Dear Friends,

Let me take the time to wish you all a very happy Independence Day.  I often joke around with my wife Jill that leaving here in the Boston area leaves me feeling “historically enriched.”  Standing on the Lexington Green battlefield and Concord’s North Bridge, do certainly do cause me to reminisce about those brave men of years gone by who gave their lives for the freedoms we now take for granted.

But I fear we have done just that, we have come to take our freedoms for granted.  The past few weeks, Jill and I have both been enjoying the HBO documentary on the life of John Adams (based on the David McCullough book).   At the same time, I have been reading through the Freedom Documents, a collection of patriotic, historic and stirring writings compiled by Pastor Chuck Baldwin (who also happens to be the Constitution Party Presidential Nominee).  I have come to the overwhelming conclusion that people just don’t think this way anymore.  We don’t think about freedom or liberty anymore.  We just assume we have it, even as we watch them slowly disappear.  Let me give you a few examples:

According to the National Right to Life, we have seen the execution of 48,589,993 unborn children since the infamous Roe V. Wade decision.  We allow millions on innocent children to be murdered every year, and we simply call it a choice.  Even though our Constitution recognizes the right to life and our Declaration of Independence refers to this right as unalienable, self-evident and given by God, our Supreme Court, our Congress, and politicians throughout the land callously ignore the screams of the dying.  We care about human rights violations in Darfur and China, but not about our own right to life here in our own nation.  And worst of all, we Christians who know the truth, have lost our sense of outrage at this heinous crime.  We have grown desensitized and have accepted abortion as a fact of life.  In the political realm, we have lost the desire to make this even an issue.  After all, we don’t want to be known as one-issue voters.  How sad…

What about taxes?  On our anniversary, Jill and I had the opportunity to take cruise around Boston Harbor.  We went right be the sight where many years ago brave patriots had staged the Boston Tea Party – a protest over the tax on tea and other related issues.   In our modern time, we have a much greater tax burden than the British government had ever dreamed of imposing upon the Colonies, yet we cannot even muster a whimper about it.  We now find ourselves in the position of having to report to Washington every dime of every dollar we earn, and exactly from where and how we earned it.  And if we make the slightest mistake, the government will throw us in jail or tax us again with heavy fines.  Apparently “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” does not apply to taxes and tax forms.  But again, where is the outrage?  Why are people not shouting from the rooftops?  We have ceased to care. 

Back in the days of our Founding Fathers, the prevailing thought was that in order for the people to enjoy liberty and freedom, their government must be small, limited and carefully watched.  Today, our federal government is a bloated bureaucracy that is utterly out of control.  We all complain about this, yet at the same time, we expect our government to feed us, cloth us, and provide us with health care.  If we fail to manage our money correctly, we expect the federal government to give us social security and take care of us completely in our old age.  We have grown completely dependant upon Washington to meet even our most basic of needs.  We have forgotten the words of Jefferson, “A government large enough to give you everything is a government large enough to take it all away.”

Even our right to vote is being taken away by the judiciary out of control.  The judiciary was intended merely to interpret the law, not to make it.  Separation of powers is one of the bedrocks of the Constitution.  Yet, we see today that just the opposite is true.  What cannot be accomplished through the ballot box is done through the court system.  Homosexual marriage is now legal in Massachusetts and California - not through enacted law from their state legislatures or by vote of the people, but through the courts.  Here in Massachusetts, our governor (Deval Patrick) begged state legislators not to allow the people to vote, though thousands signed a petition to do just that.  Patrick knew the will of the people and purposefully and deceitfully persuaded lawmakers to ignore it and contradict it.  He simply did not want the people to have their say or their vote. 

