For July 4th, we had a guest speaker at church. His message was centered around the religious liberties we have in our country and where they came from. I took five pages of notes. It was definitely a learning event. The question is “How do I play my part in what comes next?”
I was never interested in a history degree, nor do I watch many shows about it. However, I read many hundreds or thousands of books growing up and I spent a fair amount of time reading biographies and books on history along the way. Based on that, I have an appreciation for history and our need to learn from it. The old goal is to avoid repeating it. As with the premise that the winner writes history and the lesson only has value when it is learned, you just cannot fix stupid.
And to clarify, really smart people are not immune to being really stupid.
The first piece I learned was that Virginia’s charter from 1606 covered everything from the South of South Carolina to Maine, i.e., what become most of the original 13 colonies/states. The purpose of Virginia was to spread the gospel. I doubt the haters want to give that any credence.
Much of the following parts of the talk were the examples of individuals contributing to the establishment of the various principles in the first amendment within the British system the US had rebelled against. The ideas of no state religion, freedom to worship as individuals, ideals on freedom in the declaration, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, freedom to sue the government, and such. Each was an example of how the battles against Satan can be.
The last bit was an outline of what the progressive movement stands for. Somehow, I doubt the Progressives actually print the five parts he listed for all to see clearly, but the common goal is to make government more powerful and people less so.
The warning of the talk was that Satan is acting through these people to destroy Christians and the Christian ideals behind the liberties in our country. The progressive caucus is actively doing so right now in the US Congress, and it will take God’s power to stem the tide.
My basic responsibilities are the same as yours: Pray for our country, vote for candidates who promise to uphold God’s ideals, learn about the candidates to know when they speak the language of Satan, and watch for further opportunities.
Some people are called to pay enough attention to know who is in the primaries. Some people are called to help get people to run and onto the ballot. Some are called to run and be on the front lines. Some are called to go to a Christian law school and learn how to battle in the legal system. Some are called to give to their cause.
I do not know yet how my response will be different going forward, but I realize the war against Christ will continue until Satan is chained. Our enemy is not one that we can go out and kill. But his army is one that we can go out and conquer with truth and love. Love your neighbor and tell them The Truth.