporting abortion "rights," no matter when or how or why the baby's life is taken. And he's promised that nothing will shake the 1973 Supreme Court decision that has amounted to a death sentence for some 50 million infants so far. As he expressed it, if one of his daughters "made a mistake, why should she be punished with a baby?"

And this same young man has taken a stand against any constitutional defense of marriage, proclaiming that though he doesn't personally approve of same-sex "marriage," he will do nothing to prevent it. This must have encouraged the already wildly inflamed opponents of California's Prop 8 who attack churches, synagogues and business people who dared support marriage as between one man and one woman. These radicals publicly announce their well-organized plans to overrule the expressed will of the voters in California. Believing the newly elected president gives them his tacit approval, as does Gov. Schwarzenegger, the homosexual activists are mounting frontal attacks on all who disagree with them, determined that neither the democratic process nor law itself will deprive them of their wishes. With the salivating support of the ACLU, the same four California judges who thumbed their noses at the voters previously will have the opportunity to do it again. And their apparent intent is to keep thwarting the will of the majority until supporters of traditional marriage just give up.

As the nation is wrenched by the tectonic economic crisis, a young man has been elected on promises he'll fix it all, though he has no experience whatever in such matters. And while we are still at war on two fronts, this new commander in chief, who never wore a uniform or carried a gun, promises to settle all that military stuff, bring our troops home and keep us secure against implacable enemies through diplomacy. These enemies are the same ones who destroyed the World Trade Center in one morning, killing 3,000 Americans. But his middle name is Hussein, so he proposes to "reason" with them.

You may well wonder why, in this Thanksgiving season, I'm thanking God for all this shaking. Well, let's look again at what brought the Twin Towers down. The first time the Islamic jihadists tried to destroy the WTC, they did it the smartest way – they attacked the foundations, down in the subterranean garages, planting huge bombs that would surely have toppled the massive buildings. But they were foiled at the last minute, and had to try again. So on Sept. 11 in 2001, 23 trained and disciplined terrorists attacked the Towers at a much higher and totally unexpected level. They commandeered some jetliners, filled with unsuspecting passengers, and plunged them into the upper floors of the Towers, accomplishing the unthinkable. Two giant buildings, with thousands of people in them, crumpled to the ground in cataclysmic annihilation.

Be thankful for any of that? No, of course not. But yes, I give thanks for the brief period of galvanizing unity and the outpouring of goodwill that drew our people together. Out of that national quake came a refreshing promise of the kind of spirit that created America in the first place. It dissipated, but while it lasted, it was real.

And now a much greater shaking is affecting our national life. In a terrible pincer movement, an assault is taking place on two fronts simultaneously – one all-out attack on the foundations, the very pillars of our society, and the other on the executive suites in the ivory towers of business and finance. The jihadists in these organized, hugely funded attacks on our morality and virtue are not Middle Eastern – they're homegrown Americans who actually believe they're promoting a better America by destroying the foundations on which this nation was built!

Recall that George Washington declared, "Religion and morality are the twin pillars of liberty" … two foundational supports.

Well, on one front, our jihadists would grant homosexual activity "marriage rights," which outweigh the will of the majority and defy the societal structuring of all human history. And they believe that destroying babies in the womb is a woman's "right" – oblivious to the divinely and constitutionally ordained rights of the unborn American citizen. What if one of those had been Obama?

On the second front, leftist political genetic engineers are moving into power, taking advantage of immoral and irresponsible greed in the economy to socialize industry and finance, and make Big Brother government everybody's boss and banker.

But yes, I'm thankful. We the people are getting what we deserve and what we need. Like the people of Israel long ago, we've got the king we demanded, and now we'll experience the benign slavery that comes with a king. At some point down the road, we'll wake up, shake ourselves and again throw off governmental tyranny, this time self-imposed. At least, that's my prayer. The kingdom we're getting can be rejected, if we bring God and morality back into our national life. I'm thankful that His kingdom is still available to us.

The 12th chapter of Hebrews concludes, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."

Tags: American Social Order Election 2008 Pat Boone Thanksgiving 2008

0 comments View Entry

Tags: Pat Boone National Guard The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program Lead

0 comments View Entry

Well, here we are. We've arrived at the intersection of two roads, one of which this country will decide to take. We'll choose between Resolution Road and Capitulation Highway.

Resolution Road is not a new thoroughfare. It's bumpy and hilly, and it needs repair. But it's been there a long, long time, and it's been the chosen route for millions for almost 230 years. It's always been the way home, to the Land of the Free, to that Shining City on a Hill, as President Reagan described it.

Remember what Ben Franklin said, when asked what the Constitution had created? "A republic … if you can keep it." He knew even then that only resolve, watchful dedication by the citizens, would preserve the dream.

On all previous maps of the United States of America, at least since the Civil War, Resolution Road has been the direct, sure way back to the most incredible civilized society the world has ever known. Sure, it takes concentration and focus and even occasional sacrifice – resolution – but it's the proven way to what most of us have cherished and the rest of the world has envied.

