Signs of the Times  

     "We find freedom when we find God; we lose it when we lose Him."
                                                                                     Paul Scherer

    "Man is created free, and is free, even though born in chains."
                                                                        Johann C. Friedrich von Schiller

      "God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard it."
                                                                                        Daniel Webster

       "A man without religion is like a beast without a bridle"
                                                                            Latin Proverb



      "Shout it aloud, do not hold back,
     Raise your voice like a trumpet.
       Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the house of Jacob their sins.
      For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know My ways,
      as if they were a nation that does
                     what is right
          and has not forsaken the
                  commands of its God.
     They ask me for just decisions
        and seem eager for God to come
            near them.
    'Why have we fastd,' they say,
         'and you have not seet it?'
    'Why have we humbled ourselves,
        'and you have not noticed?'

    "Yet on the day of your fasting, you
         do as you please,
      and exploit all your workers.
     Your fasting ends in quarreling
              and strife,
     and in striking each other with
           wicked fists,
    You cannot fast as you do today
        and expect your voice to be heard
              on high.
     Is this the kind of fast I
          have chosen,
    only a day for a man to humble
              himself?
     Is it only for bowing one's head
           like a reed
    and for lying on sackcloth
              and ashes?
     Is that what you call a fast,
        a day acceptable to the Lord?

    "Is not this kind of fasting I
           have chosen:
    to loose the chains of injustice
       and untie the cords of the yoke,
    to set the oppressed free
         and break every yoke?
   Is it not to share your food
       witht he hungry,
    and to provide the poor wanderer
      with shelter--
   when you see the naked, to
      clothe him,
   and not to turn away from your
       own flesh and blood?

   "Then your light will break forth like
         the dawn,
     and your healing will quickly
        appear;
   then your righteousness will
       go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be
       your rear guard.
  Then you will call and the Lord
      will answer;
   you will cry for help, and He will
       say, 'Here am I.

   "If you do away with the yoke
          of oppression,
   with the pointing finger, and
       malicious talk,
   and if you spend yourselves in
     behalf of the hungry
     and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
   then your light will rise in the
           darkness,
    and your night will become like
         the noonday.

   "The Lord will guide you always;
         He will satisfy your needs in a
              sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
   You will be like a well-watered
         garden,
   like a spring whose waters
           never fail.
   Your people will rebuild the
          ancient ruins
   and will raise up the age-old
          foundations;
   you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
     Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

   "If you keep your feet from breaking
         the Sabbath
   and from doing as you please on
             My holy day
    If you call the Sabbath a delight
       and the Lord's day honorable,
  and if you honor it by not going
      your own way
   and not going as you please or
      speaking idle words,
   then you will find your joy in
      the Lord,
   and I will cause you to ride on the
        heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of
       your father Jacob."
               THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HAS SPOKEN