Chuck Baldwin
It is not over
By Chuck Baldwin
Everywhere I go, I meet people who seem to believe that it's all over, that there is no hope, that freedom is forever doomed. The doom and gloomers are omnipresent. But there is a great line in the newest version of the movie "Red Dawn" that should help put it all in perspective. One of the freedom fighters says, "I'm still breathing so, it's not over." I love that line. I feel exactly the same way.
There is no question that the forces of globalism and socialism have pretty much had their way over the past few decades. And with very few exceptions, we don't have a lot of allies in Washington, D.C., and in most State capitals. For that matter, we don't have a lot of allies on Wall Street or in most classrooms. But that doesn't mean that it's over: not by a long shot.
Freedom didn't have a majority in 1775 and 1776, either. I doubt that one could find any time in history when the proponents of liberty were ever in a majority. Sam Adams may have said it best when he said, "It does not take a majority to prevail...but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."
However, there is one thing that Colonial America had that modern America doesn't have: a patriot pulpit. The pulpits of Colonial America were ablaze with the fire of liberty. Colonial clergymen of every Christian denomination explained, extolled, enlightened, expounded, and elucidated the Natural Biblical principles of liberty from their pulpits continuously. Remember that it was mostly the men of Pastor Jonas Clark's congregation at the Church of Lexington that stood armed on Lexington Green against British troops in the wee morning hours of April 19, 1775, and fired the shot heard 'round the world.
Publisher and historian Gerald Nordskog writes these words about Jonas Clark: "As the pastor of the church at Lexington, he typically gave four sermons a week, written out and orally presented – nearly 2200 sermons in his lifetime. His preaching was vigorous in style, animated in manner, instructive in matter, and delivered with uncommon energy and zeal, with an agreeable and powerful voice. His sermons were rarely less than an hour, often more."
Nordskog continues, "It can be regarded only as a singularly happy circumstance that, as Lexington was to be the place where resistance to the power of England was first to occur, and the great act of a declaration of war first to be made by the act of the people in the blood to be there shed, making the place forever famous in history, the minister of Lexington should have been a man of the principles, character, courage, and energy of Mr. Clark.
"It can be regarded he was eminently a man produced by the times – more than equal to them; rather a guide and leader. All his previous life, his preaching, his intercourse and conversation among his people had been but a continued and most effectual preparation for the noble stand taken by his people on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775. The militia on the Common that morning were the same who filled the pews of the meetinghouse on the Sunday morning before, and the same who hung upon the rear of the retreating enemy in the forenoon and throughout the day. They were only carrying the preaching of many previous years into practice.
"It would not be beyond the truth to assert that there was no person at that time and in that vicinity – not only no clergyman but no other person of whatever calling or profession, who took a firmer stand for the liberties of the country or was more ready to perform the duties and endure the sacrifices of a patriot, than the minister of Lexington.
"When the struggle actually commenced, the people were ready for it, thoroughly acquainted with the reasons on which the duty of resistance was founded, and prepared to discharge the duty at every hazard. No population within the compass of the Colonies were better prepared for the events of the 19th of April, than the people of Lexington; no people to whom the events of that day could more safely have been entrusted; none more worthy of the duties that fell to their lot; or who better deserved the honours which have followed the faithful performance of them. No single individual probably did so much to educate the people up to that point of intelligence, firmness, and courage, as their honoured and beloved pastor." (Nordskog, Gerald Christian; The Battle of Lexington; Nordskog Publishing; 2007; Print.)
Can one imagine how history would have been changed had the Church of Lexington, Massachusetts, and all of the churches of Colonial America for that matter, been occupied with the kinds of ministers we have today? I can tell you this: there would have been no Lexington Green and Concord Bridge; no Bunker Hill; no Valley Forge; no Declaration of Independence; no U.S. Constitution; and no United States of America. And that is an absolute fact. The erroneous interpretation of Romans 13, so prevalent today among pastors and churches, would have instructed the colonists that it would be a sin against God to rebel against King George. Pastors would have taught their congregations to be good little slaves to the Crown. Without a doubt, had Colonial America had the kinds of ministers we have today, we would still be a subjected colony of Great Britain to this very hour.
