Proud Patriot

I have struggled these last few weeks to come up with a good blog topic. It seems as though our world has toppled over. A few days ago, I was scrolling through Facebook. I saw a post, and as I read through it, the writer reminded me how much I love the United States of America. There is not another country that gives its citizens the rights and freedoms like America. I am proud to be an American.

In 1620, the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England. The Pilgrims were fleeing to the New World. They were being persecuted for religious reasons. On that boat was a man named John Howland. He indentured himself as a slave so that he could come to America. He is Clint’s ancestor. Jude is named for him.

The Pilgrims drafted the Mayflower Compact. It was the first document to establish self-government in the New World. The Compact begins by saying:

“Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith.”

In the 16th and 17th centuries, a group of Protestants fled to America due to religious persecution. Mine and Clint’s ancestors were among these Huguenots. George Washington was also a descendant of the Huguenots.

In 1774, colonists voiced their grievances against the crown of England at the First Continental Congress. They declared the rights due to every citizen, including life, liberty, property, assembly, and trial by jury. War broke out. Thomas Paine argued in Common Sense that independence was a natural right. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence. It begins:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

In 1787, the Constitution of the United States was established. It guaranteed certain basic rights for the citizens of America.

The founders of America were God-fearing men. They risked (and many lost) their lives for their country, so that their families and descendants could live in a country that was free—free from religious tyranny (the government telling them what they could and could not believe), free from the government limiting their rights as citizens (freedom of speech, the press, peaceful assembly, bearing arms (guns and weapons), speedy trials, voting).

What these people did, from the Pilgrims to the colonists to our founding fathers and beyond, was not based on simple ideologies. They were fighting for God-ordained rights.

Exodus 20 says:

“I am Yahweh, your God… there shall be for you no other gods before me.”

The founders of our country did not put America before God. Their ancestors fled to America because they were being persecuted for worshiping God. Every document the founders drafted magnified God as the Creator of every person. Clint and I want our children to know and love God, and we desire for them to live in a country that allows them to love and worship God freely. Our ancestors fought so that we can live in a country that allows us to worship God freely. This is not putting America before God.

God sovereignly ordains all things, including the leaders of countries—including the leaders of America. However, who has the right to vote? I do. You do. These officials do not hold all the power. God does. But who makes decisions in our country? The President, senators, representatives, governors, mayors, city council members. We vote for leaders who will continue to support the divine rights that our founders fought for—life, liberty, property. God uses our voting rights as a means to fulfill his sovereign plan on whom he appoints as President and other offices.

Purity and respect are important. I am thankful for leaders like President Trump who says things like this:

“Our Founders boldly declared that we are all endowed with the same divine rights—given [to] us by our Creator in Heaven. And that which God has given us, we will allow no one, ever, to take away—ever.”

To have a leader who acknowledges that God our Creator has given the same divine rights to everyone is a huge blessing.

Seeking to harm someone for stealing lunch money at school is an abuse of violence. The right to defend myself is not violent. Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 22:

“And the one who does not have a sword must sell his cloak and buy one.”

The right to bear arms and defend oneself is a God-given right. It is commanded by God.

How can one spread the gospel if we do not have the right to speak about God freely? We are blessed to live in a democracy. We are blessed to live in a country that gives us the rights and freedoms to worship and spread the gospel of our Lord.

God commands us to care for the widow and the orphan. He commands us to treat others with respect. I love supporting organizations that help those who are in need. Clint and I support two beautiful girls in Honduras. I have so many friends who adopt and foster children. I love volunteering my time to help in senior centers. I have friends who use their time to help other organizations. America has always welcomed immigrants. However, there is a difference between illegal immigrants who try to cut in line and legal immigrants who follow the law. There is a difference between allowing refugees to bring their anti-democracy ideologies into our country and using the blessings that God gives us to help them in their countries. There is a difference in being forced to hand out my hard-earned money to those who choose not to work.

God calls us to repent. We have been talking to Seth about repentance a lot. We look to the Law of God for the sins that we are to repent of. As a six-year-old, Seth has been struggling a lot with lying. We are calling on him to repent when he lies to us. We are not, however, telling him to repent of the sin of adultery. He is not married. He is not cheating on his spouse. He is not even thinking about having a wife right now. In the same way, why should someone feel the need to repent of a sin that they are not committing? Racism is the belief that another race is inherently inferior. If one does not believe that another race is inherently inferior, then why does that person feel compelled to repent? In our home, we believe in one race—the human race. The race through Adam. As the New Testament teaches, there is no Jew, no Greek, no barbarian—but there is one.

Life is precious. God created all life. But he created human life in his image—in the imago dei. Unborn children whose lives are snuffed out in the womb is murder, plain and simple. Killing animals just to be killing is certainly wrong, but not in the same way as killing a child. This is because the child is created in the image of God; the animal is not. Killing one animal to feed a family and thanking God for his provision is glorifying to God. Clint and I believe in taking care of the planet. For example, throwing away all the plastic bags that the grocery store is forcing me to take home right now (since the reusable bags have been banned) is irresponsible. It is not using the brain that God gave me. I can easily recycle those bags and glorify God with my choice.

What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. God’s inerrant Word tells me this. But what will happen if our country turns to socialism, communism, Marxism? I will not be allowed to have a Bible. I will not be allowed to read my Bible. I will not be allowed to teach my children the Bible. The Constitution of the United States gives me the freedom to worship God alone. It gives me the freedom to read Scripture. The Bible is my primary authority—but without the Constitution of the United States, we would not be free to have the Word of God in our possession.

Some are claiming that evangelicals have abandoned what their parents taught them. Maybe it is not that we have abandoned their teachings. Maybe it is that the ideologies that are infiltrating our great nation (socialism, communism, Marxism)—the nation that gives us the freedom to worship God—are attacking the minds of the citizens. It has recently been said:

“Our children are taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but that they were villains. The radical view of American history is a web of lies—all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted, and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition.”

I could not agree more.