5 min read

March 24, 2023

Happy Birthday to my favorite sister, Deana. She’s my favorite, because she’s my only sister. Hope it’s a good one.

Fanning the Flames of Patriotism

Samuel Adams, one of America’s great Founders - who being dead yet speaks - has a message for those who think the church should stay out of government affairs:

“Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty."(1)

Sadly, many Americans today are clueless as to the true stakes of the war for America’s soul. Having never been under the control of despots and dictators, and never having had to fight a war for liberty, all they know is the propaganda of communist professors, leftist politicians, and their dishonest media arm. Xi and Putin would love to enlighten them.

Admittedly, Adams was occasionally harsh, but then again, there was no time in his day for niceties and beating around the bush. For example, he said to those afraid to fight for our independence:

“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"(2)

Think he might have been censored? Perhaps. But we can thank he and other determined patriots for pledging their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” to purchase the freedom we now enjoy. Their understanding of the times, intellectual strength, and commitment to the cause of freedom would be helpful today. May God give us more Samuel Adams.

Ronald Reagan also understood what was at stake. Here are portions of a campaign speech he gave for Barry Goldwater, entitled A Time for Choosing. Though somewhat lengthy they are so good and so appropriate for today, I couldn’t bring myself to cut it down any further. Do yourself a favor and read the entire speech. You’ll not only be inspired; you’ll also ask God to give us more Ronald Reagans:

“…Well, I think it's time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers.

“Not too long ago, two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, ‘We don't know how lucky we are.’ And the Cuban stopped and said, ‘How lucky you are? I had someplace to escape to.’ And in that sentence, he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth…

“…If we continue to accommodate, continue to back and retreat, eventually we have to face the final demand—the ultimatum. And what then—when Nikita Khrushchev [Leader of the Soviet Union at the time] has told his people he knows what our answer will be? He has told them that we're retreating under the pressure of the Cold War, and someday when the time comes to deliver the final ultimatum, our surrender will be voluntary, because by that time, we will have been weakened from within spiritually, morally, and economically. He believes this because from our side, he's heard voices pleading for ‘peace at any price’ or ‘better Red than dead,’ or as one commentator put it, he'd rather ‘live on his knees than die on his feet.’

“…those voices don't speak for the rest of us,” Reagan stated. Continuing, he said:

“You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. If nothing in life is worth dying for, when did this begin - just in the face of this enemy? Or should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Should Christ have refused the cross? Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard 'round the world? The martyrs of history were not fools, and our honored dead who gave their lives to stop the advance of the Nazis didn't die in vain. Where, then, is the road to peace? Well, it's a simple answer after all.

“You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, ‘There is a price we will not pay.’ ‘There is a point beyond which they must not advance.’ And this - this is the meaning in the phrase of Barry Goldwater's ‘peace through strength.’ Winston Churchill said, ‘The destiny of man is not measured by material computations. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we're spirits - not animals.’ And he said, ‘There's something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.’

“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.

“We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.”(3)

A good dose of patriotic quotes always charges my batteries. When feeling really crusty, I read a few of Patton’s. Or, perhaps of Lewis Morris. When his half-brother tried to warn him against signing the Declaration because of the potential cost, Morris replied, “Damn the consequences. Give me the pen!”(4) I’m sure he and Adams got along quite nicely.

We have promises from God that He will save our nation and restore our purpose. Our cause is worthy. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1Corinthians15:58 NASB)

I leave you with one more quote from Samuel Adams, from a letter of encouragement written to James Warren. Warren had lamented the fact that many colonists were unwilling to involve themselves in the cause of liberty. Writing to Adams he said, “I shall not fail to exert myself to have as many towns as possible meet, but fear the bigger part of them will not. They are dead; and the dead can’t be raised without a miracle.”(5)

Adam’s response, in part: “Nil desperandum - Never Despair. That is a motto for you and me. All are not dead; and where there is a spark of patriotic fire, we will rekindle it.”(6)

Pray with me:

Father, we Americans give thanks for our freedom. We are an immeasurably blessed people. Thousands around the world who read or listen to these posts understand this very well, perhaps better than most Americans. We love them all. We pray today for the courage to stand for You and for them.

Give us hearts of iron, nerves of steel. Fill us with fresh resolve to make our heavenward appeals, to answer destiny’s call. Give us hearts that stay low, but dream high. Make us the Joshuas and Calebs, the Adams and Reagans of our time, fearless in the face of demons and those who war against Your planned harvest.

May this be Your Ekklesia’s finest hour, Your Kingdom’s greatest advance on planet earth. We will represent our great Redeemer until we can say with our brother, Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7 NASB) And in our great Redeemer’s name, we pray, amen.

Our decree:

We, the Ekklesia of Jesus Christ, decree that He is our great Champion; we always triumph in Him.

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

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March 24, 2023

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