Happy Independence Day!

Some current favorite quotes:

"… can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but by his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever.…" - Thomas Jefferson

"Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain." – John F. Kennedy

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." – Thomas Paine

"What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; ‘tis dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated." – Thomas Paine

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." – Thomas Jefferson

"Our ancestors purchased the liberty of our country with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation if we should allow them to be wrested from us." – Samuel Adams

"Posterity! You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it!" – John Quincy Adams

"If professing Christians are unfaithful to the authority of their Lord in their capacity as citizens of the State, they cannot expect to be blessed by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in their capacity as members of the Church." – A.A. Hodge, Professor in Systematic Theology at Princeton Seminary from 1877 to 1886

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Today I am reminded to celebrate not just the liberty and freedom we have as Americans, but the true freedom we have as Christians, through the saving work of Christ on the cross. The gospel provides us with true liberty--a blessing we can never truly comprehend!

At the same time, though, let us be grateful for the sacrifices that so many have made to give us the freedom we have in this country. Let's not be blinded to the loss of liberty that is happening all around us, but be willing to take a stand; be willing to "undergo the fatigue of supporting it"; be willing to give and sacrifice ourselves to maintain the liberty that God has so graciously bestowed on this nation.

Happy birthday, America!