<p><img src="images/stories/r_joyner_85px.jpg" border="0" align="left" />Week 48, 2010</p>
<p>The United States was the first, and some say the only, nation created through the belief that God, not government, has given to all men certain unalienable rights, and that government exists for the purpose of protecting those rights. For this reason, the government is a servant of the people, not the other way around. The Constitution and Bill of Rights were written to ensure the understanding and protection of those basic rights.</p>
<p>The vision for such freedom was born out of the Protestant Reformation when salvation became individual, not corporate. Also during the Reformation came the truth that in order to be saved we must have personal faith in God and His atonement, not that we are saved because we came from a Christian family, lived in a Christian nation, or were raised in an institutional church. This gave infinite value to the individual and made all institutions, including government, servants of God for ensuring peace and liberty for His people. This was a radical new concept for government that took several centuries to flesh out and become the basis for an actual government. <br /><br />Freedom is required for true worship. For us to have true worship of God, we must have the freedom not to worship. This is why the Lord put the Tree of Knowledge...</p>
