An American living in America

In the last couple of days, I have been reminded of my earthly citizenship. Of course, to the believer it is secondary to where we will spend eternity, but it does affect life on this planet.

Specifically, I have had a couple of thoughts:

• Watching the Olympics last night reminded me of the privileges of being able to pastor an evangelical church without fear of my occupation being viewed with suspicion. I can follow my calling and not be a lawbreaker. The same could not be said of every nation in the 'parade of nations' I saw in Beijing last night.
  
  
• I also had the privilege of seeing some of the sites of Colonial America (pre-Revolutionary War). Even here in America, many times there was only 1 sponsored church (the church of England), and other churches/denominations (such as Baptists) were considered renegade and faced forms of persecution.

Certainly, we can thank God for freedom to declare His Word openly with joy. With that privilege comes huge responsibility, but it is still a freedom that I am grateful for.