Liberty Under Fire: Protect and Proclaim It!

Liberty Under Fire: Protect and Proclaim It!

May 13, 2025

Host: Dr. Jamie Mitchell

Co-host: Hon. Sam Rohrer

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 5/13/25. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.

Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, happy Tuesday here at Stand In the Gap Today and the American Pastors Network. I’m Jamie Mitchell, and joining me today is a familiar voice, my good friend and our boss, and the one who is usually sitting in the host seat, Sam Rohrer. Sam, we don’t get to do this often, and I don’t get to welcome you on your own program, but welcome today to Stand In the Gap.

Sam Rohrer:

Jamie, it is different, but we actually do this a lot in different formats other than this program, but it’s great to be with you today and I think on a very, very important topic.

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, Sam, it’s that time again. As you know, we began just a few years ago. The American Pastors Network encourages pastors and churches to set aside a Sunday, usually near the 4th of July and celebrate what we call Liberty Sunday. This year we’ve identified Sunday, July the sixth, and when we began this a number of years back, we believed that annually in a church’s calendar, there should be a day where from the pulpit issues regarding the founding of our nation and the significant influence of faith on the birth of the United States would be considered. We chose the word liberty because of its implications, both as citizens of earth and citizens of heaven. And so Sam, each year around this time, usually you and I, we take a program and we discuss Liberty Sunday and talk about the suggested theme that pastors could speak on and again, dig into this idea of liberty and that’s why I wanted to have you on there because we’ve talked a lot about this and you have some really great insights on this. So with that in mind, Sam, let’s frame this topic. When you think of the word liberty, how would you define it?

Sam Rohrer:

I’m glad, Jamie, you went to definition first because we do talk about that in a program. I got to define the terms. Whoever defines the terms controls the discussion. So when I think of any kind of term, particularly one like liberty, I first go to what the scriptures say, and liberty is actually used in the Bible 25 times. The first occurrence is in Leviticus 25:10, which when I quote it here, people will understand it proclaim liberty throughout all the land and unto the inhabitants thereof. That actually is the phrase that’s on the Liberty Bell about an hour from me that sits down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. So liberty was used first in scripture there. It was taken by our founders in a political national sense and put on a Liberty Bell, but they saw the connection between scripture and there, so that’s why we’re talking like we are.

But Jamie in the Hebrew, when I went to actually what it means, it literally means liberty means to literally flow freely, to run freely. It’s kind of like a bird in flight, unrestrained in flight, a bird that’s floating look up in the sky. That is simply liberty. It means to be free. But I like to go to Webster’s 1828 dictionary. It has a biblical worldview, Noah Webster quotes, I mean mostly his definitions of Bible verses associated with it, but there I said it’s to be free from restraint. And I think this is important. It applies to the body when where walk goes and does the will, what one chooses and the mind how one thinks. Liberty is a very amazing concept, different types of liberty. Natural liberty acting as one thinks is fit free of constraints, civil liberty, free from undue constraint, political liberty generally first of the liberty of a nation, kind of like on the Liberty Bell.

That’s why our nations, our founders chose that religious liberty, we talk about that a lot, the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of one’s conscience, but it really is similar to freedom, the state of being at liberty. They’re very closely connected, but in reality, political, religious, civil, or actually there was a scientific aspect of liberty as well. Believe it or not, it only Jamie, as we’ve talked before and as I’ve studied so much throughout American history, liberty as we generally talk it, as we approach July 4th independence day and in our discussion today, it really can only be fully understood when a person has come to trust in Jesus Christ as personal savior, where at that point a person is set free from the bondage or the controlling restraint of sin. So true, long lasting physical or civil freedom can only arise and endure when exercised by people who have actually experienced spiritual liberty first in Christ and then lives it out within civil society, which is generally when we say liberty. That’s what we’re talking about.

Jamie Mitchell:

Sam, I love what you just said because I always pictured liberty this idea of throwing off evil or throwing off that which oppresses us then allowing us to live free and it has such implication between what happened to our country and what happened to us in Christ. Well, with that in mind, Sam Liberty has a litany of applications. You’ve touched on some of them. Can you just take a moment in the last few minutes of this segment and apply how liberty works nationally and then most significantly spiritually?

