via TJC
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you….Genesis 26:1
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. Hebrews 11:13-14
I am a Kingdom Man in America.
We’re talking a lot about American history these days. That’s ok by me. I am an American, and I love my country. Outsiders are perplexed in their attempt to understand us. I am a Kingdom man in America, and we are one American people – for better or worse.
The one thing that truly unites us is that our Christian experiences (plural) all bear witness to outrageous circumstances. Whether we were escaping famine, gambling on uncertain futures, dragged here in chains, running from one set of wolves to another set of wolves….American Christianity was birthed in the experience of outrageous and momentous activity, and the resulting toughness, the resulting resilience, creativity and will to freedom, the resulting insanity, explosion of ideas and activity, is our unifying keepsake as Americans and Christians….it is what it is…but it is!
The Pilgrims took their name from Hebrews 11:13-14. They were leaving a place where, if they practiced their Christianity instead of the King of England’s, they were punished by prison and death. You can argue about revisionist history and smallpox filled blankets, but nobody disagrees that the Pilgrims were RENEGADES:
- If they weren’t “good Christians” then they were put to death or punished.
- If they didn’t tow the King’s line in their lives or in the marketplace, they were cancelled.
- Their gatherings were outlawed.
So, they remembered how Abraham and his family wandered from place to place—“strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” desiring a “better country, that is, an heavenly” “We, too, are pilgrims,” they said, “on our way to heaven.” Ever afterwards, these English people were called “Pilgrims.”
They left that place across the high and rough seas. When they arrived here, they found only winter, dark forests, and death. The road to freedom would be a tough one.
Daily Battle Order:
Answer these questions for yourself: Can you identify with the Pilgrim “spirit” that drove people to such boldness in seeking a better place – a new place for themselves? Do you agree that this spirit has found its way into our modern American spirit, especially as Christians in 2021? The conflicts we face today are just as real as what the pilgrims faced, a battle between rifts in society, perceived righteousness and being sojourners for the Kingdom. The first step to gaining that spirit is recognizing you are in a fight.