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