Faith and Freedom

from last year's Fourth

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." -John 8: 34-36

That freedom is what means the most to me.  Jesus Christ, by his life, death, and resurrection, has set me free forever from my slavery to sin.  As a result, I am now a child of my heavenly Father, and I have the promise of eternal life.

This freedom is one that will never be taken from me.  It will never be altered by human laws.  It will never change based on human whim.  It will never have conditions placed upon it.  It is mine, given to me by God, and I can trust that completely.

I live in a country where we treasure our freedoms.  We have fought hard and many have died to keep those freedoms we hold dear.  A day is coming when we won't have all those freedoms that so many worked so hard to earn and keep.  These human freedoms are the kind that won't always be guaranteed.  They are freedoms we may have to fight, once again, to have.  These are not freedoms I trust.

I am thankful for them.  They help make my life what it is.  God has used the laws of this country for good, and he will continue to do so.  Today I celebrate all the good that America is.

But I will never forget the perfection that is my God.

Lift every voice and sing

Till earth and heaven ring,

Ring with the harmonies of liberty.

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the listening skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun

Of our new day begun,

Let us march on till victory is won.

-"Lift Every Voice and Sing," stanza 1, James Weldon Johnson