Free Stuff or Freedom | CultureWatch

Free Stuff or Freedom

Liberty or ‘goodies’?

Folks often talk about how they enjoy being free, but in reality they seem to prefer living in servitude. They are willing to trade away liberty for various perceived benefits. While many folks would go along with the state motto of New Hampshire, “Live Free or Die,” too many others have no real desire for freedom at all.

Lots of folks in the West today seem quite happy to see their basic freedoms taken away from them by the state if they can just get various goods. We are seeing this more and more of this sense of living in an age of entitlement being played out in the West.

But this is actually nothing new. Way back in Old Testament times we saw this clearly being played out. Consider for example what we find in Numbers 11:4-6:

“Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

Recall the context. Israel has been miraculously rescued and set free from cruel Egyptian slavery by Moses not all that long ago. After ten miraculous plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, they were heading toward the Promised Land to live as a new people in a new place.

But before long they were grumbling and complaining. They actually wanted to go back to their lives as slaves under Pharoah. ‘Hey, at least we had free stuff there!’ Keith Green of course made this the theme of his HIT 1980 album and one of its songs: “So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1PCIBo12KI

Let me look at two aspects of this flight from freedom – one political and one spiritual.

Political

Life is about trade-offs. Some people are willing to trade away freedom for what they perceive to be safety and security. The Covid lockdown mania was a good case in point. Millions of people were quite willing to hand their fundamental liberties over to the state in exchange for promises of protection from a virus. It really was frightening to see so many folks being so very eager and willing to surrender basic human rights and freedoms to the expansionist state.

Moreover, we are increasingly finding Western nations characterised by two main groups: those who work long and hard to provide for their families, and those who don’t, who are happy to live off of state benefits and entitlements, paid for by those hardworking tax-payers.

Elections more and more seem to break down between these two groups. The former group will vote for parties that reward hard work, responsibility, success and entrepreneurship. The latter group will vote in the party that promises them a lot of free stuff. Too may folks simply want to see Santa Claus elected so they can keep getting all the free goodies.

What the ancient Israelites did back in the book of Numbers is a case in point. They really did not care about freedom – all they want was their leaks and onions – that ‘cost nothing’. They were happy to be slaves in other words instead of a proud and free people.

One last thing to note: a helpful book on how the 1960s really helped to bring about this entitlement culture is the 2020 volume by Christopher Caldwell, The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties (Simon & Schuster).

The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties by Caldwell, Christopher (Author)

Spiritual 

As bad as the political repudiation of liberty for security and benefits is, the spiritual trade-off is even more deplorable. As Christians, like ancient Israel, we are part of a glorious exodus, thanks to the wonderful grace of God. We were miraculous delivered from sin, self and death, yet too many believers seem to wanna go back to Egypt.

We want to return to bondage. This can take various forms. One common form is to simply want to go back to our old way of life: our old sins and selfish habits. We enjoyed those sins, and we too easily succumb to temptations to fall back into them.

As Paul put it in Galatians 5:13, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Or as Peter put it: “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves” (1 Peter 2:16).

We should rejoice that we are no longer slaves to sin and Satan. Instead, we find glorious liberty in being – paradoxically – slaves to Christ. As Paul said in Titus 1:1, “Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.” And again, “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible” (1 Corinthians 9:19).

Another way we can go back to bondage is also discussed in Galatians 5. In the opening verses Paul speaks about how the believers there should NOT go back into bondage by seeking to please God by works of the law, by circumcision, and so on. As he says in verse 1: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

The whole overriding theme of the letter to the Galatians is about the liberty of Christians, and how Christ has set us free from the bondage of the law as a means of getting right with God. As we read in Galatians 3:1-3:

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

But let me conclude with one short piece of commentary on the Numbers 11 text that I started with. Adrian Reynolds says this:

The Israelites’ complaint seems to be that they were better off in Egypt, certainly as far as food is concerned. This will be a theme to which we shall return in later rebellions. Their desire is very strong, ‘craved other foods’ translates ‘craved a craving’ or ‘desired a desire.’ It’s an extraordinary statement. Whilst we have no way of verifying whether they are factually right or not, to crave a return to slavery is stupefying! Pharaoh was trying to wipe them out (see Exodus 1:14-16). The exit from Egypt is the nation’s salvation: their wish for Egyptian glory-days (even if they ever were) is thus a rejection of what God has done and provided.