Sam Rohrer:

Well, I can. Our liberty as an individual, the spiritual reflection is something that the spirit of God comes faith in. Jesus Christ sets us free, sets us free from the bondage of sin, and therefore we have liberty because of our freedom in Christ. Okay, that’s the spiritual part. But when our founders came, they knew that internally, which allowed them on Independence Day to establish the Declaration of Independence, which starts with God, our creator, and then they delineate down through and then it establishes the basis by which at that point from a nation’s perspective, they understood that they had both the right the duty and they were very careful how they did it when they declared independence for what goal, to seek liberty from the restraint or the controlling influence of another nation. Great Britain, who in the beginning was not a problem, but it was a problem as they walked away from their obligations in their promises to this nation and the Great Britain began to violate the God given enumerated rights as outlined in the independence, a declaration of independence.

So liberty as a nation now permeates everything about it. Liberty, the concepts of liberty factored into the declaration. It factored into the war for independence. It factored into the putting together of the Constitution and it really is what is the basis for the maintenance of what we call justice and freedom in this nation. But I’m going to submit here and we’ll talk more about it, but the problem is, is when people forget what liberty is and where it came from, then it becomes a problem in its execution, which I think we’re seeing in our country today.

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, this is why we call it Liberty Sunday. Liberty is the core of the Christian message and it’s the backbone of our nation’s history and founding. If there’s no liberty, there’s no freedom, there’s no hope, there’s no joy. When we return, Sam’s going to take the lead and we want to consider some threats to liberty. We’re trying to help you get ready for Liberty Sunday in your church. Stay with us.

Sam Rohrer:

Well welcome back to this Special Tuesday program. A little different than normal. If you just joining us, you would think that I started the program, but I didn’t. Actually, Dr. Jamie Mitchell began the program today and he and I are kind of going back and forth a little bit because our emphasis is on Liberty Sunday and we want to tell you about things that are coming up and ways that you can be involved in directing, perhaps your pastor certainly does at church as we approach Sunday, July 6th, obviously being done in connection with Independence Day, and we’ve termed this Liberty Sunday, we’ve defined liberty in the last segment. I walked through that a little bit in how some of that connects and liberty is infused within our nation and it really provides a wonderful opportunity because of how our nation came into existence, where it is a perfect time to actually deal with nations, liberty, freedom, history, all of those things that brought about where we are and who we are.

And actually to then talk about how it is being so attacked and undermined because at the end of the day, I think you know that liberty is fragile. If we don’t defend carefully what we have, we’ll lose it. So that is the point. So Jamie, over the last years we’ve done this about this time of year to call people’s attention to it, but you are working on this theme of liberty, putting together the aspects of Liberty Sunday, preparing some talking points and some information that pastors can use. So with that in mind, what is this year’s theme and build this out a little bit here now?

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, Sam, we’ve taken the last few years as we have begun and launched Liberty Sunday to really focus on what is liberty and defining it and helping people understand it and seeing the connection point between the spiritual and the national. Last year we went a little bit further where we talked about the importance of the law and the rule of law and government, but also the law of God specifically outlined through the 10 Commandments. As I was thinking about this year’s theme, Sam, there was a thought that kept going in my mind we could never take liberty for granted. People will say things like this, well, what are we worried about this for? Because liberty will always be there. And Sam, that’s just not true. We have watched the last number of years, and so this year I want to drill down on this idea of the threats against liberty. What are the potential threats that come up against liberty?

Sam Rohrer:

And that sets it up for me to naturally ask you. Okay. All right. I think everyone listening to me would say, yes, I either know or I can be persuaded the concept that liberty is fragile, and if it’s fragile, then I can be convinced that there are threats, and that is the theme that we’ve chosen for this year’s emphasis. So go ahead and just delineate if you can, some of those, if not all of them, if you have time on those threats to our liberty. What do you think are in fact the greatest threats to liberty, particularly as we have come to know it in this country, which was once founded on very, very clearly identified biblical principles?

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, Sam, there may be more, but I’ve identified six threats that seem to show up all the time. And what’s interesting is these threats can be applied both nationally but also spiritually. Let me run through them real quick. The first one is pretty simple, the twisting of truth. Jesus said that the truth will set you free when a nation traffics in falsehoods and lies and revisionist history. And when we as believers depart from the truth, we open ourselves up to lose our liberty. And so it’s pretty simple when you look at the application of this, if we start departing from the truth or twisting the truth, then there really isn’t a child in the womb. And a man can be a woman and a woman can be a man. And so confusion and deception leads us into intellectual bondage. We lose liberty. Second thing is authority roles are either ignored or consolidated.

