What is freedom?  We hear so much about freedom today, but few Canadians really understand what freedom is.  There is national freedom and spiritual freedom.  I will try to give some clarity to aspects of freedom. 

First, freedom is a very special privilege, and it does not come without a price. George Washington who was the first president of the United States stated that freedom is only one generation from being lost in a free country.  The principle that has made Canada and the United States of America the two greatest nations on earth that people from all over the globe will give anything to come here for is freedom.  Most immigrants who come here do not realize that it is freedom that makes us special.  They think it is prosperity or that Canada is a place where you can get a job and make money and have opportunity to advance yourself.  They fail to realize the underlying principle of that prosperity and wealth is freedom.  Without freedom you lose access to prosperity and wealth.   I recently listened to an interview with a lady who had lives in Venezuela and had moved to the USA and was doing well in her new life in the nation of free USA. She said, “I fear that the USA is losing what has made it a great nation for people like me to come and enjoy opportunities because we used to have freedom in Venezuela but not anymore”.  She said what is happening in the USA is the same thing she remembers in Venezuela.  She said it was propaganda and government control and now the country is in ruins and everyone is in extreme poverty. All the institutions in the country are in total ruin.  The economy is in ruins and the currency there is worth nothing though 25 to 30 years ago it was almost par with the American dollar.  This is what happens when a country is not managed properly, and Venezuela is a communist dictatorship.  The leaders do not care about freedom or the people.  All they care about is protecting and prospering themselves at the cost of the people.  

National freedom in a country as defined in the Oxford dictionary is “the power or right to act, speak, or think as you want without hindrance or restraint.  It is freedom of choice…also rights or entitlement. Included definition: absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government. Included definition:  the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.  “the shark thrashed its way to freedom”.

Freedom is generally having the ability to act or change without constraint.  However to have real freedom there has to be a moral foundation to freedom, or freedom cannot exist in a nation for long.  The underlying principle in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States was the moral principles that used to be taught in every training and teaching institution in these nations. Those moral principles were called our Judeo-Christian moral principles of justice and of right and wrong. We have ceased teaching these principles for at least two generations.  There is a verse in the Bible that reveals what happens when a nation does this: Hos_8:7  For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind:  Our nations are beginning to reap the whirlwind of neglecting our God-given Judeo-Christian heritage of Biblical Christianity.  You see, not many years ago most people in Canada  would go to church on Sunday and all stores and places of business were closed on Sunday.  Those were a result of a culture of Biblical teaching in our society.  The Bible-believing churches would preach and teach morality as it was taught in the Bible.  The reason we have a moral collapse in our society today is because those moral principles are not being taught in our institutions nor in our homes.  Parents are not teaching it because they have never learned it.  We are learning our morality from the internet today and we are reaping a whirlwind.   They have thought they can raise their children without the old-fashioned teaching of the morality of the last century, and we are going to reap the whirlwind as a result of this neglect.  That whirlwind referenced in the book of Hosea is a tornado that destroys everything in it path. 

While I am writing this the largest convoy of trucks ever amassed in a protest in the world is converging on Ottawa to protest against the Federal mandates that have been imposed on our country.  I am in full agreement and support of the trucker protest.  Something had to be done to wake this country up and revealing that there is major opposition across Canada against the mandates. The truckers are doing what our leaders should be doing, which is standing up and telling the truth.  Every politician in Canada needs to join the trucker convoy and hear the desperation of people having to deal with the mandates and the damage they have caused.  Now I am thinking of best case scenario.  Let’s imagine the trucker convoy is successful in convincing our weak political leaders in this country that what is happening with government mandates is probably the greatest threat to our freedoms that has ever happened to us.   If everything goes back to normal it will be a relief, but we now have a country in huge national debt in the trillions.  We have a destroyed economy.  I saw recently where over 250,000 businesses have gone bankrupt in Canada and the dollars we do have do not buy what they used to which is called inflation. It is not going to be an easy climb out of this hole that has been dug.  We will still have the effects of bill C-4 to bring us further down the moral abyss.  I know from the history when a nation abandons its morals there is only one thing to expect and it is judgment from God. Our Prime Minister will face judgment for pushing through such a destructive bill as the conversion therapy bill that is designed to prevent any Christian from trying to help a homosexual or transgender person out of their life to a new life as a Christian.  The Bible again is my authority and reference to issues like this, not a bill passed in parliament. I am a law-abiding citizen and want to support or respect any law in our country as long as it does not go contrary to the authority of scripture.  When it does we obey God and the Bible rather than the government.  This is clearly taught in the book of Acts when the apostles were told not to preach about Jesus Christ.  They said, Act_5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God  rather than men.  This principle applies regarding the conversion therapy bill C-4 or any other mandate or bill that is against God taught authority.  The apostles continued preaching the gospel and ended up in prisons and were punished for doing so but the gospel continued to grow.  

I could share many verses but will share these ones regarding conversion needed for all of mankind if they want to enter the Kingdom of God:

1Cor 6:9  Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality, 

1Cor 6:10  Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God. 

1Cor 6:11  And such some of you were [once]. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God. 

Quote from (Amplified version). 

 These are the principle of spiritual freedom.  The greatest citizens of national freedom are the ones who have experienced spiritual freedom.  Jesus taught that truth provides spiritual freedom.  Without a degree of spiritual freedom in our population we will never have national freedom because no one will really understand the principle of freedom until they do.  Jesus explained the principle here:  

Joh 8:32  And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free. 

Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Whoever commits and practices sin is the slave of sin. 

Joh 8:36  So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free. (Amplified version) 

Spiritual freedom is what our nation needs to experience in order to have real freedom that will make the biggest difference.  Without spiritual  freedom we will never really know or enjoy national freedom even if the government changes the mandates we need to get to the level of  experiencing spiritual freedom.  This will only happen if we have a national spiritual awakening of spiritual truth of the Christian religion from coast to coast.  

I would like to invite you to connect with our Live Stream services at 11:00 am and 6:00 pm each Sunday at www.pabaptist.ca If you would like your own Bible to study please contact us and we will mail you one for free. 

The content of this article is solely the personal opinions of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Prince Albert Shopper.