And if you think Jonas Clark was the exception to the rule in Colonial America, you haven't studied history. Men such as John Witherspoon, James Caldwell, John Peter Muhlenberg, Joab Houghton, Ebenezer Baldwin, Elisha Williams, Charles Chauncy, Jonathan Mayhew, Isaac Backus, Samuel Sherwood, John Fletcher, John Leland, etc., etc, inspired and instructed Christians of all denominations regarding their duties and responsibilities as free men and women under God – including the duty to free themselves from the yoke of bondage.
So prominent was the role that Presbyterian pastors played in the American Revolution that as news of the rebellion spread throughout England, Horace Walpole told his fellow members of the British Parliament, "There is no use crying about it. Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson, and that is the end of it." And Presbyterian ministers were not the only ones to rally the church for the cause of independence.
So many Baptist preachers participated in America's War for Independence that at the conclusion of the war, President George Washington wrote a personal letter to the Baptist people saying, "I recollect with satisfaction that the religious societies of which you are a member have been, throughout America, uniformly and almost unanimously, the firm friends to civil liberty, and the preserving promoters of our glorious Revolution." It also explains how Thomas Jefferson could write to a Baptist congregation and say, "We have acted together from the origin to the end of a memorable Revolution." (McDaniel, George White. The People Called Baptists. The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1918. Print.)
But it was ministers from all of the Christian denominations who sounded the clarion call for freedom from their pulpits. Writing in the mid-1800s, noted attorney and historian John Wingate Thornton said, "To the Pulpit, the Puritan Pulpit, we owe the moral force which won our independence."
The patriot pulpit is what Colonial America had that modern America doesn't have. We lack the "moral force" of that patriot pulpit. For the most part, America's pastors today are shy, sheepish servants of the state. For the American people to once again muster the courage and conviction to reclaim their liberties requires a revival of the patriot pulpit. As long as Christian people stay seated in the padded pews of these passive pulpits, our nation will continue to plummet into the pit. But this is where the good news begins.
All over the country, tens of thousands of Christians are leaving these timid and cowardly ministers – even pastors are leaving their timid congregations behind and joining up with freedom-minded believers in brand new independent fellowships.
For example, we have over 800 patriot pastors listed on our Black Regiment web page. These are ministers who are not afraid to identify themselves as a patriot pastor and have asked to be included in the list. I invite you to search the list and see if there is a Black Regiment pastor near you. See it here:
The Black Regiment
Furthermore, there are thousands of Christians who are leaving these say-nothing churches and starting home churches or are meeting with small groups of believers who also share their love of liberty. In addition, we have hundreds of believers who, because they cannot find a patriot pastor in their community, are tuning into the service at Liberty Fellowship each Sunday afternoon at 2:30 Mountain Time and listening to our messages.
To watch our messages live each Sunday afternoon online, go to:
Live Stream
One may also watch my archived messages here:
Video Messages
I am personally convinced that there will be a "latter rain" of God's outpoured blessings, including the blessings of liberty, upon His remnant in America. The fires of liberty are burning too brightly in too many hearts. And more and more of Sam Adams' "brushfires of freedom" are being lit by the day. I firmly believe that what is now a trickle of revival and separation from these dead churches will soon become a torrent. Patriot pastors and congregations are being reborn and rebuilt at this very moment.
If it means we must forsake the establishment church, so be it. If it means we must leave the sleeping and lethargic behind, so be it. If it means we must relocate, so be it. If it means we must break old traditions, so be it. If it means it might cost us something, so be it. We fought and won our liberties once; we can do it again.
Is there no hope? Is it all over? Too many freedom lovers are still breathing so, it's not over.
