Celebrate Freedom!

This July 4th, I celebrate freedom.

I hear some clamoring for more freedom -- freedom to exercise their "rights"; freedom to have their "rights" met; and freedom to do whatever they want without fear of guilt, disdain, or punishment. But this is not freedom. This purported "freedom" is in fact, a cry for anarchy! If everyone could do whatever they wanted chaos would reign, then yield its throne to tyranny. This is not freedom. I celebrate something quite different this July 4th.

I celebrate freedom from things which I have never experienced. Things which I had heard about, but had never understood.

I celebrate freedom of religion. I am thankful that I can worship God in my own way. I have been freed from a state - yes, even international - church, whose priest is greater than any king. I am free from religious persecution if I happen to choose a different doctrine than the one imposed by this tyrannic church. I do not have to face torture and death from the church if I belong to a different denomination.

I celebrate freedom of press. I am thankful that I am allowed to print and read all the truth. I have been freed from a regulated and dictated media. I am free to read for myself in my own language. I do not have to go to someone who can read, who must tell me how and what to think. The Bible is in my language. I can read it, and it is not a capital crime.

I celebrate freedom of speech. I am thankful that I am allowed to speak my mind. I have been freed from a systematic destruction of opposition. I am free to speak out and oppose that which I do not agree with. I do not have to fear losing my property, my position, or my life because I spoke against a ruler.

My freedom is so complete, that I cannot even understand nor comprehend what my ancestors had to endure. Oppression of that degree is so far gone it is but a story. I have been freed from the tryanny and oppresion; from even the memory and lingering fear.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to those who freed me from tyranny.

This July 4th, perhaps for the first time, I am beginning to understand what liberty means. I am beginning to love and appreciate those who died, so that I might be freed from tyranny. I celebrate their victory. I celebrate America.
I celebrate freedom.


If you want something to be thankful for this July 4th, read Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22400/22400-h/22400-h.htm#Page_57

"... they slew of all ranks and conditions to the number of 10,000. The bodies were thrown into the rivers, and blood ran through the streets with a strong current, and the river appeared presently like a stream of blood. So furious was their hellish rage, that they slew all papists whom they suspected to be not very staunch to their diabolical religion. From Paris the destruction spread to all quarters of the realm. . . .
"At Augustobona, on the people hearing of the massacre at Paris, they shut their gates that no protestants might escape, and searching diligently for every individual of the reformed church, imprisoned and then barbarously murdered them."

"When the reformed religion began to diffuse the gospel light throughout church, he accordingly instituted a number of inquisitors, or persons who were to make inquiry after, apprehend, and punish, heretics, as the reformed were called by the papists."
"The principal accusation against those who are subject to this tribunal is heresy, which comprises all that is spoken, or written, against any of the articles of the creed, or the traditions of the Roman church . . . and of such who read the bible in the common language . . . ."
"Upon all occasions the inquisitors carry on their processes with the utmost severity, and punish those who offend them with the most unparalleled cruelty. A protestant has seldom any mercy shown him, and a Jew, who turns christian, is far from being secure. . . .
"A defence in the inquisition is of little use to the prisoner, for a suspicion only is deemed sufficient cause of condemnation . . . ."
"A prisoner in the inquisition is never allowed to see the face of his accuser , or of the witnesses against him ..."

"A. D. 1546, Peter Chapot brought a number of bibles in the French tongue to France, and publicly sold them there; for which he was brought to trial, sentenced, and executed a few days afterward."

The Social Christianity Phenomenon; Happy with 75% Losses?

It's something called "Social Christianity." Riddled with questions like, "I know the most important thing is to love God. So if I love God while I'm sinning, it's ok, right?", this weak version of Christianity replaces a personal dynamic relationship with God with a social community relationship. If the peer group is Christian, so is the person in question. Instead of the Bible as the final authority, Social Christianity looks to friends to find the answers. The relationship with God is reduced to a "friend" or "buddy" level, effectively dethroning God and making Him "one of the guys."

Personal dissastisfaction with this adjusted version of Christianity is rampant, often leading its members to abandon all faith, and causing its adversaries to scorn its hypocrisy, emptiness, and immorality. Social Christianity has a security similar to a house of cards, with each holding the other. But it only takes a small wind to drop them all.
Leading experts report that upon studying in a secular college, up to 75% of Christian youth abandon their faith, never to return. (1) Did their house of cards collapse?

One analyst claims to have discovered the cure. "True Christianity is a dynamic relationship with an almightly God. Instead of a dependance upon friends, the Christian answers directly to God. The Bible - God's Word - is the final authority, not a discussion starter. Knowledge is granted by the Holy Spirit, as is the power and strength to live above sin.
It is so radically independent that many True Christians have been known to hold their faith even when every friend abandoned them and turned away. Some have gone so far as to die for their faith. (2) They were changed, and they were strong."

