Ep 116: A Pledge of Allegiance

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What can the Pledge of 
Allegiance teach us about our 

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loyalty to Christ? 
Let's talk about that here in a 

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bit. 
Welcome to the show. 

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I'm Daniel Dalp and this is for 
your Sunday morning drive. 

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The short podcast with a goal of
providing some motivation, Dr. 

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and encouragement and helping 
you recenter your mind on those 

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spiritual things on a hectic 
Sunday morning. 

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I hope you had an excellent 4th 
of July yesterday. 

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I hope it was a day full of 
wonderful things and great times

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and memories with your family. 
I'm thankful that this morning 

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you're sharing your time with me
here on the show. 

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And regardless of when you 
listen, thank you for taking 

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some time out of your day to 
make us a part of your routine. 

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I so appreciate it. 
And if you enjoy the show, check

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out for your Sunday morning 
dr.com. 

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There you can learn how to 
support the show and you can 

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learn where you can rate and 
review it. 

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Anyway, let's go ahead and get 
the show on the road this 

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morning. 
This is episode 116, a Pledge of

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Allegiance. 
Let's go to church. 

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Are we there yet? 
Yesterday was Independence Day, 

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the 4th of July, the day that 
celebrates the birth of our 

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nation and the adoption of the 
Declaration of Independence. 

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I hope for you that it was 
filled with family, patriotism, 

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good food, and of course, 
fireworks. 

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Hopefully you got up this 
morning with all 10 fingers 

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still intact, and if not, well, 
you've learned your lesson. 

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I'm willing to wager that a few 
of you, at some point throughout

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the festivities, thought back to
or even recited the Pledge of 

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Allegiance. 
Here's an interesting little 

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factoid. 
The first version of the Pledge 

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of Allegiance was much more 
generic when it was first pinned

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in the 1800s, and there were 
actually 2 contemporary versions

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of the Pledge that were floating
around at about the same time. 1

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was written by George T Balch 
and the other, more popular 

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version by Francis Bellamy, 
which along with some other 

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adaptations and revisions, 
became officially accepted in 

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1942. 
The current iteration with the 

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addition of Under God was made 
official as recently as 1954 and

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it reads, I pledge allegiance to
the flag of the United States of

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America and to the Republic for 
which it stands, One nation 

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under God, indivisible with 
liberty and justice for all. 

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The Pledge of Allegiance seems 
baked into us as Americans as a 

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statement of loyalty and fealty 
to our nation. 

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And understand, I love this 
country. 

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We are so, so blessed. 
However, as often as we as a 

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country state that we are one 
nation under God, it makes me 

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wonder if it's easier to say the
Pledge of Allegiance to country 

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than to Kingdom. 
You know, we pledge allegiance 

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to King Jesus when we submit to 
his will, culminating in the 

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waters baptism. 
We make that great confession. 

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I believe that Jesus Christ is 
the Son of God. 

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But do we take that to heart? 
Do we understand? 

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Do we count the cost? 
Do we live as subjects of Christ

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just as readily as citizens of 
America? 

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Because the question isn't 
whether we've made a pledge, the

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question is whether or not we're
living. 

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Or are our lives rife with 
rebellion, either unwitting or 

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intentional? 
Now don't get me wrong, I'm 

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right there with you. 
And often our rebellion is a 

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result of overconfidence in our 
own ability, much like Peter and

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the rest of the disciples in 
Matthew chapter 2631 through 35,

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the Bible tells us. 
Then Jesus said to them, You 

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will all fall away because of me
this night. 

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For it is written, I will strike
down the shepherd, and the sheep

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of the flock shall be scattered.
But after I have been raised, I 

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will go ahead of you to Galilee.
But Peter said to him, even 

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though all may fall away because
of you, I will never fall away. 

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And Jesus said to him, truly I 
say to you that this very night 

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before the rooster crows, you 
will deny me three times. 

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Peter said to him, Even if I 
have to die with you, I will not

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deny you. 
All the disciples said the same 

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thing too. 
Now later in the same chapter, 

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we see that Peter did not hold 
true to this initial Pledge of 

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Allegiance to Christ. 
In verses 74 and 75, Scripture 

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says, then he began to curse and
to swear. 

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I do not know the man. 
And immediately a rooster 

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crowed, and Peter remembered the
word which Jesus had said 

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before. 
A rooster crows. 

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You will deny me three times. 
And he went out and wept 

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bitterly. 
Have you had those moments, 

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Those moments of bitter weeping 
when the dissonance between our 

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pledge of loyalty to our Savior 
and the reality of our sin 

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become crystal clear? 
I have. 

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And Christian, I know how 
devastating they are. 

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The good news is that our King 
is a forgiving one. 

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Just as he forgave Peter and 
charged him with the feeding of 

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his sheep, He'll forgive us too,
as long as we pick ourselves up 

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and daily bend the knee to Jesus
because he deserves our 

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allegiance, our loyalty, our 
praise. 

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And may our loyalty never stop 
at a flag. 

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May it always end at a cross. 
Because the greatest freedom 

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we've ever been given. 
No, it it wasn't one on a 

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battlefield. 
It was purchased with blood at 

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Calvary. 
Aren't we thankful for it? 

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Let's live like it. 
Well, those are my thoughts for 

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you on this Sunday morning 
drive. 

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Now it's time to hear yours. 
Our discussion questions for 

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this week are how do we prove 
our loyalty to Christ? 

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In what ways may our patriotism 
challenge our absolute loyalty 

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to the King? 
And how can we be better about 

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not conflating A worldly country
with a heavenly Kingdom? 

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Hey, thanks for listening. 
Thank you for spending some time

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with me on this Sunday morning. 
Don't give up, keep being loyal 

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to Jesus and I'll see you 
Sunday.