But, now, there's also Capitulation Highway – a wide open, mythical new road that millions seem ready to travel. Though no one has yet traveled on it, they've been told it leads to an enchanted new place called CHANGE. Its extravagant advertising promises great education and total health care for every American, and even 12 to 14 million illegal aliens. Taxes? What taxes? Except for the evil rich, of course. Oh – and corporations! Why should 90 percent of the people have to pay taxes, especially if people don't choose to work, since the rich obviously can and should pick up the tab for everybody else?

In this exciting new destination, laws are loose and easily changed or abandoned if they get in the way of popular trends and desires. "Marriage" and "family" have only vague, fuzzy definitions, applicable to virtually any combination or variation. Pregnancy and childbearing? Sure, it's necessary for a continuing population, but nobody should be obligated or "punished" with an unwanted child as a result of sexual escapades. Abortion will be available to all, including the youngest – and, best of all, it's tax supported. Religion, for the few simple-minded or old-fashioned folks who still want it, is permitted, but only in the privacy of homes and some churches. And under no circumstances is any religious babble or judgmental talk allowed in the halls of government or on the airwaves.

The architects of this superhighway say that all will travel at such a happy speed that they'll have virtually no worries, every need met by a benevolent Big Brother government, with wealth evenly distributed, and any potential enemies diplomatically sweet talked into waving cheerily as the "New Americans" sweep by. At last, the nation will be just like Europe, with a socialistic way of life where everybody is just like everybody else, anything goes, and any sort of moral absolutes are just quaint notions from the past.

Yes, this road and its destination sound so appealing to so many now. There's no apparent toll, either, but all who travel this road must be willing to capitulate, to surrender all outmoded ideals like independence, obedience to annoying laws, earning advancement by hard work and dedication, and resisting absorption into the greater brotherhood of nations, the New World of The Future.

Best of all, it seems, our guide on this Capitulation Highway is an articulate young man who – though he's never traveled the road before nor been to whatever is at the end of it – claims to know exactly how to get there and to lead us all there safely.

He's cast a spell over much of the populace, wooing them with dreams of happy unity, a restored environment, new sources of energy, a bustling economy with affordable everything for everybody, the approval and admiration of all other nations, Supreme Court justices with whom he has no "ideological differences" – and subsequently a revamped constitutional order that can accommodate just about anything anybody wants to do.

Sounds like Paradise, doesn't it? A real Shangri-La. Everything Karl Marx imagined, and more! And really, all it requires is total capitulation, a giving in to the baser instincts of mankind, a relinquishing of those old ideas of the sanctity of all life, even the unborn, and all those needless restrictions on behavior and instant gratification. Fifty million abortions since 1973? Hey, you ain't seen nothin' yet! With Planned Parenthood and increased government funding, no young girl ever has to have a baby if she doesn't want to!

Why, this young guide to CHANGE can even make the wholesale slaughter of innocent children sound like a laudable right of women; and to placate those who still oppose abortion, he and his religious advisers promise to promote adoption, letting some babies live, and provide prenatal and postnatal care to young mothers who keep their children alive. He hopes we'll forget that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision opened the legal door to a national holocaust unequaled in mankind's history, and he's determined to appoint judges to see it stays in place. And he and his sold-out advisers ask if reducing the number of child murders to maybe only a half million a year won't suffice.

This guide with the Muslim name and several longtime Muslim extremist friends supports allowing same-sex marriage, socialistic plans for the economy and toning down military response to just about anything, favoring dialogue as our primary defense. And he makes it sound reasonable and appealing! And all we have to do, to acquire all he promises on the superhighway, is to surrender every last shred of moral restraint … to capitulate.

The only alternative we have to Capitulation Highway is Resolution Road – recommitment to the strong principles that created this republic. The biblical writer proclaimed long ago, "Righteousness exalts a nation; sin is a disgrace to any people."

Time to choose. We're about to get either what we need – or what we deserve.

Tags: Pat Boone Election 2008 Resolution Road Capitulation Highway

1 comments View Entry

I’m really looking forward to next week, when I’ll be headed down Nashville way to two events, the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association Power of One Conference and to meet some of my fans at the Ernest Tubb record store.

For those of you who haven’t been to Ernest Tubbs, it’s one of the great record stores in the country and the best in Nashville.  Every Saturday night the Midnight Jamboree is broadcast live from the store, hosted by great country artists including Razzy Bailey, Kathy Mattea and Razzy Bailey.  It’s the nations second longest running radio show, broadcast after the Grand Ole Opry on WSM 690.

Shopping at Ernest Tubbs is a fun experience and you can find almost anything there, from early vinyl recordings to the latest CDs and much more.  If you’re in the Nashville area, come down and say hello on October 21 from 2 pm – 4 pm, where I’ll be signing my current Christmas CD.
After leaving Ernest Tubbs, I’m headed to the Power of One conference in Sevierville, TN, smack in the middle of the Smoky Mountains.  This conference is hosted by the Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association with the goal of spreading the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to everybody.