Social Christianity is expected to continue its rapid growth despite the rampant loss from members denying all faith. Rev. Isaiah Azariah lamented, "The only thing that will stop it is revival or persecution."


(1) Steve Henderson, A Question of Price Versus Cost. http://www.christianconsulting.net/statistics/CT3-06.pdf

(2) Foxe's Book of Martyrs. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22400/22400-h/22400-h.htm
Jesus Freaks. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1577780728/tnsanet-20

Reason to Obey

I liked this -

"There are some general principles in which we both agree—
1) That there is a God; and

2) that this God having given us some stated general rules for our service and obedience,
2a) we ought not willingly and knowingly to offend Him, either by neglecting to do what He has commanded, or by doing what He has expressly forbidden. . . .

3) that the blessing of God does not ordinarily follow presumptuous sinning against His command; and

Thus) every good Christian will be affectionately concerned to prevent any that are under his care living in a total neglect of God and His commands."

The French Clergyman,
The Further Adventures of Robin Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
Chapter 6

A fine argument giving a very practical reason for following the commands of God.
Now, this will not make you a Christian. But it's sound reasoning for Christians to attend unto obedience!

"Grey Area"

Sometimes when a person rejects the Christian faith, it is pretty obvious that they are no longer following the Lord. One may do what they know is wrong, as a rebellious act of clear defiance.
But most often, we find ourselves concerned about someone because we just don't know where they are. They haven't clearly stepped over a line, but neither do they seem to be doing well spiritually. Sometimes, the person doesn't even know themselves. Often, people in this state will call themselves Christians, even after they seem to have long since abandoned God. How does this happen? Can it happen to us? Would we notice if it did?


There is a large piece of ground between heaven and hell. "Grey Area" is a dry and trackless wasteland, without signposts, landmarks, or boundary lines. It is very difficult to know where you are and whose side you are on. It is not like walking off a cliff and falling into sin (like most people fear, and like our first case, above). It is like wandering without any sense of direction. You can walk right into sin, and not even know it. By the time you recognize a landmark, you may find that you are a hundred miles inside the enemy camp.
By choosing to live in Grey Area, you are choosing to live without the knowledge of right and wrong. It may seem like freedom, but you've sacrificed knowledge. We often like to think that God doesn't know where the line is either, so it's safe to be out there. But if we don't know where we are until we finally see a landmark, whose landmark do you think we will see? It's the temptation that Christian faced in "Pilgrim's Progress" when he saw a green path that ran "parallel" to the road. He didn't know the path soon disappeared and left him without direction. Grey Area doesn't make you right, it makes you lost.
Many of us want to live in Grey Area, for we do not like the idea that God will judge us for our actions. We feel we are safe out there, because we cannot fall into sin. There are no cliffs; there is no danger. We are outside the clear voice of God, and outside the reach of Satan. It's a safe middle-of-the-road. But friends, if we are outside the voice of God, how will we hear when He calls His children home?

Do you know for sure that how you are living is right?


“Grant me, O Lord, the grace to know what should be known, to praise what is most pleasing to You, to esteem that which appears most precious to You, and to abhor what is unclean in Your sight.” -- Thomas a Kempis (Imitation of Christ, p. 236)

"Let a man but have so much piety as to intend to please God in all the actions of his life, as the happiest and best thing in the world." -- William Law (A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, Chapter 2)


Important Note:
*There is a difference between observing others in a "grey area," and choosing to be there personally. I strongly encourage you to personally stay out of grey areas. Choose to live the way you know for sure is right. If you don't know for sure, stay clear away from it!
On the other hand, I encourage you to have grace with others you observe. Just because you don't know if they are right doesn't mean they don't know. Don't announce that they are going to hell. We are to hold each other accountable and spur one another on in the faith. Ask if they know for sure what they are doing is right. Point them to God's Word as the boundaries and signposts for our lives. Exhort them to a life that abandons grey area in favor of right living. All of us, in any spiritual state, need to hear that exhortation.

Do we worship our own religion?

I find it strange that we think we are so pious. Why, we go out of our way for God. We declare how devoted we are to Him.
We do anything and everything, except obey Him.

We don't keep the Lord's Day, and we don't pay tithe, but we get a Christian tattoo to declare our devotion to God.
Is this really pious?

Exodus 31:15-16, NKJV
15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.

Malachi 3:8-9, NKJV
“Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.
You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.

Leviticus 19:28, NKJV
28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.



1 Samuel 15:22, NKJV
22 So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

I fear that instead of being pious, we are all too often disobedient, going our own way, and wearing a placard of the name of Christ to make us feel better.

When we do not obey, how can we say we are devoted?

God, Thanks For All You Do For Us

"God, thanks for all you do for us. We're so grateful to you. You're doing a really great job being God --the Servant-- and all. I thank you and praise your name! By the way, I've got a couple of things I'd like you to take care of. If you could get those done by dinner, that would be great. Help us today, Lord. Amen"

Why don't we come to God and ask, "How can I be your servant today?"