Happy 250th America
America is 250 years old. As I reflect on that milestone, my heart is filled with gratitude.
I thank God that I was born in this country. Despite our flaws, I still believe America is one of the greatest blessings God has allowed in human history. Millions have come to these shores searching for freedom, opportunity, refuge, and a better future. They came because there is something beautiful worth pursuing here.
Our nation is not perfect. Like every nation that has ever existed, America bears the marks of humanity’s greatest problem—not politics, not economics, not geography—but spiritual brokenness.
Racism is real. Injustice is real. Broken systems exist. Sometimes those systems are created intentionally. Sometimes they simply become the accumulated consequences of generations of broken people making broken decisions. This human spiritual problem always leaves a trail behind it. The Bible (Christian scriptures) has never hidden that reality.
The reality is pride, greed, hatred, fear, and selfishness have left scars on every generation. But those are not uniquely American problems—nor are they Democrat or Republican or Trump problems, they are human problems. They are the fruit of hearts that need the transforming grace of Jesus Christ.
The answer has never been to fear one another. It has never been to hate one another. It has never been to believe that our neighbor is our enemy. It has never been to slander or judge each other’s hearts. Especially if you call yourself a Christ-follower. You are not the Holy Spirit. You are not the judge or the conviction for others.
The beauty of the Gospel message that has shaped our nation and the world. And do not believe the false narrative that Christianity has not shaped either, it has and always will. But America is not God’s saving vessel, Jesus Christ is the way, truth, and life for all people.
The Gospel reminds us that while spiritual brokenness has some power, Jesus is greater. And scripture tells the story of an all-loving and redemptive God, who desires to never leave people in their brokenness. Matter of fact, faith in God through Jesus doesn’t simply forgive broken people. He restores them. He reconciles enemies. He heals hearts. He tears down walls of hostility. He teaches us to see one another not as opponents to defeat but as neighbors to love and people created in the image of God.
One of the greatest tragedies of our time is that we are continually told to fear one another. To stay angry. To assume the worst. To believe that people who vote differently, look differently, think differently, or have a different culture must somehow be our enemies.
I don’t believe that is the heart of Christ. The earliest Christians would have thought modern-day Christians were crazy.
The enemy has always delighted in division because divided people stop seeing the image of God in one another. Divided people stop seeking identity in a loving Heavenly Father and look for their identity in worldly things.
I have been so delighted over the last several weeks, as the world has gathered in our great nation for the World Cup, we’ve heard countless stories from visitors who have experienced kindness, generosity, hospitality, and genuine welcome from ordinary Americans. Their stories remind us that the loudest voices rarely represent the best of us. The daily acts of compassion, sacrifice, and neighborly love happening across this country almost never make the headlines—but they are real, and they are happening every single day. And we really are the freest and greatest nation on the earth (whether some people believe it or not).
I still believe there is far more good in America than we sometimes allow ourselves to see. I believe in the generosity of her people. I believe in the compassion of her communities. I believe in the resilience of her families. I believe in the courage of those who serve. I believe in the churches that faithfully love their neighborhoods. And I believe there is still hope for our future.
Not because America is perfect. But because God has always done His best work through imperfect people who humble themselves, repent, seek His face, and love their neighbors.
As Christians, our ultimate citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. Our highest allegiance will always belong to Jesus Christ. Yet that very allegiance should make us the kind of citizens who build rather than tear down, who listen before speaking, who seek justice with humility, who extend mercy, and who share God’s grace.
America is still a place where people dream, worship, serve, build, disagree, forgive, raise families, start businesses, help neighbors, and pursue a better future. Those freedoms are precious, and they are worth protecting—not only by our laws, but by our character and against people who desire to take them from our great nation.
Perhaps on this 250th birthday of America, our gift to our nation and to our God is to ask the question of ourselves, “What needs to change within us?” not merely “What needs to change around us?” For my Christian brothers and sisters, Biblical repentance is more than turning from an ungodly behavior—it is allowing Christ to reshape our minds, so we begin thinking like citizens of His Kingdom instead of merely citizens of this world. When Jesus preached, “Repent and believe the gospel,” He was inviting people into a completely new way of seeing reality, a new way of loving, and a new way of living under the rule of God’s Kingdom.
Happy 250th Birthday, America.
May God continue to bless this nation—not merely with prosperity or power, but with repentance, humility, wisdom, courage, and a renewed love for one another.