© Chuck Baldwin
January 9, 2014
Everywhere I go, I meet people who seem to believe that it's all over, that there is no hope, that freedom is forever doomed. The doom and gloomers are omnipresent. But there is a great line in the newest version of the movie "Red Dawn" that should help put it all in perspective. One of the freedom fighters says, "I'm still breathing so, it's not over." I love that line. I feel exactly the same way.
There is no question that the forces of globalism and socialism have pretty much had their way over the past few decades. And with very few exceptions, we don't have a lot of allies in Washington, D.C., and in most State capitals. For that matter, we don't have a lot of allies on Wall Street or in most classrooms. But that doesn't mean that it's over: not by a long shot.
Freedom didn't have a majority in 1775 and 1776, either. I doubt that one could find any time in history when the proponents of liberty were ever in a majority. Sam Adams may have said it best when he said, "It does not take a majority to prevail...but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."
However, there is one thing that Colonial America had that modern America doesn't have: a patriot pulpit. The pulpits of Colonial America were ablaze with the fire of liberty. Colonial clergymen of every Christian denomination explained, extolled, enlightened, expounded, and elucidated the Natural Biblical principles of liberty from their pulpits continuously. Remember that it was mostly the men of Pastor Jonas Clark's congregation at the Church of Lexington that stood armed on Lexington Green against British troops in the wee morning hours of April 19, 1775, and fired the shot heard 'round the world.
Publisher and historian Gerald Nordskog writes these words about Jonas Clark: "As the pastor of the church at Lexington, he typically gave four sermons a week, written out and orally presented – nearly 2200 sermons in his lifetime. His preaching was vigorous in style, animated in manner, instructive in matter, and delivered with uncommon energy and zeal, with an agreeable and powerful voice. His sermons were rarely less than an hour, often more."
Nordskog continues, "It can be regarded only as a singularly happy circumstance that, as Lexington was to be the place where resistance to the power of England was first to occur, and the great act of a declaration of war first to be made by the act of the people in the blood to be there shed, making the place forever famous in history, the minister of Lexington should have been a man of the principles, character, courage, and energy of Mr. Clark.
"It can be regarded he was eminently a man produced by the times – more than equal to them; rather a guide and leader. All his previous life, his preaching, his intercourse and conversation among his people had been but a continued and most effectual preparation for the noble stand taken by his people on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775. The militia on the Common that morning were the same who filled the pews of the meetinghouse on the Sunday morning before, and the same who hung upon the rear of the retreating enemy in the forenoon and throughout the day. They were only carrying the preaching of many previous years into practice.
"It would not be beyond the truth to assert that there was no person at that time and in that vicinity – not only no clergyman but no other person of whatever calling or profession, who took a firmer stand for the liberties of the country or was more ready to perform the duties and endure the sacrifices of a patriot, than the minister of Lexington.
"When the struggle actually commenced, the people were ready for it, thoroughly acquainted with the reasons on which the duty of resistance was founded, and prepared to discharge the duty at every hazard. No population within the compass of the Colonies were better prepared for the events of the 19th of April, than the people of Lexington; no people to whom the events of that day could more safely have been entrusted; none more worthy of the duties that fell to their lot; or who better deserved the honours which have followed the faithful performance of them. No single individual probably did so much to educate the people up to that point of intelligence, firmness, and courage, as their honoured and beloved pastor." (Nordskog, Gerald Christian; The Battle of Lexington; Nordskog Publishing; 2007; Print.)
Can one imagine how history would have been changed had the Church of Lexington, Massachusetts, and all of the churches of Colonial America for that matter, been occupied with the kinds of ministers we have today? I can tell you this: there would have been no Lexington Green and Concord Bridge; no Bunker Hill; no Valley Forge; no Declaration of Independence; no U.S. Constitution; and no United States of America. And that is an absolute fact. The erroneous interpretation of Romans 13, so prevalent today among pastors and churches, would have instructed the colonists that it would be a sin against God to rebel against King George. Pastors would have taught their congregations to be good little slaves to the Crown. Without a doubt, had Colonial America had the kinds of ministers we have today, we would still be a subjected colony of Great Britain to this very hour.
