ONE NATION UNDER GOD.....................

   FREEDOM: Is it in truth a reality or simply a wonderful concept of man. Do we believe that this world was made by God who then placed man upon the earth and told him to go forth and multiply. Was man created by God to live free? Can anyone really be sure when man discovered that he was free. The origin of man's knowledge of freedom and of a God who, it is believed, made him free is unknown. However,  one thing is known. Man has always struggled and fought for freedom. Men flourished in freedom. Freedom is the self evident truth that has passed from father to son, mother to daughter  from the beginning  of creation.

   It is said there was once a great land called Ur. In this land dwelled a people. They were shepherds. They traveled the land as they led their flocks. Among this people was a man called Abraham. In a land of many gods, Abraham believed that there existed only one true God, the God of many things, the one God who creates and judges. He taught his people that this God was the God of morality, and truth. He claimed that God made man to be free and self

controlling and responsible for his own acts. He taught that God made man free to do good or evil, as he may choose, but that any wrong act would result in punishment to the evildoer. Abraham's decedents lived by his teachings and went forth and multiplied. In their freedom they grew and prospered.

   Moses reduced the teaching of Abraham to a written code of moral law that is known as the Ten Commandments. Each of the commandments is addressed to the individual as a self-controlling person responsible for his own thoughts, actions, words and deeds. Each commandment recognizes freedom and liberty as being inherent in the nature of man.

   The first commandment tells the individual to reject pagan gods and recognize his own value as a human being. He is taught that he shall accept no power but that of the Creator.

   The second teaches the individual to form no image of abstract authority, but to direct his devotion  toward the divine truth.

  The third tells the individual not to speak frivolously of the Creator. Knowledge of fundamental truth.....cause and effect......is  important and should be taken seriously.

    The fourth tells man to devote some time to  reflection and thought on the eternal truth.

  The fifth recognizes the family as the primary human relationship and establishes parental authority over the child as the only authority which a child should accept as his own.

  The sixth stresses the sanctity of  human life.....the individuals right to live, which is a right that must not be violated by another person.

  The seventh establishes the principle of contract...the inviolability of promises given by persons to each other and the sanctity of the marriage contract, which is the basis of the family.

   The eighth recognizes the individual's right to own property.

 The ninth recognizes free speech.....the individual's control over his own words and his responsibility for their truth.

  The tenth emphasizes again the right of ownership. Not even in thought should a person violate the property  rights of another.  

  It would appear the nature of man is also to make excuses and ignore the teachings of their Creator.  A time came when the people begged their wise man, Samuel, to give them a King.  Samuel tried to tell the people of their folly. He tried to teach the people of the fallacy of government. These are his words:

     "This will be the manner of the King that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war....And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards........And he will take your men servants, and your maid servants, and your goodliest young men.....and put them to his work.....And ye shall cry out in that day because of your King which ye shall have chosen you."

        Study those words and you will recognize the wisdom of Samuel. They are the precise statement of the sources of the state's power and of the state's attempt to control its subjects/citizens........first the taking away of productive energy, then the rise of the bureaucracy and heavy taxation, followed by stagnation and poverty, leading to ultimate destruction in war.

  The worshiping of today's government through blind obedience of it's dictates, statutes, ordinances, and codes represents pagan submission to an imaginary authority. The Declaration of Independence reaffirmed the rights of man as given to them by their Creator. The Constitution of the nation, as well as the several states, confirm the truths of liberty and freedom. It is up to us to demand that government return to its role of servant to the people, as it was originally created.

   God may choose to protect us from government, but government can in no way protect us from God. It's time for the people of  this nation to chose who they wish to serve.........