Moreover, the manna with which they are so bored is itself a blessing, a gracious provision by a generous God. The reject the manna is therefore to reject the Giver.

The irony here is that the Israelites would have had liberty and free stuff, not just in the desert but in the Promised Land, all from God’s gracious gifts to them. But they preferred slavery and free eats in Egypt. Too many folks today are in the same camp. They will take government handouts along with restriction on their freedom.

That is always a bad trade-off.

Note: I was reminded of the Number 11 text in a short Charlie Kirk video clip that I recently watched. So even though he is no longer with us, he is still providing inspiration and helpful instruction.

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What We Celebrate On The Fourth | ZeroHedge

Authored by Armstrong Williams via The Epoch Times,

There are many who will gather this July Fourth under the guise of celebration—barbecues, fireworks, flag-waving. But how many understand, truly understand, what they are celebrating?

In an era where grievance has replaced gratitude, the Fourth of July has become a hollow ritual for some.

The danger is not just in forgetting our history, but also in rewriting it through the narrow lens of modern discontent.

Let us be clear: America was not perfect in 1776. It is not perfect now. But perfection is not the metric of freedom—liberty is.

And in declaring independence, those flawed men charted a course toward a society where individuals, not monarchs or mobs, hold the reins of destiny.

There is much hand-wringing today over America’s Founding Fathers—slaveholders, landowners, men of contradiction. But history does not offer saints; it offers context. And in the context of their age, the radical notion that government should derive its power from the consent of the governed was earth-shattering. That principle—not the imperfections of the men who penned it—is what we celebrate on the Fourth of July.

The alternatives offered by critics of America’s founding are, frankly, unconvincing. Replace merit with quotas, liberty with bureaucracy, individual responsibility with collective guilt, and you get a society that stagnates, not flourishes. What is too often lost in modern discourse is that the freedoms we take for granted—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, due process, equal protection—are still rare commodities in much of the world.

I’ve spent my life examining the consequences of ideas. And few ideas have been as consequential—or beneficial—as the belief that man is born free and that government exists to secure, not bestow, those freedoms.

America, despite its sins, has done more to lift the condition of man than any other nation in history.

It is fashionable in elite circles to mock patriotism, to decry the flag as a symbol of oppression rather than emancipation. But tell that to the millions who fled tyranny to reach our shores. Tell that to the Vietnamese boat people, the Cuban refugees, the Soviet dissidents. They risked everything—not to criticize America, but to join it.

We must not let spoiled intellectuals and political opportunists redefine America as irredeemable. That is not just dishonest; it is dangerous. If we teach our children to hate the foundations of their country, do not be surprised when they tear the whole edifice down, brick by brick.

The Fourth of July is not about a flawless past; it is about the promise of the future. It is a recommitment to the ideals of ordered liberty, limited government, and the dignity of the individual. We are not celebrating men; we are celebrating principles.

Liberty is not inherited automatically. It must be understood, defended, and passed down. And that begins by refusing to let this holiday become another victim of ideological vandalism.

