Independence Day 2025 - Is this America's Sunset or Rebirth?
— A Call to the Ecclesia to Keep the Garden of Government
Independence Day 2025: Is this America’s Sunset or Rebirth?
This July 4th, 2025 marks the 249th birthday of our nation. As we near our 250th birthday in 2026, the United States of America is living on borrowed time. In general, the average survival length of the world’s greatest civilizations has been about 200 years. This might cause us to wonder:
Is the sun setting or rising on freedom in the United States of America?
In general, every country tends to move through these phases in its life-cycle:
Phase 1: From bondage to spiritual faith.
Phase 2: From spiritual faith to great courage.
Phase 3: From courage to liberty.
Phase 4: From liberty to abundance.
Phase 5: From abundance to complacency.
Phase 6: From complacency to apathy.
Phase 7: From apathy to dependence.
Phase 8: From dependency back to bondage.
Phase 9: From bondage back to spiritual faith.
It is not hard to recognize that America has unfortunately been in Phase 5-6 for some time now, is now solidly seated in Phase 7, and is at the brink of falling into Phase 8.
Our complacency and apathy have led us straight into dependence on government, and thus bondage to it.
The light at the end of the rainbow, however, is that whatever abuses or bondage We the People have experienced thus far is waking us up and inspiring a resurgence of spiritual faith and a resolve to fight for our freedoms.
Keepers of the Garden
In Genesis 1:28, God gives mankind our purpose to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth, but also to have dominion over it. In Genesis 2:15 it says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it.”
The garden encompasses everything that God created and thus all 7 spheres of culture: Education, Business, Media, Entertainment, Family, Religion, and yes, even Government!
Christ’s Ecclesia
When Christ spoke to Peter in Matthew 16:18 about building his church, he said: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
The word “church” here in the Greek is “ecclesia,” and would be better translated as “assembly.” After reading more about this “ecclesia” term in the Blue Letter Bible, I would summarize what God meant by “church” as:
The Church is the distinct, visible public assembly of believers in Jesus Christ.
It is NOT a place - it is the People!!!
The purpose of Christ’s Ecclesia is to give visibility to his Kingdom and to demonstrate the Gospel of his Kingdom.
God NEVER meant his Church to be trapped within four walls!!!
Christ intends for the Body of Christ to be fully present and engaged in the public square, to be fully engaged in cultivating and wisely stewarding the garden which his Father created. Our Constitution also was designed for an engaged citizenry!
So when Christians shrink back from engagement with the culture, when we withdraw our influence from the public square, when we retreat back into our own private sphere, we are failing to fulfill our God-given purpose! We are failing to be the light of the world and the shining city set on a hill (Matthew 5:14).
When we do this, we are like the servant who buries his talent in Matthew 25:14-30. Unfortunately, when the Master returns, he takes even the one talent away from this “worthless” servant and casts him into outer darkness.
Mankind is Called to “Keep the Garden”…
So when God told mankind in Genesis that we are to be “keepers of the garden,” this term is strikingly reminiscent of Benjamin Franklin’s response when asked what kind of government the Founding Fathers had created:
“A Republic, if you can keep it…”
This is the both the weighty challenge and the exhilarating opportunity before us today:
This is a Call to the Ecclesia to Keep the Garden of Government!
On September 17, 1787, the day that delegates signed the Constitution, Benjamin Franklin noted the image of a sun engraved on the back of George Washington’s chair. He said:
“I have often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising and not a setting sun.”
America remains teetering at this vital precipice in the history of our nation, but the story is not over yet! God has placed his Ecclesia here in this very hour for a purpose!
Are we going to allow freedom, righteousness, and justice to die before our very eyes, or are we going to work towards ushering in a rebirth of freedom & righteousness?
Like the Pilgrims, We the People, with our eyes on God and the hope of our hearts firmly anchored in him, will endure.
If the Ecclesia in America re-dedicates ourselves to re-engaging in the garden of government, our nation can push through the bondage to a new re-birth of spiritual faith and freedom!
So as we enter our 250th year, my prayer for the United States of America is the same as Abraham Lincoln’s: “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people would not perish from the earth.” AMEN!
As we enter into the 250th year of our Nation, We the People - the Ecclesia of Jesus Christ - must commit ourselves to Re-Engage!!!
Reengage by Taking the Biblical Citizenship Course!
One excellent way to reengage is to educate yourself by hosting a Biblical Citizenship Class! This inspiring, info-packed eight-week class is available through the Patriot Academy. You can sign up to be a Constitution Coach and receive free access to their courses.
Check out the Patriot Academy website today, take a look at the Biblical Citizenship Course, sign up to be a Constitution Coach, then host a class in your living room! My husband and I are in the middle of hosting our first class, and the content of the videos plus our rich discussions have been very impactful.
Also watch for the release of their newest course, designed to inspire every American leading up to America’s 250th birthday — Rebuilding Liberty!
Before I go —
You may be wondering: Is there hope for Minnesota? Is it even possible to turn around our State?
Read my previous post HERE and watch my presentation “You Are the Hope!”