One of the things to protect our liberty that God gave us or God ordained authority structures in society, the home, government, church, work, they all play a role in protecting our liberty, raising up righteousness, punishing evil doers and punishing people that do wrong. Well, we have seen an attack on these authority structures, whether it’s the home, whether it’s the workplace with regulations and even a seizing of all of that authority by the government to kind of bring it all under one alignment. Sam, when that happens, liberty will be lost. Third thing, abusing our liberty and misusing our freedoms, thus bringing about unnecessary legalism. Sam Liberty is a wonderful thing. It allows us to experience freedom, the freedom of choice, choice to produce and generate wealth, freedom to experience fun and pleasure and happiness. But when we forget to put guardrails around our freedom, we move into excessiveness, we push the bounds of liberty, we start claiming the freedom of license, and then what comes around the other side is legalism.

And so both when those things get out of balance, the abuse of liberty and the bringing on of legalism liberty is going to be lost. Fourthly, idolatry that leads to financial dependence. Sam, I’ve gone from preaching to meddling because liberty allows us to pursue wealth, the fruit of our hand, but without discipline and understanding stewardship and debt and dependence on others. As the scripture says, once we become a borrower, when we become in debt to somebody, we’re now a slave to that person. We’ve lost liberty. Fifth, failure to stand up for other people who are losing their liberty. Sam, we need to be vocal. When we see things happening in the world where other people’s liberties are being threatened, even though I may not be that kind of person, if I don’t say something, I will be next. And finally, the sixth threat is an unwillingness to fight and value the safety and security for more liberty from time to time in life. There must be a bearing up of the cost of liberty. We must fight. It may cost us our lives, our fortunes, just like our founding fathers and just like our savior and the apostles did to secure our spiritual liberty.

So that’s the six Sam.

Sam Rohrer:

Okay, and those are great, Jamie, and ladies and gentlemen, these are things that can be available for your pastor and your churches to be able to take and use plus more. But in application to this, now you’ve made some application, but these are points, these are principles of truth. These are threats that attack liberty. And like I said, you say they’re not exhaustive. There are others as well. But when you look around to what’s actually happening in society today, it’s not hard to pick out that one, for instance, debt and the fact that being in debt causes one to be a slave, the opposite of liberty. Well, obviously we hear that in the news all the time. Our nation is $36 trillion in debt, and that issue is causing a completely revamping of the world’s economics and things are going to happen as a part of that. So that goes to that. Do you see any other consequence or evidence, for instance, where liberty is being challenged in real life?

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, I have one and we talk a lot about it on Stand of the Gap. Sam, I would even like to hear you weigh in a little bit, but I think this growing antisemitism attitude here in America, and it has been already around the globe, is one of those, let’s call it a backdoor to liberty. It may be very easy if you’re not a Jew, you don’t really understand the importance of Israel or any of that, which we talk about on this program all the time. But when we see Jewish students not being able to go to class and be threatened, libraries being seized, schools, businesses across the board, Sam, I may not be a Jew, but if we don’t stand up for the Jew and we don’t push back on this antisemitism today, it is just opening up the door for anyone and everyone’s liberty to be taken. And so it’s those kinds of things that as Christians, we have got to start focusing our eyes on what’s happening in the world and understand liberty is literally a heartbeat away.

Sam Rohrer:

It literally is. And Jamie, just like we started the program and we’ve talked about before, understanding liberty comes right off the pages of scripture being set free from sin. And even in the antisemitism it does come down even to a theological part. We have the emissaries of the devil himself in certain religions like Islam as an example, that have historically said death to and destroy Israel because they’re ultimately opposed to God himself. But Jamie, there are also, and I’ve talked about in other programs, those who would call themselves Christians and some are, but hold to a position that God did away with Israel and replaced it with the church. And so they have a very limited value of Israel and the Jews. And by not understanding what the Bible says, there is a, well, there’s a lethargy at best which contributes to all of this.

So I always threw this on the table. There’s a lot of things we go to. We have to be very careful. The attacks against liberty can come from clear sources and it can also come from those that you would not expect. Alright, now as we continue to talk about that, I want you to speak to your pastor, be thinking about this as we work this thing through regarding Liberty Sunday and having one at your church. When we come back, we’re going to talk about why some pastors and churches will do this, why some may not. Well, thanks for being with us today. This is our Tuesday program. Obviously, if you’re listening today, this is Tuesday. We’re doing it in a little different way rather than headline news in a normal approach, we’re highlighting something that is very relevant and we would love to make it a headline news event, but it’s an emphasis that we began a couple of years ago.

