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Is America Truly Free?

Updated on July 4, 2016

"Freedom is Rare and Fragile

As I begin to write this article it is the 4th of July and the United States is celebrating it's 240th birthday. It is true that freedom isn't free and there have been many sacrifices throughout those years to keep our nation the strong beacon of liberty that it was created to be by our founding fathers.

And it is at this same time that we need to reflect upon what it means to be truly free. For, whether we know it or not, freedom is rare in history. It is like a candle in the wind whose flame can be easily blown out unless protected and cared for by those who enjoy its benefits. It must be carefully defended against the storms of tyranny that would seek to extinguish it and bring its possessors back into the darkness of slavery once again.

Most of human history is full of the slavery of the masses by a select few rich and powerful people who control it all. Whether it be the the pharaohs of Egypt, the various kings in different lands, the feudal lords of the medieval times, or a number of evil dictators, there are people who have had the power over the masses and did everything they could devise to keep it to themselves.

Each generation of Americans must protect the flame and fight the war that will inevitably arise in their time to snuff out the light forever on this earth. The war rages large today and there are at least three fronts from which we are being attacked. Any one of these will blow out the candle and bring us back into bondage. They may or may not be the only ones we have to be concerned about. However, they are certainly the greatest we have today. They are the financial, the political and the spiritual fronts, with the spiritual being the most dangerous threat of all. For ultimately this war is a fight to the death for the lives and souls of all mankind.

I. The Financial Front

It is no secret that the United States Government is in massive debt. The stated figure of 19 trillion dollars is nearly incalculable. This means that the precious money that could go to any number of needed areas in this country is going to service the debt. Also, if things keep going the way that they are, either a default on the loans is inevitable, or the money supply will become so inflated as to be worthless. Could another Great Depression be far behind?

Sadly, the individual American isn't much better off. The average consumer credit card debt is set to reach the 1 trillion dollar mark this year. With the interest rates as high as they are and so many people only paying minimums, that means that many will never know a day when they won't have to pay a monthly sum of their money just for items they probably don't have anymore. The Bible tells us that: "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the slave to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7). We are not truly free if we are forced to go to work every day just to pay for debt.

And it gets much worse. The average auto loan is $30, 738.00. The average student loan balance is 31,646.00. And the average mortgage debt is $147,591.00. Further, rather than encouraging the consumer to pay down debts, we are living in a society where we are encouraged to get more and more things with money we haven't even made yet. All while only 59% of Americans have $500.00 or more in savings. Once again, we are not free. We are in the chains caused by our own debt load.

II. Political Front

I never thought that I'd live to see the day when an avowed socialist would even get the time of day from the American people, let alone be a viable candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. We have such a something- for- nothing mentality in our country today that we are forgetting that somebody always pays. And to give the government such power over our lives, from healthcare to gun control, is to beg to be moved closer and closer to tyranny. We fought a revolution against a ruler who wanted to control our every move and now we're inviting the tyrant back to be our master again.

For those unfamiliar with socialism it is characterized by social ownership (read government) and democratic control of the means of production. In other words it takes the control out of the hands of private individual citizens, or private groups. It is much more complicated than that but the bottom line is that it ultimately makes us slaves to the state despite its Utopian theories that tell us just the opposite.

Socialism has never worked anytime in the history of the world. It has always lead to economic disaster. It reminds me of the Old Testament book of I Samuel when the people of Israel had no king. In I Samuel 8 they asked for someone to rule over them like all the other nations. Samuel tried to warn them about all of the bad things that a king would do to them. However, the people wouldn't listen. They just had to be like everyone else in the world (I Samuel 8:4-20).

And they paid the consequences for their foolish decision. If we keep going down this path, we will pay as well.

III. The Spiritual Front

When it comes right down to it, all the attackers of our freedom are winning because we are giving up so much ground in the area of the spiritual front. In Ephesians 6:12 Paul tells us this:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

So when we are fighting this battle, our enemy isn't a bad President, Congress or even a Supreme Court. We are fighting Satan and his emissaries for the minds and souls of the American people.

From the very beginning our country was founded upon the Judeo-Christian idea of one God who is the sovereign over the whole universe from whom we derive our liberties. Even one of our founding documents states:

"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,"

Yet in 2016 we see a society that, in the name of "diversity", is moving God out of public life. From the 1960's ban on prayer in public schools, to the legal challenges to the displays of Nativity Scenes or the Ten Commandments, we are seeing God being told to go to the back of the bus.

We are also seeing this in the abandoning of the biblical ideas of what makes up a family and in the killing of children in the womb. America is doing what is right in its own eyes rather than having any standard whatsoever to judge what is right and wrong.

As all these things are happening, sadly, our young people, as a whole, are not being influenced by the Church. Less and less are attending organized services and are becoming less and less "religious." A recent Pew poll shows that the average age of those who attend protestant churches in America is 52. It is 49 for Catholics. We are clearly on the verge of losing a whole generation of people to the world. Which means that America's future does not look good.

What is influencing them? The secular media: television, the movies, video games etc. All these are forms of brainwashing by those, who for the most part, are using these forms of media to get across their unbiblical points of view. And it appears to be working.

In the process our children are also losing the chance that we had to grow up in, what at one time was a standard bearer for freedom throughout the world. We are like the proverbial frog in the kettle of water who is having the heat slowly turned up until he inevitably boils to death. As the Psalmist says, we are perishing for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). We have a lack of knowledge of the God who makes us free, and of His laws that make a society work.

Conclusion

The only answer for America is a revival. We need every God-fearing person in this land to pray that a Supernatural moving of the Lord's Spirit will take place. I don't believe necessarily that our greatest days are behind us. Revivals have taken place in the past due to a few godly men and women beseeching the Lord on their hands and knees. It is my prayer that a stirring of the Lord will happen again in this great land of the free and home of the brave. The world needs a new beacon of freedom, shining out to all and calling them to share in this wonderful liberty that only comes to those who know the Author of that liberty. May God make it so in our generation!

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