Hi First name / friend,

 

Quitting coffee during Lent taught me I can’t depend on caffeine to make it through a day, but after Fourth of July fireworks, you can bet I’m longing for coffee number three! Celebrating America’s 250th was a joy. As I shared in last week’s email, I’m deeply grateful for the freedom to publish Christian resources in this country. I am grateful I get to partner with the Lord to create jobs in the USA. I’m grateful for the principles of Christian truth that guided the founding of this country—principles that preserved our nation from becoming a church-run state or dictatorship. Someone recently wrote that America is unique because we have a clear date for our founding. Not every country knows the date on which it was born. 

One of my favorite hobbies is researching the American Revolution, so this year has given me more cause for study than ever before. My favorite founding father is John Adams, one of the few genuine believers among the signers of the Declaration. Adams wrote that “our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” Adams is saying that only people who believe in objective morality will submit to the boundaries of the American constitution long-term. When people believe they are above the law—a law unto themselves—they will no longer be governable by the principles our founding fathers wrote and, in rebelling against these principles, will cease to reap the benefits of a truly free society.

 

This is interesting, isn’t it? Freedom can only exist as long as boundaries exist. True freedom has fences.

The founding fathers were not all Christians and did not seek to establish a Christian nation; America is not a theocracy like Old Testament Israel was. But any nation that recognizes the truth of God will reap the goodness of God in its midst. The book of Proverbs talks about this when it discusses “the way of wisdom.” Even unbelievers experience the goodness of God, sometimes called “common grace,” when they align themselves with righteousness. 

 

Proverbs 6:16–19 says there are seven things the Lord hates:

 

The Lord hates six things;

   in fact, seven are detestable to him:

 arrogant eyes,

       a lying tongue,

       hands that shed innocent blood,

 a heart that plots wicked schemes,

       feet eager to run to evil,

 a lying witness who gives false testimony,

       and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.

 

But when we choose the opposite of these things:

 

 . . . we experience the “common grace” of peace, joy, love, and other fruits of God’s Spirit in our land. These fruits are available in any country where people choose what is right. America is not specially favored above other nations; to the contrary, I think she is headed for judgment if she does not repent of her idolatry, murder, greed, and sexual immorality. Speaking out about these things is important. But speaking alone does not change a nation. We can lead the way by how we live.

American girls.

 

To my American readers: Perhaps what we can take away from this 250th birthday of ours is the opportunity to reverse the “Proverbs 6 curse” in which  our nation is participating. All it takes is one person to choose seven things the Lord loves instead of the seven that He hates. Are you with me?

 

The Fourth of July is a high holiday here in Northern Michigan, and even though the weekend events are over (our city block party, two parades, a cookout, a wiffleball game, and fireworks—whew!), I’m still enjoying the fruit of my labor for the weekend. Below are some of my personal favorites for the Fourth and beyond.

my friend Hali and I celebrating as the Spots and Stripes

November 6-7 in Traverse City, Michigan

FOR THE AWAKENING,