Earlier this month my wife and I enjoyed a guided tour down the Colonial Freedom Trail, celebrating America’s 250^th anniversary.  In this message I’d like to share a couple of reflections of that tour.

Day One took us to Lexington, Massachusetts, and the “Battle Green,” where on April 19, 1775, the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired (by British).  From there we drove to the Old North Bridge in Concord, where a few hours later on that same historic day, “the shot heard round the world” was fired, a skirmish where British Regulars and Colonial Minutemen and Militia fired upon each other, igniting the Revolutionary War.

Prior to seeing the Old North Bridge, we stopped for refreshments in Concord’s historic Wright Tavern to hear of its significance in the fight for freedom.

The Wright Tavern is my first point of reflection.  Adjacent to the Tavern is the “Meeting House” (aka First Parish of Concord).  This church has Puritan roots, Puritans who founded Concord.  The Puritan Church of that time and place was strict Calvinist, holding to the Bible as the absolute rule of faith and daily life, practicing strict (biblical) morality.  The clergy served also to keep the citizenry informed of current events, viewing them from a biblical perspective.   There in the Tavern they facilitated these discussions and debates with the citizens as well as with the Minutemen and Militia, who would frequent the establishment to discuss British tyranny and to strategize on how best to combat it.  The Tavern was also the place the militia went to celebrate following the battle at the Old North Bridge.

My, how things have changed.  The First Parish of Concord is now the Unitarian Universalist Church, with BLM and Rainbow banners extending from the eaves of the front of the church (the same, by the way, as the church directly facing the Battle Green in Lexington).  While in the Tavern, our local host (born and raised in Concord) spoke of “No Kings Then and No Kings Now” as well as promoting abortion as a part of the fight for freedom.

Proud heritage in Concord.  Great patriotism there.  But I believe our founding fathers, especially those in Concord, are rolling in their graves.  I believe they did not “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” and shed their blood for such an interpretation of freedom and liberty as defined and defended there today.

Day Two took us to West Point.  Built on high ground on the west bank of the Hudson River, West Point holds the distinction of being the longest continuously occupied military installation in the United States.  General George Washington considered West Point to be the most important strategic location in America, and in 1778 he selected Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish engineer, to design fortifications for West Point.  Washington then transferred his headquarters there in 1779.

The point about West Point I’d encourage you to reflect upon is its biblical and Christian roots.  West Point (United States Military Academy) is guided by its motto: Duty-Honor-Country, all three born of biblical seed.  Referencing Duty is 2 Samuel 23:14-17; Honor is derived from Exodus 17:10-12; and Country is taken from Judges 11:1-11.

General Washington required of his troops that they observe the Sabbath Day, mandating Sunday worship attendance among all his men, believing that victory would come only through reliance upon the Divine hand of Providence.

On the campus of West Point is the Cadet Chapel, signifying the importance of worshiping the one true God.  Within the chapel is a pipe organ.  When first played two centuries ago, the organ had 2,406 pipes.  Today it boasts of 23,511 speaking pipes, the largest organ in a place of worship in the world!  In a military post, mind you.  What a vision of Washington!  An organ to lead the troops in full scale worship!

What a stark contrast between Concord then and now.  What a stark contrast between Concord now and West Point (then and now).

All this has prompted me to reflect once again on several things:

* Our good and godly heritage (Psalm 16:6)
* That righteousness exalts the nation (Proverbs 14:34)
* The words of the prophet, that “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6)
* That we are to contend for the faith (Jude 3)
* That if the foundation is destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)
* And “lest we forget” (Deuteronomy 6:12), the important influence the Right Hand Kingdom has upon the Left.