And if you think Jonas Clark was the exception to the rule in Colonial America, you haven't studied history. Men such as John Witherspoon, James Caldwell, John Peter Muhlenberg, Joab Houghton, Ebenezer Baldwin, Elisha Williams, Charles Chauncy, Jonathan Mayhew, Isaac Backus, Samuel Sherwood, John Fletcher, John Leland, etc., etc, inspired and instructed Christians of all denominations regarding their duties and responsibilities as free men and women under God – including the duty to free themselves from the yoke of bondage.
So prominent was the role that Presbyterian pastors played in the American Revolution that as news of the rebellion spread throughout England, Horace Walpole told his fellow members of the British Parliament, "There is no use crying about it. Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson, and that is the end of it." And Presbyterian ministers were not the only ones to rally the church for the cause of independence.
So many Baptist preachers participated in America's War for Independence that at the conclusion of the war, President George Washington wrote a personal letter to the Baptist people saying, "I recollect with satisfaction that the religious societies of which you are a member have been, throughout America, uniformly and almost unanimously, the firm friends to civil liberty, and the preserving promoters of our glorious Revolution." It also explains how Thomas Jefferson could write to a Baptist congregation and say, "We have acted together from the origin to the end of a memorable Revolution." (McDaniel, George White. The People Called Baptists. The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1918. Print.)
But it was ministers from all of the Christian denominations who sounded the clarion call for freedom from their pulpits. Writing in the mid-1800s, noted attorney and historian John Wingate Thornton said, "To the Pulpit, the Puritan Pulpit, we owe the moral force which won our independence."
The patriot pulpit is what Colonial America had that modern America doesn't have. We lack the "moral force" of that patriot pulpit. For the most part, America's pastors today are shy, sheepish servants of the state. For the American people to once again muster the courage and conviction to reclaim their liberties requires a revival of the patriot pulpit. As long as Christian people stay seated in the padded pews of these passive pulpits, our nation will continue to plummet into the pit. But this is where the good news begins.
All over the country, tens of thousands of Christians are leaving these timid and cowardly ministers – even pastors are leaving their timid congregations behind and joining up with freedom-minded believers in brand new independent fellowships.
For example, we have over 800 patriot pastors listed on our Black Regiment web page. These are ministers who are not afraid to identify themselves as a patriot pastor and have asked to be included in the list. I invite you to search the list and see if there is a Black Regiment pastor near you. See it here:
The Black Regiment
Furthermore, there are thousands of Christians who are leaving these say-nothing churches and starting home churches or are meeting with small groups of believers who also share their love of liberty. In addition, we have hundreds of believers who, because they cannot find a patriot pastor in their community, are tuning into the service at Liberty Fellowship each Sunday afternoon at 2:30 Mountain Time and listening to our messages.
To watch our messages live each Sunday afternoon online, go to:
Live Stream
One may also watch my archived messages here:
Video Messages
I am personally convinced that there will be a "latter rain" of God's outpoured blessings, including the blessings of liberty, upon His remnant in America. The fires of liberty are burning too brightly in too many hearts. And more and more of Sam Adams' "brushfires of freedom" are being lit by the day. I firmly believe that what is now a trickle of revival and separation from these dead churches will soon become a torrent. Patriot pastors and congregations are being reborn and rebuilt at this very moment.
If it means we must forsake the establishment church, so be it. If it means we must leave the sleeping and lethargic behind, so be it. If it means we must relocate, so be it. If it means we must break old traditions, so be it. If it means it might cost us something, so be it. We fought and won our liberties once; we can do it again.
Is there no hope? Is it all over? Too many freedom lovers are still breathing so, it's not over.
© Chuck Baldwin
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