One of Your Patriots,
Rev. Dr. Marty Dunbar
What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. -- Micah 6:8
I thank God that I was born in this country. Despite our flaws, I still believe America is one of the greatest blessings God has allowed in human history. Millions have come to these shores searching for freedom, opportunity, refuge, and a better future. They came because there is something beautiful worth pursuing here.
Our nation is not perfect. Like every nation that has ever existed, America bears the marks of humanity’s greatest problem—not politics, not economics, not geography—but spiritual brokenness.
Racism is real. Injustice is real. Broken systems exist. Sometimes those systems are created intentionally. Sometimes they simply become the accumulated consequences of generations of broken people making broken decisions. This human spiritual problem always leaves a trail behind it. The Bible (Christian scriptures) has never hidden that reality.
The reality is pride, greed, hatred, fear, and selfishness have left scars on every generation. But those are not uniquely American problems—nor are they Democrat or Republican or Trump problems, they are human problems. They are the fruit of hearts that need the transforming grace of Jesus Christ.
The answer has never been to fear one another. It has never been to hate one another. It has never been to believe that our neighbor is our enemy. It has never been to slander or judge each other’s hearts. Especially if you call yourself a Christ-follower. You are not the Holy Spirit. You are not the judge or the conviction for others.
The beauty of the Gospel message that has shaped our nation and the world. And do not believe the false narrative that Christianity has not shaped either, it has and always will. But America is not God’s saving vessel, Jesus Christ is the way, truth, and life for all people.
The Gospel reminds us that while spiritual brokenness has some power, Jesus is greater. And scripture tells the story of an all-loving and redemptive God, who desires to never leave people in their brokenness. Matter of fact, faith in God through Jesus doesn’t simply forgive broken people. He restores them. He reconciles enemies. He heals hearts. He tears down walls of hostility. He teaches us to see one another not as opponents to defeat but as neighbors to love and people created in the image of God.
One of the greatest tragedies of our time is that we are continually told to fear one another. To stay angry. To assume the worst. To believe that people who vote differently, look differently, think differently, or have a different culture must somehow be our enemies.
I don’t believe that is the heart of Christ. The earliest Christians would have thought modern-day Christians were crazy.
The enemy has always delighted in division because divided people stop seeing the image of God in one another. Divided people stop seeking identity in a loving Heavenly Father and look for their identity in worldly things.
I have been so delighted over the last several weeks, as the world has gathered in our great nation for the World Cup, we’ve heard countless stories from visitors who have experienced kindness, generosity, hospitality, and genuine welcome from ordinary Americans. Their stories remind us that the loudest voices rarely represent the best of us. The daily acts of compassion, sacrifice, and neighborly love happening across this country almost never make the headlines—but they are real, and they are happening every single day. And we really are the freest and greatest nation on the earth (whether some people believe it or not).
I still believe there is far more good in America than we sometimes allow ourselves to see. I believe in the generosity of her people. I believe in the compassion of her communities. I believe in the resilience of her families. I believe in the courage of those who serve. I believe in the churches that faithfully love their neighborhoods. And I believe there is still hope for our future.
Not because America is perfect. But because God has always done His best work through imperfect people who humble themselves, repent, seek His face, and love their neighbors.
As Christians, our ultimate citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. Our highest allegiance will always belong to Jesus Christ. Yet that very allegiance should make us the kind of citizens who build rather than tear down, who listen before speaking, who seek justice with humility, who extend mercy, and who share God’s grace.
America is still a place where people dream, worship, serve, build, disagree, forgive, raise families, start businesses, help neighbors, and pursue a better future. Those freedoms are precious, and they are worth protecting—not only by our laws, but by our character and against people who desire to take them from our great nation.
Perhaps on this 250th birthday of America, our gift to our nation and to our God is to ask the question of ourselves, “What needs to change within us?” not merely “What needs to change around us?” For my Christian brothers and sisters, Biblical repentance is more than turning from an ungodly behavior—it is allowing Christ to reshape our minds, so we begin thinking like citizens of His Kingdom instead of merely citizens of this world. When Jesus preached, “Repent and believe the gospel,” He was inviting people into a completely new way of seeing reality, a new way of loving, and a new way of living under the rule of God’s Kingdom.
Happy 250th Birthday, America.
May God continue to bless this nation—not merely with prosperity or power, but with repentance, humility, wisdom, courage, and a renewed love for one another.
One of Your Patriots,
Rev. Dr. Marty Dunbar
What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. -- Micah 6:8