Today is Independence Day. A day we celebrate the freedom our country achieved from Britain. A day when our forefathers stood on their own two feet and declared that we were free to pursue life, liberty and happiness. This day has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the spirit of camaraderie that we feel together as a nation.

I wonder today however, if it will be the last I am able to celebrate.

Oh don’t feel I am being melodramatic. It is quite a real thought. As I perhaps watch fireworks tonight and celebrate our independence and freedom, will it be the last time I am able to truly do so?

Will this Independence Day be the last time that ministers, who follow the true Word of God and hold unwaveringly to it’s principles, are truly free? In a nation that has essentially declared that if you are a photographer and are unwilling to take pictures of a wedding between two men or two women you can no longer be a photographer. If you are a florist and will not celebrate in a union between a same-sex couple you can no longer be a florist. If you are a baker and will not bake a cake and put a two man cake topper on it, you can no longer be a baker. How can we anticipate freedom then for the ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who will not perform such unions at all? Not because of hatred, rather the opposite, it is because of our love for mankind that requires us to cry out against the things that are destroying not only their flesh, but their souls!

How long will it be until those who proclaim we should be able to “love as freely as we wish” will in a turn of hypocrisy declare our love to be invalid? I wonder if that is the “religiosity” we will be attacked from. For the early believers, they were attacked initially by the Jews, who feared that their power and standing and the balance with Rome would be shaken. Will it be this new campaign of “freedom” that will actually end freedom for the true believers? We know the day will come when men will persecute us thinking they are doing God a service. If they persecute the true believer they obviously don’t know God. So in a country where people have begun to define “God” in any way they wish, ultimately saying He is all loving and would not punish the evil doer, it is very natural (but hypocritical) that we will be persecuted in the service of this God.
It may be difficult to watch the fireworks tonight with the usual zest, excitement, and love for my country that I have always felt in the past.
God Bless America! But America has already rejected that blessing.
God give us courage and strength to face the troubled times that have been prophesied are ahead.

Bro Trevor