Memorial Day – 2016: Remembering, Thanking & Honoring Our Military Heroes For Their Service & Sacrifice

REMEMBERING AND HONORING OUR MILITARY HEROES WHO GAVE ALL … BECAUSE FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE AND HONOR IS FOREVER.

On this Memorial Day 2016, Scared Monkeys sends a special thank you to all of the military men, woman and their families who made the ultimate sacrificed so that We, the United States of America, could remain the home of the free because of the brave. We thank those who gave their lives in the name of liberty and freedom from the bottom of our hearts. We can no longer than them in person, but we can honor their sacrifices to this great Country. Thank you and God Bless you, we shall never forget you your service and sacrifice. Please take time today to remember what this day is truly about and the men and women that we have lost.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 – King James Version)

Every year I take a moment and a personal note to honor and say thank you to a man who I miss so much, my uncle Red, who is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. My uncle served in Patton’s 3rd Army where he received the following medals. a silver star. bronze star and multiple purple hearts. He was one of the true humble heroes of WWII and our Greatest generation. God Bless you all.

I can remember like it was yesterday, but in fact it was more than 25 years ago, when I stood in Arlington National Cemetery for the funeral of my Uncle and namesake. I can remember the sound of Taps and the 21 gun salute as tears flowed down my face as I laid to rest my hero. A man that gave so much for his country and for me. A man who was the toughest and most honorable, proud and yet humble man I have ever known. By all accounts he should have died in the Ardennes forest during WWII, but God had other plans. However, in many respects he did lose all as he came home forever changed. My uncle volunteered for WWII at age 18, although, when I review the records he was actually 17. He, like 5 of his brothers, took part in WWII. However, my Uncle Red saw the most action in Patton’s 3rd Army. Much of what he witnessed, he took to his grave as he lost so many Brothers in Arms. When he came home some 4 years later after having defeated the Nazis, his own mom, my grandmother, did not recognize him.

The words of President Ronald Reagan, Arlington National Cemetery, May 31, 1982:

“The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we — in a less final, less heroic way — be willing to give of ourselves.” [...] 

“As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation. And let us also pledge to do our utmost to carry out what must have been their wish: that no other generation of young men will every have to share their experiences and repeat their sacrifice.”

Thank you to the men and woman who have died to make us free. We can thank you best by honoring your sacrifices to defeat tyranny, socialism, Communism and Nazism by continuing to do so the same today.

Wishing All a Happy & Blessed Easter 2016 from Scared Monkeys: HE IS RISEN. TRUELY, HE IS RISEN

MAY EVERYONE HAVE A HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER …

He is risen, truly, He is risen. Sorry, I have been out of town this weekend visiting friends. Wishing everyone the happiest of Easters! Please remember that Easter represents the true meaning of hope eternal and the rebirth of our Lord Jesus Christ as he died and rose again. As you have your Easter egg hunts, open your Easter baskets and enjoy Easter dinner, please remember that the resurrection of our Lord provides us with eternal hope and rebirth.

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

One of my favorite singers and songs … Michael W. Smith – Above All

Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

Luke 24:1-6

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!

I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
And I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.
No I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that you’re my God,
You’re altogether lovely,
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me.
So Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that you’re my God,

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2016 … A Dream We Continue to Strive For … “Will One Day Live in a Nation Where They Will not be Judged by the Color of their Skin but by the Content of their Character”

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY – 2016.

On this January 18th, 2016 we once again join as a nation to look back on the message of Martin Luther King Jr. and are asked to reflect on “The Dream.”  We have come a long way as a nation since the 1960?s. For those who say we have not, know nothing of the past and are lying through their teeth. I personally make it a point every MLK day to listen to the words of the slain Civil Rights leader and his “I Have a Dream” speech and reflect on what it means and where we are today with that dream. Make no mistake about it America, we are a much better country for Martin Luther King Jr’s dream.  The United States of America has come a long way. Do not let anyone ever tell you we have not. But we still have a ways to go and may always have to. “The Dream” is much like being a Christian or life in general. You don’t just all of a sudden say, okay, I have reached my goal and nothing more is needed. People are not perfect, they never will be. We strive to be good and follow Christan values. That does not mean we do not fail or fall short. Have we come a long way, yes. However, does that mean we have much more to do and always will.

The greatness of MLK Jr’s message is that it is for all people, not just one to blacks and another to whites. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, and it was one of inclusion that we “will not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character”. Do not let any one else try and interpret that dream for you. Never let those with an agenda that is so far from “The Dream” to make you feel less or call you something that you are not. It is sad to witness today that those that are considered Civil Rights activists are more about race hustling and division, than they are about “The Dream”.  Martin Luther King Jr. was correct, it is never about the color of one’s skin, it is always about the content of one’s character. Always! Do not ever forget, it is always about character.

I have a dream that “The Dream” of Martin Luther King Jr. will be championed by real Civil Rights activists and not high-jacked by those for their own self-serving purposes and agenda and try to divide us as a country. To do so, to race-bait and to divide America whether you be a common American citizen, a pastor, a politician or a president does a disservice to Martin Luther King, Jr. and his “DREAM.” How I wish there was a true Martin Luther King Jr. alive today to champion the cause.

Martin Luther King – I Have A Dream Speech – August 28, 1963

Full text of MLK Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech can be read here (pdf).

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

[...]

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Martin Luther King’s Last Speech: “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop”

Daily Commentary – Monday, January 4, 2016 – So Have You Started On That New Years Resolution Yet?

• I’m not sure they do any good. Why do you need to wait until January 1st to resolve to do something? Why wait until January 1st to eat better, etc?

Daily Commentary – Monday, January 4, 2016 Download

HAPPY NEW YEARS 2016 FROM SCARED MONKEYS!!! Wishing All a Happy, Safe and Joyous 2016

Scared Monkeys would like to wish all a HAPPY NEW YEAR – 2016!!!

Wishing you a healthy, joyous and successful New Year.  As we look back over this past year and remember it with fondness and sorrow. To the happiness we experienced and the sorrow for those we those lost. We look to the future and the new year in 2016. May you all have a safe and blessed New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here’s a hand, my trusty friend
And gie’s a hand o’ thine
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.