But utilizing their recurring and expected date of celebration that we all do on July the fourth, independence Day, but licking and doing this on this year, July the sixth, which is the Sunday closest to July 4th is be Sunday, July 6th. And to encourage you if you’re a pastor, encourage you specifically make the decision if you’re a church leader, for you to be discussing with your leadership and if you’re someone who is there, part of the congregation, part of your local assembly, that you can bring this to the attention of your pastor and others. And that is to be a part of what we’re calling Liberty Sunday, a perfect opportunity to speak directly from the word of God relative to true liberty in Christ, and then apply it to and work it back to the history of our nation built upon that foundation. And from that, then God then blessed and brought us to the point where we now have our country the way it is, but we also see that that which was laid out, that made us great, that gave us the liberty we have, has been so horrendously under attack.

And that’s what all this is about. A great time to say, all right, this is where it started. This is where we are. This is what the word of God said. Then this is what the word of God says now, perfect opportunity. Well, Dr. Jamie Mitchell, who is our director of church culture and pastoral engagement, we call here at the American Pastors Network. He and I are working together on this today, on this program and have done now for several years. Now, Jamie, with that being said, this is a time of choice. The day of July 4th will come. July 6th will come, unless the Lord raptures this out, and I hope that he will, that would be great. But for those who will be here, July 6th is a perfect time to do what we’re talking about. But some will, some churches, some pastors will, some won’t. So let’s just walk into that a little bit. Why is it that you think so many pastors find it difficult to speak on matters? Let’s put this way that are outside the walls of the church and make application of biblical principles to such relevant things as our independence day or this matter of liberty. And anyway,

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, Sam, as I’ve thought about it, and again, I do a lot of interaction with pastors. I mean, I’m talking to pastors all the time, challenging them, imploring them. I have probably three or four things that I have noticed. One is to do a message like this and to do a competent job takes work. You got to do a little study of history. You got to do a deep dive on what’s happening in the culture. It’s not just a Bible message, it’s the blending of those things. But Sam, that’s why we’re here. I mean, the resources that stand in the gap today and the American Pastors Network provides, we can take a lot of the burden off of pastors today and give them the dialogue. I mean, one Bible conference director once said to me, I looked at your website and your archives, and this was his words.

He says, you have a treasure trove of information on there. And I say to him, yeah, I mean, it’s a tremendous resource. So if work is your concern, we can help you. Secondly, because you’re talking about the history and the liberty and the nation and some of the illustrations that I’ve even mentioned today, it smacks of the politics of today. But I could just tell pastors, look, this isn’t talking about politics and elections and those kind of things. You’re giving your people information to help them become wise and discerning and effective citizens here on earth and to be a great witness because they can dialogue on these issues. Thirdly, Sam is the lack of vision. I think of all the time. Public schools that for years ago, whether it’s higher education or elementary education, there was an absence of a Christian influence there early on when they could have.

And they just walked away and said, well, it’ll be okay. We won’t have to worry about it. Now look at the mess we have with universities and colleges and all of that. And so we can never be shortsighted to say, what difference would talking about liberty mean? And then the final thing, Sam, is this, I think pastors misread their people. I think their people want to hear a message like this. They want to be given instruction, they need to be taught, they want to be equipped. If for any reason, to dialogue with others, I’ll give you an illustration in the midst of the whole Pope’s death and the new selection of the Pope this Sunday and next Sunday, I’m speaking on what every evangelical church needs to know about Roman Catholicism. Not to convince the Catholic, but to equip our people so that they then can go and speak intelligently on these things. And Sam, the pulpit is where that has to come from.

Sam Rohrer:

That is where it should come from. You are so correct, as we say so many times, what is the command that the pulpit has that is distinct from all other positions of authority? And that is preach the word, preach the word. And of course, the preaching of the word, ladies and gentlemen, is the application of the word so that people know how to live and apply the word of God. Now, Jamie, you mentioned some things that are reasons why many pastors in the pulpit might choose not to go down this road at all and are silent frankly. They’re silent on one area that’s out there beyond the walls of the church. Generally. We found that they’re silent on almost all issues that are out there in the real world that ought not be. But what can you share? What do you believe? Why do you believe, I guess this is important for pastors to do and do it courageously and boldly. Can you offer some words now of encouragement for those who are saying, well, I don’t feel comfortable, or I don’t think I have, or maybe I haven’t, but maybe I ought to?

