Dependence Day!

​Nope. Not a typo up there even though I am notorious for typos and errors in general. I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy Independence Day, but then I wanted to talk about what I consider a much more important day. Dependence Day. So, first off, let’s talk about Independence Day. Independence Day was the day that several men decided to put their lives on the line to try to declare independence from an oppressive, over-reaching, government in an effort to form a new country whose values were established on a foundation that saw God as the sovereign giver of rights. These men knew men to be fallible and wanted to establish a government that would have the ability to rectify wrongs as they became apparent. The world has seen many cultures and societies come and go over the centuries. Yet, the American experiment has been unique. Never has a country attained so much power and used it to advance the human condition rather than attain more power over humanity.

I am grateful that in God’s providence He saw fit to assemble a group of people whose character was such that rather than attaining power, these men resolved to form a better nation. The United States of America was founded in a way that made it clear that it aspired to bring about a society where true freedom was afforded to all its people. Slavery. Bam. Right off the bat there was an obvious and glaring discrepancy in what the founding fathers claimed in their establishing documents. Still, despite in-fighting due to the sinful nature of mankind and the blinding influence of greed, the country determined that for the founding declaration, “That all men are created equal,” to be lived out, slavery must NEVER be allowed to exist in THIS republic. It was outlawed. Still, the people who had been oppressed weren’t necessarily treated as equals. Far from it. In many cases they were treated as second class citizens if citizens at all. This isn’t necessarily an indictment of America. No. Countries around the globe have been faced with similar, if not, greater infringements on the dignity and respect due citizens of their societies. Yet, in many of these cases, the countries have made decisions to maintain the status quo. Even today, many countries continue to marginalize large portions of their society because it benefits those in power. Not so from a systemic standpoint in America. No. I’m not saying that there aren’t systemic issues with equality in America. There are. What I am saying is that the system we are operating within has been set up so that we can FIX issues when we see them. We have issues and we need to fix them. What Christians don’t need to do is to forget the way of Christ in going about fixing REAL issues. Violence and vengeance are two things that scripture makes clear do not work.

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,”[g]
says the Lord.
Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”
So what about Dependence Day? August 17, 1984, is the day that I was released from the oppressive bondage of my enemy and given freedom through dependence on my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you are a believer my request of you today is to think back to the day. You may not remember the date, that’s okay. Think back to the moment that you were freed from sin and granted life eternal. Think about that. My request is that you stop and thank God for His seeking you out and redeeming you. Thank Him for pursuing you and saving you. If you are not a believer, my ask of you is that you reach out to me or someone you know, or to God Himself today and ask Him to grant you the freedom you so desperately need.
God Bless. I love ya’ll.
TG