So this Independence Day, I ask a simple question: Are we a people still worthy of freedom? If the answer is yes, then act like it. Know your history. Teach it. Defend it. And above all, live like liberty means something, because without vigilance, even the freest nation can forget why it exists.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Source: What We Celebrate On The Fourth

FEBRUARY 5 | The Slave Market of Sin

SCRIPTURE READING: John 8:30–36
KEY VERSE: Galatians 5:13

You, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Popular author Neil Anderson tells of a time when he was talking to a group about living a bondage-free life. One man spoke up and told how he had enjoyed a certain activity most of his life without feeling a trace of bondage to it.
“I paused for a second,” said Anderson, “then I said, ‘Well, congratulations, but can you stop?’
“I didn’t hear another remark from him again until the end of the class when everybody left. He came up and said, ‘So why would I want to stop?’
“I said, ‘That’s not what I asked; I asked if you could stop. What you think is freedom really isn’t freedom at all. It’s bondage.’
“Anybody who acts as his own God is in bondage to his sinful nature. We were sold into the slave market of sin. Jesus purchased us from the kingdom of darkness and saved us from ourselves. We are not our own; we were bought at a very high price, the precious blood of Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin but servants to Christ.”
Many of us can relate to this story. Maybe your sin is gossiping. Or perhaps you have a difficult time telling the truth. You want people to think well of you, so you create stories that portray you in a heroic light.
Whatever the weakness, God can set you free. Ask Him to expose any sin in your life. Can you or are you willing to give it up in order to live free?

Lord, I want to live free! Take every bondage. Cleanse every sin. Expose every area of my life that needs change. I am willing to give up everything in order to live free.

Stanley, C. F. (1999). On holy ground (p. 38). Thomas Nelson Publishers.

January 5 | Mankind’s Box

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Colossians 2:9

If we were to think of this world as a time–space dimension, then a closed box could represent it, with God outside of the box. It is impossible for mankind to escape the box because, by definition, the natural cannot enter into the supernatural. That which is confined to time and space cannot escape into eternity and infinity.

Because there is something within man that longs to know what is outside the box, he invents deities into existence, which is how religions proliferate. Different religions become an extension of man’s desire to escape his box, but man’s longing to transcend the box cannot be overcome because he is confined to the box by his very nature.

Is there a way to escape this box? Yes, the good news is there is a way, and it’s through Christ. Christianity acknowledges that you can’t get out of your box but proclaims that God has invaded the box from the outside. Jesus Christ has entered into your world to show you how you can dwell with God forever. Won’t you accept His invitation?¹

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¹  MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : a daily touch of God’s grace (p. 16). J. Countryman.

INGRASSIA: The MAGA Majority | The Gateway Pundit

INGRASSIA: The MAGA Majority

And some reflections on justice.

This year’s election should have dispelled any and every doubt as to America’s favored (even only) political movement: MAGA. The logic of this, which has been countervailed by legacy news outfits like CNN and the New York Times for years now, wanting the public to believe MAGA is “far right” or “fringe,” should have always been intuitive. Make America Great Again, put simply, is rooted in common sense. No quintessentially American movement would be anything but MAGA. This is because the movement has always represented a revival of American values; of the rule of law; of due process; of impartial and fair justice. It has been oriented around the American Dream – focusing on American business, American industry, and American prosperity. This is not anathema to our principles – it represents a wholehearted embrace of them.

No nation in history, besides one with a suicide pact, would ever prioritize the interests of the foreigner over that of the home-ground citizen. That is such a simple, self-evident truth that it needs no further explanation. Nations are like families. They require careful cultivation and attention over years, even generations, in order to bear plentiful fruits. Caring for one’s own over the foreigner or outsider is not immoral in any sense of the term, it is perfectly natural. This is not simply an American principle, either. A universal law for all nations – indeed, in order to have a nation in any meaningful sense to begin with – requires agreement on a common morality, a sense of national identity, and a healthy and vibrant culture that bonds disparate peoples together under one roof. Political reality necessitates that national identities do not work without strict borders, accompanied by a rigid vetting process to select only those peoples naturally receptive to liberty and self-governance. That is the American tradition.

