Barack Obama's Second Inaugural Speech

Here's the full text of President Barack Obama's second inauguration address, courtesy of the White House:

"Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names.

What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.

For more than two hundred years, we have.

Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.

Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers.

Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.

Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, are constants in our character.

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people.

This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.

For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.
That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time.

For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction – and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride.

They are the words of citizens, and they represent our greatest hope.
You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.
You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.

Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.
Thank you, God Bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America.

The Dream Is Yet Alive

Martin Luther King Jr. did not say "I had a dream". he said "I Have a Dream". Pres. Barack Obama is not the "Dream", nor the answer to that dream, he is part of that dream. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Dream" is (present tense) not about a race, it is about the (human) race. Until we fulfill racial equality throughout the entire world, let alone the Unites States of America, that dream is yet to be fulfilled. .

Until we live in a nation where we will not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character.

"The Dream" is yet alive.

Until every valley be exalted, every hill and mountain be made low, the rough places made straight and the glory of the Lord be revealed and all flesh see it together.

"The Dream" is yet alive.

Until the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.

"The Dream" is yet alive.

Until we as a people will get to the promised land!

"The Dream" is yet alive.

"The Dream" starts with God as revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ. Through a relationship with Him, we can be agents of healing in a world that is sick with racial and ethnic conflict.

Elder J. A. Vázquez

What is your "ONLY GOD"?

Without actually quoting scripture, we all have an "Only God" faith, trust, reliance, confidence, credence or belief that we live by. Tupac Shakur once penned the phrase, "Only God Can Judge Me Now". My personal faith, trust, reliance, confidence, credence or belief is "Only God can turn a Mess into a Message, a Test into a Testimony, a Trial into a Triumph, a Victim into a Victory. What is your mantra? Better yet... What is your personal "Only God" faith, trust, reliance, confidence, credence or belief?

Think on these things...

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

The theme of Paul's epistle to the Philippians is that the key to experiencing joy in your heart is to have the right thoughts in your mind. So how are we to think? Here's how: Think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy.

Even spiritual men and women become discouraged. You can see it in their eyes. And they wonder why. It's because they've been thinking thoughts that are not true and honest and lovely and good and pure. They stared at David Letterman before they went to bed, and they wonder why they wake up grumpy. If you are prone to depression, do not watch late-night TV. You'll wake up with a cynicism about life, a tainted twisted perspective on life. Instead, fill your mind with the goodness of God and the wealth of His Word, and, like Paul, you'll awake with a song in your soul.

The Blessings For Blessing The Lord.

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1

God promises great blessings to his people but many of these blessings require active participation.

He will
set us free from our fears (Psalm 34:4),
deliver us from trouble (Psalm 34:6),
guard and defend us (Psalm 34:7),
show us goodness (Psalm 34:8),
supply our needs (Psalm 34:9),
listen when we call to him (Psalm 34:15),
and redeem us (Psalm 34:22),
but we must do our part.

We can
appropriate his blessings when we seek him (Psalm 34:4, 10);
cry out to him (Psalm 34:6, 17);
trust him (Psalm 34:8);
fear him (Psalm 34:9);
refrain from lying (Psalm 34:13);
turn from evil, do good, and search for peace (Psalm 34:14);
are brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18);
and serve him (Psalm 34:22).”

Its conditional. Some blessings come with a price and in order to receive it we have to be willing to go through in order to get to.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Joyful Noise

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Psalm 100:1

The worship we give to the Lord and the work we do for Him must always be done with gladness. When I look around, I realize the men I most respect are men who serve the Lord. When I look ahead, I realize that anything I do—even if it’s nothing more than offering a cup of cold water in the Lord’s name—will be rewarded (Matthew 10:42). When I look back, I realize the enemy attacks the people at the back of the pack—those who aren’t serving the Lord (Deuteronomy 25:18). Therefore, the best place to be is in the front lines, serving the Lord wholeheartedly.

THE GREATEST

If John 3:16 was the only word we had from God, it would be enough. Put your name in the middle of it and get ready for excitement now and eternal life forever. Thanks, Father, You did it. We believe it.

GOD CAN

And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. Luke 13:11, 12

After you have analyzed your condition and understood its origin, it will take the authority of God’s Word to put the past under your feet! Although the problem may be rooted in the past, the prescription is a present Word from God! The Word you hear today will heal your yesterday!

GIVING & RECEIVING

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38

Notice, the word says, "shall man give unto yo", God is blessing the givers to also receive. As much as you give, as much or more will be given back unto you in return. Its a win-win situation. Therefore, let us all start this new year that was not promised by giving as much as possible to those who are in need. And in the midst of blessing others by doing the possible, God in turn will take care of what we see as the impossible in our lives.

Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back--given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.

THUG LIFE

Thugs are seen as strong, hard, roughneck, they want some thug love. Some even call themselves and their friends by something (dog) less than what God created us to be. Be mindful that behind some thugs story there is a tragic stories of rejection and opposition.

But we serve a God who specializes in taking a thug and straightening him out. God can take those who rejected you and even the ones who opposed you to set the stage for promotion that would not have taken place unless you had had those rejections and oppositions. Trust me, I know... He did it for me and I know wholeheartedly that He can do it for you too.

I Will Bless The LORD

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalms 34:1

take a close look at David’s determination. He says, "I will bless the LORD." The word "bless" means "to confer happiness or prosperity upon another." When we bless the Name of the LORD, we're actually giving Him praise, worshiping Him, glorifying Him, honor Him, exalt Him, magnify Him. Doing so, pleases Him.

It’s amazing to think that we actually have the ability to bring happiness and prosperity to the God of the universe. Yet He genuinely enjoys hearing our praise. We are those who have been blessed by the LORD. But we also have the ability to bless Him back.

In this New Year (New Season) that was not promised to us, lets used the gifts and talents that God has molded into His ministry (not ours) through us to make a difference in someone else's life. Lets give Him the glory by realizing that no ministry belong to man but to God. Let that gift that God has blessed us with in order to bless His people, burn with the passion that blesses & pleases Him.

What You Shall Become

...Do not fear, from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. Daniel 10:12

The enemy is trying to steal, kill, and destroy you not because of what you are but now but because of what he knows you shall become through Christ Jesus.

We all have goals, dreams, and visions in life. We pray about them and try to hold fast to them, because with faith in Jesus we know they will come to pass. And, when they do, it is the most wonderful feeling. A dream becoming reality, a prayer answered, and our faith in God strengthened even more.

Relax, My dear brothers & sisters in Christ, 'don't be afraid to let your request be made known (Philippians 4:6). Just as God heard Daniels prayers the very moment he humbled himself to receive understanding, your prayers will be heard as well the very moment you do the same.

Another year of success and happiness has passed. With every new year, comes greater challenges and obstacles in life. I wish you courage, hope and faith to overcome all the hurdles you face. May you have a great year and a wonderful time ahead. God bless you.