Days of Noah

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

[Galatians 5:1]

I can only name a few things in life that are worth dying for.

Protecting my loved ones, family and friends.

Defending the most vulnerable and innocent.

Bearing witness for my Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly died for me!

And finally, preserving my God-given freedom.

Freedom is our innate gift from Almighty God and essential for life itself. For a life that is not free is not life at all. Without freedom, I am unable to protect the ones I love, defend the weak, or speak the truth of the gospel. Without freedom, I all but cease to be human — becoming a beast of burden under the heavy yoke of slavery.

Anyone who has an appreciation for the freedom that has been bestowed upon this land can plainly see that a monumental shift is taking place in our nation. The steady and systematic grab for power has slowly eaten away at our individual freedoms, as we have traded our civil liberties for comfort, convenience, safety and security. How quickly we have been willing to give up the invaluable treasure of freedom to gain fleeting pleasures.

In one sense, the deterioration of the United States of America should not be a surprise. All great empires are born out of great sacrifice and courage, which then leads to an era of great prosperity and wealth. But inevitably, prosperity grows into entitlement and entitlement into complacency and complacency into apathy. Eventually, it is the apathy that allows power-hungry men to step in and assume control over the masses, enslaving them in the chains of their own indifference.

Before you know it, a once free nation has become a slave state. A once strong nation has become weak and vulnerable. Inevitably, all great nations rise and fall by following such a path, and America is not different.

Consider how much has changed in America in just the past 20 years.

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the government convinced us that it was necessary to spy on its own people for counter-terrorism purposes. Ironically, this new “Patriot Act,” has been used for gross government overreach, surveillance, and invasion of privacy. Politicians will never waste a crisis, and 9/11 was the perfect scenario to justify taking away our freedom for the “greater good.”

Fast forward to the present Covid-19 crisis. Once again, the powers that be have taken full advantage of a fearful and confused population with massive power grabs and gross disregard for civil liberties.

We have seen unconstitutional executive orders shut down the economy and destroy small business.

We have seen health departments and federal health agencies become acting dictators, legislating from their self-appointed place of authority.

We have seen school boards and teacher’s unions deny children basic education and much needed social interaction.

We have seen both private companies and government agencies mandate experimental vaccinations upon their employees.

We have seen private businesses and entire cities impose vaccination passports likened to Nazi Germany and communist Russia, who were masters at creating sub-classes of citizens to maintain control over the “non-compliant.”

We have seen hospitals deny patients their basic human right of having family advocates by their side in their most difficult time of need.

And to top it all off, we have seen the most aggressive, systematic shut down of free speech in history, as Big Tech companies have appointed themselves as the arbiters of truth by censoring anything and everything they deem to be “false” or “misleading.” Only the information that fits the accepted social narrative is allowed. Just ask the citizens of China and North Korea how that has worked out for them.

Only God knows what freedoms they will come for next. Man’s lust for power knows no end. They are not going to stop unless we make them. It’s time we remind these self-serving bureaucrats that they serve us. Not the other way around! Somewhere along the way they have forgotten that because we have let them get away with it for so long. The government does not give us our rights. God does!

Having said all of this, I only have one question.

Where do we go from here?

Either the American people will wake up and stand up and speak out and fight for their constitutional and God-given freedoms, or soon America will no longer be free. That is an America not worth living in, not for me or my children.

As Thomas Paine said, “I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace.”

But like the generation of patriots that first stared in the face of tyranny and stood firm for this freedom, it will take tremendous faith and courage and sacrifice for our generation to reclaim what is rightfully ours. It will not be easy. It will not be comfortable. It may cost us more than we can imagine.

But in the end, it is worth it. Freedom is always worth fighting for! Whether that fight is at the voting polls, in the marketplace of ideas, or God forbid on the battlefield, it is fight that must be fought.

I will leave you with some famous words of a courageous patriot, Patrick Henry, who understood how essential freedom was to his generation. I pray that our generation will have the same courage to preserve our God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave … Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

[Patrick Henry to the Virginia General Assembly — March 23, 1775]