During the event Dr. Doug Sager and Dr. John Ed Mathison will join Scott for some great preaching along with some inspiring worship lead by the Speck Trio.  The great Babbie Mason will be singing one night and I’ll be sharing my testimony and some relevant thoughts the evening of the 22nd.

I hope to see all my Tennessee friends sometime during the week of October 21, either at Ernest Tubbs, the Power of One conference or both.

God Bless.

Tags: Evangelistic AssociationPower Of One ConferenceErnest Tubb Record Storeg

0 comments View Entry

I’m not that familiar with Kid Rock. I’ve heard of him, of course, and know he’s a rocker from Detroit who has sung some country music. I know he’s a Midwest guy with Midwest values. And recently someone turned me on to “Warrior,” a music single celebrating the National Guard that has already been viewed over 400,000 times on YouTube. After watching the music video, and even without talking to him, I know Kid Rock is a true American patriot.

I come from a time when most rock singers sang anti-war, and what I considered anti-American songs, especially during the Vietnam War. I can’t tell you how excited and invigorated I am that a popular rock singer has created such as fantastic pro-American song and is supporting the National Guard. The idea gives me goose bumps and puts a smile on my face.

Watching the video, I get a distinct understanding of how much Kid Rock loves this country and loves those who defend our country. While watching the video phrases such as “I will never accept defeat,” “I give all of myself,” “I am a member of a team” and “I am the guardian of freedom” speak directly to me, to all patriotic Americans and to all of the brave men and women who are giving up so much of their personal lives to represent the best country in the world.

I worked with the National Guard to produce their definitive DVD history and applaud Kid Rock for producing this song and showing young people that it’s brave and appropriate to join the Guard and serve their country. Hopefully this song and video will encourage more young people to do what’s right for both themselves and their country.

We are all warriors in our own way. Take a look at the lyrics and watch Kid Rock’s video and “For My Country: The History of the National Guard,” and together we’ll “take a stand toward the promised land.”

WARRIOR
I could see the city lights, then they turned to black
Then I heard the sirens sounding out
I could see the rockets glare, shooting in the night
Everyone was paying for their lives

Am I dreaming?
I don’t believe it
Am I wrong or right?
Then I heard a voice say in the night

I’m a warrior - take my hand
Let me lead you to the promised land
I’m a warrior- take my hand
Side by side we’ll make our final stand

Then I saw this blinding light - I heard a sonic boom
I could feal the earth shake in the doom
Then a silence filled the air, I could not hear a sound
I could see the ashes all around

Am I dreaming?
I don’t believe it
In the dead of night
I could hear the voice that showed me life

I’m a warrior - take my hand
Let me lead you to the promised land
I’m a warrior- take my hand
Side by side we’ll make our final stand
I’m a warrior

I’m a warrior - take my hand
Let me lead you to the promised land
I’m a warrior- take my hand
Side by side we’ll make our final stand
I’m a warrior

Tags: Kid Rock Pat Boone For My Country National Guard Support National Guard

0 comments View Entry

“Thank You Billy Graham” © 2000
Pat Boone, David Pack, Billy Dean

On the 7th of November 1918 he was born
To a Carolina farmer and his wife.
He grew up long and lanky, milkin’ cows n’ tendin’ school
Looking for direction in his life.

He went to church one Sunday
And met a preacher there
A man they call Mordecai Ham.
Took him by the hand, led him down the aisle
As they sang “Just As I Am.”

CHORUS:
He heard the word, he got the call,
he took the message to us all.
He said it so we all could understand.
Around the world, here at home,
he let us know we’re not alone.
Oh, thank you Billy Graham.

In little country churches, at the Tab and Youth for Christ
People came from everywhere to hear him speak.
He had no idea just how God would use him next
‘til in London’s Wembley Field the spirit peaked.

REPEAT CHORUS:

Father, he adores you.  He’s tried to serve you well.
To everyone who’d hear him out, your story he would tell.
Though all the world may know him, he’s still a humble man.
Whoever else may know your grace, remember Billy Graham, Billy Graham.

His ministry on radio, TV, and every type of magazine,
Touching millions of every color, tribe, and race;
From Parliaments to Presidents, from Kings to common folks,
Each one heard the truth of God’s amazing grace.

REPEAT CHORUS:

Thank you for the Father.
Thank you for the Son.
Thank you for our brother here
And all the work he’s done.
He would not want to hear it.
He’s such a humble man,
But around the world we need to say it;
“Thank you Billy Graham…oh thank you Billy Graham.”

Thank You Billy Graham

For more about the National Guard, Billy Graham and Pat Boone, please visit Pat Boone's blog or subscribe by RSS reader

Tags: Thank You Billy Graham Evangelist Billy Graham Pat Boone Presents Spirit

0 comments View Entry