The Best Defense, America United

by Susan Snelling

A nation needs a strong military to ensure national security and protection from foreign ambition, and the Framers of the Constitution allowed for that. Americans are proud of their men and women in the military and the sacrifices they have made from America’s beginning to the present. Without their sacrifice and service there would not be the freedom that Americans have had the privilege of experiencing. But no matter how many soldiers America has or how able they are in their skills, if the American people are not united, the soldiers are limited in what they can do to intimidate foreign ambition against America. There is something greater than a strong military in America’s defense.

James Madison wrote in The Federalist paper No. 14: “America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.”

The best defense America can have is unity. According to James Madison, a unified people will do more to dissuade foreign ambition against America than a large military with a people that are not united. If we want America protected from foreign attacks of any kind then they need to see that the people are united; united as a people with or without the soldiers. A united people with a few or no soldiers sends a more powerful message than a large military and no unity. So why do some in political office or in the media or in academia and other arenas of influence, seek to divide the people along financial, racial, and other lines? This leaves an open door for foreign ambition to seek a way to undermine America or destroy her utterly.

James Madison wrote in The Federalist paper No. 46: “Every man who loves peace, every man who loves his country, every man who loves liberty, ought to have it ever before his eyes, that he may cherish in his heart a due attachment to the Union of America, and be able to set a due value on the means of preserving it.”

It is incumbent upon every citizen to resist forces that seek to divide for the survival of America. And for every immigrant, to assimilate into American life and culture so as to be one with the American people. Madison believed, and other Founders taught, that every liberty loving American would have an affinity for America and unity as their goal. Every citizen should have as his duty, the preservation of unity.  Madison also wrote in The Federalist paper No. 46 when mentioned the problems that Europe was experiencing: “This picture of the consequences of disunion cannot be too highly coloured, or too often exhibited.”

History is an excellent teacher. History is full of examples of what happens when a people are not united. Madison believed that the consequences of disunion cannot be presented or talked about too often. These examples should always be before us to remind us of why the Founding Fathers were so concerned about unity in America. It is even in the full name of this country. It is the United States of America. Unity is vital to liberty, to America as the Founders envisioned. Americans must be unified when it comes to doing good and right, to defending and protecting the Constitution as it was originally intended. Unity is America’s best defense, against foreign invasion and ambition, and might I add, against those who would subvert America from within.

Madison and the other Founders expected that unity would be within the context of that which is outlined in the Constitution and what they planned as to what constitutes America. This is why the American government requires a virtuous and moral people. Any other kind of people united in any other vein will bring deterioration, destruction, and the end of liberty. Consider America today, how divided we are in just about every way. Forces from without and within America have set about their agenda to dismantle America as our Founders intended. Perhaps the most primary area of unity is the belief that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. No matter what one’s religious beliefs it is paramount that people understand that our rights come from God, not man, not government. We must at least be united in that.

That is why atheism is not compatible with our Constitution because of its denial of God’s existence. (See Bishop Mark Shaw’s “How the Growth of Atheism Endangers Our Republic” June 2021 article on Collegiumministries.com “A Voice in the Wilderness” blog). Atheism (and some other “isms”) are completely against our Founding documents. America is based on inalienable rights and the Constitution is to protect those rights and it is our job to protect the Constitution. Consider this while recognizing the divisions that are intentionally sowed in America today by those who hate her (and us).

Most dangerous are those forces within who do not embrace the principles America is founded upon, who lack affinity for America and its people, whose designs on her are evil. When we the people come together united in GOOD and virtuous behavior the wicked tremble. It thwarts their plans. Their hatred of God and the godly principles that undergird America is laid bare for all to see. A united (in good) America is a strong America.

Don’t Get Distracted

by Rich Farm

“Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you. Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”     ~Ephesians 5:14-17

“There are always distractions if you allow them.” ~ Tony La Russa

We live in a day and age where we have everything at our finger tips with the swipe or tap of a finger.  We have access to endless amounts of information through the internet; both good information and bad.  Then, with the rise of AI it will only get progressively worse.  We need to learn how to sift this information in order to stay focused on what we are to be doing in this world to make a difference for good.  First, we need to understand that because we were created and placed on this earth, we have a purpose.  This goes back to the previous articles and understanding that we are just a piece in a greater puzzle of a cosmic battle that has been raging for eons.  There is no Switzerland in this battle.  We all have to choose a side, and that choice is made through what we believe to be true and act upon.

Ultimately, the forces of darkness mission is to “steal, kill, and destroy”, John 10:10.  It doesn’t even have to be physical death.  He can steal peace and joy, he can kill dreams and purpose, and he can destroy families and marriages.  The goal is to make our purpose on this earth ineffective to not better our lives or the lives of others.  This is all done through deception.  This has been the tactic since the beginning of time, to plant seeds of doubt.  Doubt in our Creator and His benevolence and love for us.  The enemy wants us to question, “is God really good, does He really care for us?”  He wants us to believe we are missing out on something when we submit to Father’s boundaries in our life.  Is that really true though?  Are we not experiencing all we can because we are confined to God’s “rules” or is it to give us a better life?

If you are a parent, you know this to be a lie.  You don’t put boundaries and rules on your children to punish them or restriction them. You do it to train and protect them.  You don’t just flippantly allow your 3-year-old to go running to the road where they can be struck by a car.  You establish rules and consequences for those rules, and even put up fences.  It is all for a more peaceful and better life.

Paul warns us in 2 Timothy 3:1-5:

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

It doesn’t really take spiritual eyes to see the above is literally coming to pass before our very eyes.  All we need to do is look throughout history—even just in our own nation—that morality is on the decline and licentiousness is pervading this culture.  It’s all about what benefits me, myself, and I, with no regard for others best interests.  It is about what is convenient and easy for me and it doesn’t matter what I need to do to get to what I want; the ends justify the means.

I’m going to take this a bit further and step on some toes.  The reason I believe I can is because I’ve struggled with these things myself.  The distractions and destructions are not just in the egregious behavior, and blatant sin, but even in the simple things, like entertainment and even things we choose to focus on and allow to distract us from our purpose.  Stuff as simple as hobbies, and gaming and forms of entertainment and even learning.  I’ve been one to give myself to gaming, and binge-watching shows, or even scroll through Facebook and end up going down rabbit holes with all the conspiracy exposures coming out.  When we give ourselves to things that don’t line up with our purpose and calling then we derail our assignment.  It begins to consume us to the point of creating an idol.

We need to be willing to push pause and evaluate ourselves from time to time to make sure we are still being productive to our assignment.  So are we being distracted by the “good things” in life at the expense of potential growth for our life.  Are we allowing things to rob us of where we are going or what we could be.  Are we going to have regrets for missed opportunities or delayed promises, because we weren’t willing to take inventory of where we are currently at and where we potentially could be.  If you believe this is happening in your life, just take time to realign your focus and start again.  For those who are believers this would involve repentance.  Turn from the distractions and pursue with passion the assignment of God on our lives.  If we are going to make any lasting kingdom impact in our lives, and the communities and the church’s then we need to be willing to let go of some things.  If we are not willing then we will just remain in the status quo.