I wanted to write about freedom today.  Its inauguration day of the 44th president of the United States and a day that also marks a time in history when Martin Luther King Jr., a pastor and advocate for the civil rights movement gave a very profound speech about freedom for all people.  I love the word freedom.  I take advantage of it every day.  I live in a country where I can go outside in peace, that my kids that even though exposed to the fall of the world, can still ride their bicycles without fear.

I know we are a divided nation, and right now, freedom can take on so many meanings.  Especially when we feel that some of our freedoms are being taken away.  But, as we move forward in this nation, especially as a believer in a Jesus that gives more freedom than we can ever imagine - we must believe that freedom begins with our heart.  Jesus must be the foundation of where freedom really comes from.  Otherwise we are bound up more than any government, job or other worldly restraints.  I am hopeful, that as a Christian, we can be a huge influence on this country, more than any government leader, or Hollywood star.  That we can teach freedom the way that Christ intended it from the very beginning.  That freedom would be a love language instead of a right that we have.




I am so glad that they sing this song on most days like today.  It is a beautiful hymn written by a seminary student, Samuel Francis Smith and was performed for the first time for an Independence Day celebration for children, at Park Street Church in Boston, MA.  There are 5 verses, written by the original author, I challenge you to read them all.

God is always at the center of real freedom!  We take him out, and freedom loses its power.  As we charge forward as a country, I am challenging myself, to remember that any idea, belief, or government initiative that takes God out, is not Truth, and defies the opportunity for the freedom that is so graciously offered to us.  I challenge you to do the same if you too are a believer in a great and mighty God that extends freedom to each of us, freedom that we really don't deserve but is God's love language to us all the time!

1

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims' pride,

From ev'ry mountainside

Let freedom ring!

2

My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills,

Like that above.

3

Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees

Sweet freedom's song;

Let mortal tongues awake;

Let all that breathe partake;

Let rocks their silence break,

The sound prolong.

4

Our fathers' God to Thee,

Author of liberty,

To Thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright,

With freedom's holy light,

Protect us by Thy might,

Great God our King.

5

Our joyful hearts today,

Their grateful tribute pay,

Happy and free,

After our toils and fears,

After our blood and tears,

Strong with our hundred years,

O God, to Thee.