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, Sam, it comes back to one of my threats in liberty. And that is that if we don’t say anything, if we just are silent, if we’re passive about these issues and many others, and we attempt to live a vanilla either Christian life or a vanilla it, where we are not taking courageous steps to be clear, to define, to bring clarity. Listen, Sam, clarity is never our enemy. Let me say that again. Clarity is never our enemy. And I think that pastors, I just want to encourage them that you’re not going to be penalized to stand up there and say, Hey, I want to just make clear what liberty is without liberty and the work of Christ breaking us free from the bondage of sin and the kingdom of darkness, we could not live free in this world. And oh, by the way, let’s read the Declaration of Independence.

Sam, one of the things I’ve done for I don’t know how many years on the 4th of July, Sunday or Liberty Sunday is I have found on YouTube just as a magnificent rendering of the entire reading of the Declaration of Independence. Why? Well, as you mentioned before, as the founders began to write the Declaration, they laid out the threats of liberty to them and what the king was doing and what England was doing and what they weren’t doing. And it’s a legal document laying out the threats to their liberty. And then at the end they said they have no choice but to stand up and to offer up their lives, their family, their fortunes, everything for the sake of liberty. One last thing, Sam, if they’re going to get in the game, here’s another thing. I would encourage them to honor people who protect liberty, part of Liberty Sunday. They could get up the police officers, the firemen, the military people, people in their own congregation or their families who have served to protect liberty. I just think, Sam, we need to get courageous when it comes to talking about these issues. Because if we don’t talk about it and we remain silent, we are going to wake up one day and we are not going to have the freedoms. Liberty will be lost and we will be silent for good. And we don’t want to see that happen.

Sam Rohrer:

Well, no, Jamie, we do not. And I think everyone understands that what we’ve gone through as a nation in the last four years, during the whole Covid experience, when so many churches did not meet, when our places we used to go to hear people speak were silenced, all of those things, those were warning shots. I believe those were very clearly evident threats to our liberty, the ability to even preach the gospel, to have a government come and tell you, you cannot meet or you cannot say this, or we’re going to penalize Jamie. These are the very, very things that do need to be mentioned from the pulpit and the biblical principles connected with them. So ladies and gentlemen, I know you know exactly what we’re talking about. So perhaps you consider taking this thought, taking this program, sharing it with your pastor, encouraging them to think about it, and the pastor, if you’re listening to say, yeah, there’s definitely a need. This is not something, an idea that’s just nice. This is an idea and a duty that’s necessary. Now, when we’re done here, we’re going to come back. We’re going to win the final segment When we finish up, we’re going to talk about what is the fear of God and how does that factor into this?

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, it has been a joy as usual to share this time with Sam Rohr and especially on a subject that we both are passionate about, liberty and properly instructing God’s people on key issues of faith and life and how we live out that faith in life here in America. Sam, as we finish up today, I want you to address an issue that I purposely left for the end, and that is the fear of God. Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You cannot surface God’s truth if you don’t first have a wholehearted reverence and awe and respect for God as our creator and redeemer. Yet part of the problem with not regarding or treasuring our liberty is that we do not fear God. When that’s lacking, I’ve noticed that liberty begins to slip, or at least we take it for granted. Can you address this issue? Why is the fear of God at the center of all that we have discussed here today about liberty?

Sam Rohrer:

Well, Jamie, it goes to the heart of, I’m going to put it this way. It goes to the heart of God’s plan as it’s carried out in written all through the entirety of scripture. There is, when our founders established this nation, I think all of us listening right now understand that this won’t be news to them. But they came here with a sense driven. They believed be the pilgrims, the puritans, and others who came after them. They came here with almost like a divinely implanted vision and passion, this opportunity to establish a new country. They almost all came here because of being persecuted where they are. Even the pilgrims felt that they were losing their children to a decadent secular society. Can you imagine that? When they were in Holland. And so they were looking for an opportunity in this new world. And so these number of factors came together under God’s sovereign plan.

But people came who had a fear of God driven by the spread of the gospel, which is what the pilgrims did for the advancement of the Christian faith. This is what is the Mayflower complex. And they came here and they laid down a foundation and they said, we have an opportunity like none other to actually create a new nation out of nothing. Where do we go? And they said they purposely went to, well, what does the word of God say? And they went immediately to how God established the foundation and the principle for the nation of Israel. And they went to the Old Testament and they went and they found passages like in Deuteronomy where it’s very, very, very clear that God told the people I want to deliver you give them liberty we’re talking about. And he did. He liberated them from the bondage of Egypt, came through new land.

