Special message for our nation's 250th birthday...

What if I told you America was founded upon... a question?

Two hundred and fifty years ago today, America's Founding Fathers gathered to sign a document that began with these immortal words:

When in the course of human events...

And thus, our nation's grand experiment in liberty formally began.

This bold Declaration was rooted in our understanding of God-given rights, a firm rejection of man-driven tyranny, and a profound confession of mutual reliance on Providence and our fellow man.

It was an experiment that would put everything at risk and cost many of those men their lives, their fortunes and even their families.

Yet, at the heart of this Declaration and woven into the very fabric of America is a constant recognition that the future of our great nation is perpetually in the balance.

The continuing success of this great nation is determined by each generation's willingness to stand and sacrifice, and to re-answer the question of America's tenuous struggle for liberty.

Go here to request your exclusive pre-publication release of "America, Love Thyself"-- Grassfire's newest book and a clarion call to restore patriotism in our land.

+ + Our national question...

This tension between a nation's greatness and its inherent vulnerability can be seen in our National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."

A quick survey of most anthems finds much bravado and national pride. The English sing "God Save The Queen," a sentiment that did not play well on this side of the pond. "Advance Australian Fair" proclaims the anthem from "down under." Austrians sing about their "much praised" land as "Home to great daughters and sons."

"Beloved land amongst a thousand others," proclaim Brazilians. And our friends to the north sing, "True patriot love in all thy sons command." Even the world’s smallest country, Monaco, states in its anthem: "Forever, in our land, one flag has flown in the wind."

+ + America's unique anthem is actually... a question!

Yet, in arguably the most powerful and free land in the history of the world, a different anthem is offered.

After a night of intense fighting, Francis Scott Key peered into the "dawn's early light" to see if American troops had maintained control of Fort McHenry. The first stanza of his poem, which later became our anthem, posed an enduring question:

"Oh say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave, over the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

Instead of an anthem full of pride and inflated language about our greatness, Americans sing forth a national… question.

Every time our anthem is sung, that question goes forth: Will we survive the battles of the night? Will our flag of liberty under God still be raised at the dawn's early light?

Our national question is answered in the stanzas that follow, but it seems fitting that these words are not sung as our "anthem." Instead, at every formal gathering and every major sporting event, our national question goes forth: will we survive?

What kind of nation has the courage to pose a question in its national anthem? The greatest nation of them all!

This is why America is unique among nations. Yes, we can question. Yes, we challenge each other "in order to form a more perfect union." And yes, we acknowledge that the future destiny of our nation is always in question.

But we also know that God has given us a providential path -- His hand has guided us these past 250 years. And as a result we can look ahead with hope.

America's future is dependent upon the faithfulness, determination and dedication of patriot-citizens who are willing to look to God and answer the call, to stand for the anthem, and to boldly sing forth our national question, knowing that the answer depends on our commitment to liberty and our firm reliance on the Creator and each other.

Happy Independence Day!

Standing for life, liberty and limited government,

Steve Elliott, Grassfire

P.S. If you haven't done so, please request immediate access to my new book, America, Love Thyself, where I explore this theme in great depth and explain what is behind the "hate America" movement that is seeking to destroy our nation. Go here.

Go here to request your exclusive pre-publication release of "America, Love Thyself"-- Grassfire's newest book and a clarion call to restore patriotism in our land.

Also, here are the subsequent stanzas of the "Star-Spangled Banner" that answer America's national question posed in the first verse:

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! Thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!