But then again, I don’t understand why Deval Patrick was even worried.  After all, Christians cannot be counted on to vote as Christians anyway.  Countless times I have been told that Christians must not infuse their faith into the political system.  Of course, we then go on to complain about how corrupt the political system is.    How can it be anything but corrupt if there is no Godly presence!  Many Christians want to divorce their faith entirely from the way they vote.  This is how someone like Pat Robertson can endorse Rudy Giuliani who supports the right of women to murder their unborn children.  We refuse to vote for anyone without an “R” beside their name, no matter what their stance.  When I ran for Congress last year, I was the ONLY pro-life candidate in the race.  However, very few people who AGREED with my views would support me.  Why?  They would not support me because I was the Constitution Party nominee, not the Republican Party nominee who was pro-death (i.e. “pro-choice”).  Their reasoning was clear – the Democrat was too dangerous to elect, so we will go with the lesser of two evils (even though there was a third choice whose views we could support).  Christians have sent the Republican Party a clear message – We will vote for whoever you nominate no matter what his views may be.  Do you really think this will encourage the GOP (or anyone else) to raise up candidates with clear moral stances? 

When we give up our vote, we give up our voice.  This really gets down to the point I would like to make in this whole article.  Somebody needs to say something!  We have remained silent far too long.  I love our country.  I thank the Lord each day that I live in America.  But, because I love this nation so much, I do not want it to decline - or even worse - face the same judgment as Sodom.  In the spirit of our fore fathers, Christians need to stand up.  It seems as though we have lost our will to fight.  We have lost our outrage.  Somebody needs to look at the world around us and say enough is enough!  If Christians cannot do this, who will?  Who are we waiting for?  Or, are we just content to let this nation continue its slide into further depravity?

Yes, I understand that one day this world will perish.  I understand that the mission of the Church is to not elect a candidate but to save souls.  But may I remind you that as our liberties continue to diminish, our freedom to preach the gospel also diminishes?  After World War II, Douglas McArthur asked missionaries to come to Japan as they would have a wonderful opportunity to witness there now.  I can recall in my own time, which as the Iron Curtain came down in the Soviet Union, we were excited about the chance to send in missionaries.  After the liberation of Iraq, many churches were quick to send in missionaries.  Freedom of speech in other lands is an opportunity.  But, can we then reason that as we loose our freedoms here, opportunities for gospel presentations may also diminish?  Would you rather preach in a free nation or in a “closed” nation? 

Speaking of missions, what about the support we send to those on the field each month?  I have a friend who is a missionary in Australia.  He finds himself in the odd position of losing much of his missionary support.  No church has stopped giving to him, and no church has reduced the amount they are sending.  Why is he loosing support then?  The dollar just is not what it used to be.  When we send him our dollars, they must first be exchanged.  As the dollar continues to lose value, my missionary friend receives less support through the exchange rate.  You see, the economy here in America has an effect on the foreign missionaries your church supports.

All of these issues are important.  In life, there is no division of secular and sacred.  God is sovereign over all areas of life, not just in church-related matters.  As Christians, we must take our stand, yes, even in the political arena.  John the Baptist was not afraid of preaching against Herod’s adultery, apparently no one told him to separate his religious views from his politic views.

Christians, take this Independence Day to reflect on what the Lord has called you to do for our nation.  Not everyone will be a preacher.  Not everyone will be a politician.  But everyone can make their voice known.  Yes, share the gospel with every creature.  Yes, do not be afraid to engage the culture around us!  Part of the gospel message is the recognition of sin.  Do not be afraid to point out the evils of our society, even if it means getting a little political. 

By the way, do not let anyone fool you into thinking we cannot win in the political arena.  I hear all the time that no matter what we do, Christians cannot win.  Did you know that Christians ar the only people who think they cannot win.  If Christians are not a true political force, than why does the media talk about the "Christian Right?"  If Christians cannot make a difference, then why is Barak Obama openly courting evangelicals?  Why John McCain trying to seem like more of a conservative?  Again, Christians are the only ones who think they cannot win.

We all admire our Founding Fathers, especially on occasions such as this.   We often cherish them not merely as statesmen, but as strong Christians with a great love of God.  We love to talk about our Christian heritage here in America.  But why do Christians cherish spirituality in 1776 and refuse to demand the same in 2008?  We had no problem in 1776 with mixing faith and politics, but in our modern day Christians discount the idea altogether. 

Christian, stand up and be counted.  Do not allow your voice to be silenced!  That it true legacy of our Founding Fathers.