Modern people far too often take for granted our constitutional birthright of liberty. In the vast scheme of history, liberty is not something that comes natural to most peoples or times. That inexorable fact is what makes America exceptional. We are a liberty-bearing and loving people and have been able to pass that down one generation after the next. We are that partly because it is considered a fundamental value enshrined in our constitutional form of government. Separately, but no less important, is the fact that in previous generations we knew the toils and labors – often firsthand – required to preserve liberty, and how precious and fleeting a republican government that entrusted its people to govern themselves by and large was. In fact, the American project was the first attempt at practicing republican government on a grand scale since ancient Rome. The reasons our Founding Fathers wrote under pen names like “Publius” and “Cincinnatus” was to pay direct homage to that ancient heritage, and to underscore how unique constitutional government was in modern times.

Today’s Americans have largely forgotten their ancient heritage – and crucially how important and rare a small-r republican form of government is. Our clownshow of a Congress, replete with abominable individuals like Nancy Pelosi, AOC, and Jamie Crockett (each one worse than the previous) who our Founding Fathers never would have dreamed occupying the halls of power, in part detracts from our sacred birthright – and disillusions those who might otherwise take interest in and preserve – that venerable heritage from taking meaningful action towards its restoration. This is why as a country we came so close to losing it all – and by the grace of God were given perhaps our last chance ever at revitalizing our constitutional way of life with Donald Trump’s resounding victory a few short weeks ago.

The mandate he received (and make no mistake about it, mandate it was) is encouraging, for it evidences that America’s dynamic spirit has not been totally vanquished. There are still remnants of a will to survive, on a civilizational level, even though we veered unnervingly close to all-out collapse. Now the work begins.

Though we should make good use of the holiday season to rest and reflect on what we have accomplished, hundreds – if not thousands – of J6 demonstrators remain political hostages to a despotic government. Many still languish behind bars, away from their families, having missed seeing their children grow up over their formative years of youth and adolescence, all because the current regime would prefer to scapegoat these people merely to consolidate their power and permanently vanquish political dissent. What has been done to the J6 political prisoners these last four years is a deep and tragically still-abiding evil. It is not enough to simply release or pardon these hostages, who have been persecuted for simply exercising an inalienable right, enshrined and guaranteed under the First Amendment, to peaceably assemble and speak out against injustice committed by a regime deeply in the throes of tyranny. These people deserve to be made whole again. That starts with a formal apology from their government but must continue with so much more. It is not an overstatement to say that the injustices committed against the J6 political hostages amount to the most egregious violation of civil rights exacted by the federal government against any discrete minority group in American history, given the unrelenting concentration of the firepower directed against them, and the outsized obsession among our political elites to punish them.

From the relentless gaslighting to demonize them by the media, to the lives destroyed through arbitrary, capricious, and bankrupting litigation, to the countless incarcerations – and complete disregard for their rights along the way – these people have been tortured nonstop by their government over the last four harrowing years. The evils committed are unspeakable and have lifelong consequences for the defendants, their families, and the institutions that persecuted them. Truly, should we ever come to our senses as a country, this age will be seen by future historians as one of the darkest in modern history, and certainly one of the most violative of human rights — and outright evil — observed in any era in American history.

One of the many aspects of our birthright that our people, and that includes most conservatives, must reclaim is a reverence for justice, in its true and original formulation, and specifically how justice ought to be administered by political institutions throughout society. Justice is an aspect of virtue and must be administered in that light. Most lawyers, including, tragically, far too many self-identified conservative attorneys and judges, fail to demonstrate a deep-rooted understanding of justice in their words and practice. This involves an appreciation of civic morality, and from there, the rightful persecution of crimes. At the same time, true justice entails proper administration of judicial procedure. This means how certain acts deemed intolerable by society ought to be prosecuted – efficient and timely (albeit fair), so as to not impugn the legitimacy of the institutions which prosecute them, nor the dignity of man.