And in that context, he said, right Now I have before, I said before you two paths. In Deuteronomy 32 paths, one leads to life, one leads to death. The eternal choices that faced Adam and Eve and faced every person. Listen to me down two choices. One is in the fear of God, I choose to do what God says, and that leads to life and liberty. The other is I choose to ignore what God says, forsake what he has done and has said, and that will lead to death on a national stage. One leads to liberty in life, and he makes it very clear they knew that. And the other leads to bondage and tyranny, the opposite of liberty. Well, that’s the way they laid it down. They knew that from the beginning. And so when I go to scripture, I find those same things. Now, what causes somebody not to want the blessings of God that he says he would bring in, that he would make a nation great as then our nation became where he said, I’m going to give you health. I’m going to bless you with many children. I’m going to give you good weather and plenty of rain for your crops. I’m going to make your crops to grow, and I’m going to actually allow you to build houses that are wonderful, and I’m going to give you security from your enemies, which we had because we had a notion on either side, but Israel, he protected them in that fashion. And I’m going to make you respected of the nations around the world. That’s all in Deuteronomy 28.

And so here it is. That’s life, that’s liberty. That is the freedom that comes from it. That is all the benefits of what God says I will do. But he said, if you don’t do this, you’re going to lose everything you have. Our founders knew that they laid down a foundation of biblical principles, which found its way into the Declaration of Independence. We talked about they start with God and they lay it all out, and then they went to the Constitution. Though it does not mention God by design, it has built on the biblical principles of that to basically guarantee that we have liberty. Now, here’s the thing, Jamie, I think that we had that once. We don’t have that now. Our liberty is so threatened and so weakened. We’ve redefined life and marriage and human sexuality. We’ve thrown out the 10 Commandments. We’ve thrown out prayer in the schools, all of these things that have happened.

And now we have a nation where 94% of the people in America hold to a new religion. And that’s not Christianity. It’s called syncretism. It’s a little bit of Christianity, but it’s a little bit of Hinduism, a little bit of mysticism, a little bit of everything. That’s where we are, all right? Now, how does that happen? Well, God told the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter six, I’m going to give you all these things, but here’s the warning. People do not forget that I gave it to you. Because when you cease to be grateful, then when that happens, you think that you did it by yourself, and now I’m no longer God. You are a God. You become idolaters. And when that happens, I will sever the continuity and the connection between fearing God, keeping God’s commandments obedience. I will sever that and you will lose it, and you will lose the freedom and the liberty along with it. Jamie, that is the connection. It has always been that way from all the way back in the Old Testament. Our founders knew it, but that’s why we so severely, significantly need to inform our people today because most of our country does not understand what I just said. But it’s right off the pages of the scripture.

Jamie Mitchell:

Wow, Sam, the fear of God creates an appreciation for God because we realize what he has done and what he has given is such a gift that creates gratefulness, that creates a discerning eye, and then we make the right choice, life and liberty instead of death and bondage. It is that simple appreciation for God, honoring God, accountability to God, all because we fear Him, and the fear of God leads us to liberty. Sam, we have less than a minute. There is a lack in our world today of this idea of divine consequence. Is that really what’s at the crux of why liberty can be thrown to the side and people aren’t even worried about it?

Sam Rohrer:

Well, Jamie, I think it accompanies just what we just talked about. When there is no fear of God, what there is a fear and awe of God, there is a fear and an awe and a worship of something else other than God, and that can be ourselves, that can be government that promises. But when that happens, then we don’t believe what the Word of God says. We don’t frankly even go and read what the Word of God says, and the consequences though will happen because God says, you forsake me. You do not fear me. You do not choose life. You will choose the opposite of life, and that is bondage and tyranny.

Jamie Mitchell:

Amen. Amen. Well, that brings us to the end of another stand in the gap. Today we love talking about Liberty. Liberty. The author of Liberty is God himself. What a great opportunity, pastors and churches on July the sixth to proclaim liberty. Be watching the American Pastors Network website for more information about Liberty Sunday, how your church can precipitate listen until tomorrow live and lead with courage. Liberty needs courageous people. Be a part of Liberty Sunday. God bless. Have a great day.