Kathy,

The military folks are well trained, or 
brainwashed to a degree, on honoring the flag and 
nation and all of that. Wouldn't it be a real 
test to see if Christians felt the same way in 
varying circumstances? Oh, well, it seems you do 
have that very situation indeed. Hands down it is 
a Christian representation  which ought go before 
the American flag. However equally to the fact 
the American flag ought not serve as a idol or 
god, neither ought the Christian one, as it 
wasn't the Christian flag who is god. Your 
question of whether which ought hold higher honor 
in a church, a Christian flag or American one, is 
almost so obvious it is almost redundant. I 
understand your veterans, but they need to 
understand Christ died for all people, not just 
Americans. How then would putting the American 
flag first be any different than your country 
putting its own ideals birthed out of its 
citizens to take God off our money, pledges and 
courtrooms? The USA need to know its place in 
existence, and before Christ is not it. I love 
this country too, but we are a people many times 
grounded on false security and patriotic piniáta, 
a shell of patriotism filled with sweet gimme's 
and fail to see we do have faults and we are not 
superior in people, God created all equal, but not equal to God himself.

Brad



on 03:19 PM 4/23/2006, Kathy Du Bois said:

Hi Guys,
	Well, it looks like Greg and I might be in a bit 
of the thick of it again.  Unfortunately, it 
isn't because of doctrine or anything like that, 
it's over the position of the flags in our 
church.  It would be interesting to see if you 
guys have anything to say about it.
	The Bangor area is pretty military.  Our airport 
doubles as a civilian airport and a military 
base.  We have the longest runway in  the 
country, so I'm told because of this union.  Many 
of the troops who are either flying overseas, or 
returning home, go through Bangor Maine.  We have 
a group of people, in the area, who have 
established themselves as troop greeters to give 
them a warm American send off or welcome no 
matter what time the military plane arrives, day 
or night.  A few of the members of our 
congregation participate in this.  Hopefully, 
this helps to set the stage for what blew up today.
	  The church has always had two flags in the 
front of the sanctuary.  One is the American flag 
and one is the Christian flag.  In flag protocol, 
established by the military in the early 1800s, 
the flag of the highest honor is supposed to be 
positioned to the right of the speaker.  In a 
church, this would mean to the right of the 
pastor.  Well, this protocol was established 
before the Christian flag was even created so it 
doesn't mention the Christian flag or how to deal 
with it at all.  Some pastors have opted to just 
remove the flags from the sanctuary altogether to 
stop the bickering, but our congregation wants 
the flags to remain.  This leaves us with an 
interesting dilemma, which flag  should receive top honors in a church?
	First of all, I will say very emphatically that 
Greg and I are both very patriotic.  We love our 
country and we are grateful to live here.  We 
have no interest in protesting the war, or the 
military and we never have, but, we believe that 
Christ should receive top honor in His 
sanctuary.  If you go to any of the offices of 
government, the court house, the town office, or 
any military establishment, such as the V.F.W. or 
the American Legion, you won't even see a 
Christian flag on display  and that is okay.  We 
may say that we are one nation under God, but we 
aren't and we aren't insisting that the Christian 
flag appear anywhere outside the 
church.  However, as much as I love this country, 
my first allegiance is to Christ.  I will protest 
when my country becomes immoral, but I will cling 
to the cross of Christ no matter who is in earthly power.
	Well, at our business meeting, it came up 
today.  The veterans among us are all protesting, 
some threatening to never come to our church 
again, because the Christian flag is in the 
honored position.  I have to say that most of the 
congregation voted in support of Greg, putting 
Christ first.  Greg had even talked to an army 
chaplain on the matter before today and the 
chaplain agrees with Greg, but never the less, 
it's a small town, so the winds of trouble are blowing again.
	When I arrived home, I looked up the first commandment in Exodus 20:3-6.

	You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the 
form of anything in heaven above or on the earth 
beneath or in the waters below.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them;
For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, 
punishing the children for the sins of the 
fathers to the third and fourth generations of 
those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand 
generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

I don't know, perhaps I am making too much of the 
connection, but I couldn't help but wonder if 
part of the reason that our society is so messed 
up today is because other things, such as flags, 
have replaced our love of the one true God in first place in our lives.

	Unfortunately, the veterans, in all this, won't 
hear our point because of their emotional 
commitment to the flag.  They see us in the same 
way as they saw the Viet Nam protestors of the 
60s and, to be truthful, it is hard for us to 
respect their commitment to Christ that they 
would be willing to break up community over 
this.  We have done services in the past honoring 
the veterans, but that doesn't seem to be remembered now.
Just pray for us Guys.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Kathy