That final precept involves a reminder, ultimately, of where man’s essential dignity comes from. That in turn requires us to keep our sights on Biblical morality. All men are made in the image and likeness of God. That is the cornerstone of justice – both its ethical structure and administration. Men are only permitted to administer justice against wrongs because they are distinct from the beasts of nature and made in the light of God’s infinite wisdom and grace. At the same time, men are not gods themselves, and thus must always remember their essential limits, downstream of which implicates the fundamentally limited nature of justice and guides its practical administration. In short, this is a roundabout way of saying that the kernel of justice is humility – and with that humility, sufficient perspective into man’s fundamental duties and inherent limits. The virtuous judge should never fear administering punitive justice when it is required, especially against those who would otherwise lay waste to justice altogether. At the same time, he must be attentive to its guardrails, unlike the judges which have administered the J6 trials, and ensure that the punishment always matches the crime – and that the crime is a legitimate one, not one based on political malice or invective.

Liberty cannot exist without justice – nor can constitutional government, at least in the American form. Donald Trump’s political mandate was a reminder that the majority of American people still cherish these things and want this next administration to save them because they recognize their indispensability to republican government. If America forfeits the administration of justice to tyrants, it will forgo its very identity – and continue down the road to not just serfdom but oblivion. That has been the standard these last four years. Now presents a wakeup call. This is an inflection point in history that requires those who have been given political authority to make good on their countrymen’s plea – so that liberty might be saved, not just for us over these next four years, but for future generations as well.

The post INGRASSIA: The MAGA Majority appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

So Many Freedoms | Thoughts about God

So Many Freedoms

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“In him [Jesus our Lord] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Ephesians 3:12

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Thought

In Christ we are given so many freedoms — freedom from law, sin, death, etc. But one of the greatest freedoms we have is to boldly come before the Creator of the universe, the God of all time and creation, and speak openly and confidently with him. Incredibly, we mortals can enter God’s world with our problems and be confident that he hears us and cares about our concerns.

Prayer

Almighty and most holy God, I know that without your grace and attentive care my requests to you would go unheeded. But I also am confident that because I am your child, my requests matter to you. Thank you for hearing my prayers each day. Thank you for caring about my concerns. Thank you for being patient with my impatience and tender with my frustrations. Most of all, Father, thank you for the freedom to do what I have no right or power to do — to invade your world with my concerns and be welcomed by you there. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

By Phil Ware
used by permission

You can also follow Phil on http://www.verseoftheday.com

FURTHER READING

• A Yoke of Freedom or Bondage
• How to be Really Free
• Jesus is Alive in My Life

The post So Many Freedoms can be found at Thoughts about God.

September 30: Freedom That Will Endure

scripture reading:	Romans 6
key verse:	Romans 6:7

He who has died has been freed from sin.

Tens of thousands of East Germans have found freedom in Western Europe as communism’s grip has loosened. Although they have rightfully celebrated their new status in the West, the East Germans still must face the same slavish masters of money, passion, and fear that we all must confront.

The truth of God alone sets you free (Eph. 2:13–16). Only God can penetrate the invisible boundaries of your spirit and soul and thereby rescue you from sin’s rule.

As you relinquish your area of bondage to God, remember that the freedom you find in the Lord Jesus Christ will endure. It will stand fast.

The benefits of freedom in Christ may not be visible for a time. Anger may still flare; fear may still lurk in your mind; passion may still burn. But as you trust the Spirit of God to work in your life, results will come. The battle is yours to endure, yet the Holy Spirit will bring the victory. He is at work in your innermost being, even when you think all is lost. He will triumph as you trust in His strong arms.

Begin now to operate on the basis of God’s truth as revealed in the Scriptures and as you are empowered by the Holy Spirit. The truth can set you free forever.

Your truth brings liberty. O Lord, let it penetrate the invisible boundaries of my spirit and soul and free me from sin’s rule.¹

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¹  Stanley, C. F. (1998). Enter His gates: a daily devotional. Thomas Nelson Publishers.