The Pilgrim Spirit

Ever
since
God
called Abram out of Ur,
God`s people have always possessed a
"Pilgrim Spirit."
Think of it: Abram was called by God to leave the only
country and home he had ever known, his family and
friends, and his culture and way of life. To make
matters worse, he did not even know where he was going.
And, of course, Abraham is known as

the "Father of the
Faithful".
Virtually all of God`s children since Abraham have
possessed an innate pilgrim spirit.

Abraham`s descendants, both physical (Old Testament
Jews) and spiritual (New Testament Christians), have
all, like their spiritual father, followed the call of
God to discover or defend the freedom to walk, work, and
worship in the spirit of liberty and truth.

In
fact, the spirit of liberty and the pilgrim spirit go
hand in hand. Think of it: virtually every great freedom
movement has been, in large part, born, bred, and
brought about by an intrinsic and indefatigable pilgrim
spirit.

The
pilgrim spirit brought Moses and the children of Israel
out of Egypt. The pilgrim spirit brought Joshua and
God`s children into the Promised Land. The pilgrim
spirit moved upon Samson and Gideon to free the Hebrews
from their oppressors. The pilgrim spirit empowered
young David to face off against the Philistines`
mightiest warrior. The pilgrim spirit motivated the
early church to plant themselves throughout Judea,
Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the Middle East. The
pilgrim spirit took God`s people to Europe. That same
spirit moved them from country to country, from one end
of the European continent to the other. And that same
spirit brought America`s Pilgrim forebears to the shores
of

Virginia
and


Massachusetts.

In
virtually every instance, it was oppression and
persecution (from both corrupt and power-mad governments
and organized religion) that energized the love of
liberty and emboldened their resolve to find and fight
for the right to live, raise their families, and worship
God in peace. Whether the oppressor was a Pharaoh or a
Philistine, communism or fascism, or a Spanish
Inquisition or a British King George, lovers of liberty
have never remained content to submit to the attempted
lordship and oppressive conduct of those who would
trample underfoot the Natural Law rights and conscience
of man. And for genuine Christians, could anything else
even be contemplated?

After all, does not the Holy Scripture declare,
"Where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty"? (II
Corinthians 3:17 KJV)
If, then, the Spirit of the Lord lives in the heart of
the true child of God, there must also reside in that
same heart a love and thirst for liberty, must there
not? How then could any professing Christian be content
to dwell in a land of servitude? He couldn`t!

This
love of liberty caused Moses to risk his life leading
the children of Israel out of Egypt; it prompted Joshua
to lead the armies of Israel against their enemies; it
emboldened David to fervidly fight Israel`s oppressors;
it called Gideon and Samson (and the other judges) to
rise in righteous rebellion against those tyrannical
powers that had enslaved them; it inspired Luther`s and
Zwingli`s German and Swiss reformations; it even led
Zwingli to the battlefield, where he died fighting for
religious liberty; it energized


America`s Pilgrim fathers
to leave their homes and hazard their lives as they
sailed across the Atlantic Ocean; it inspired our
pilgrim-patriots, such as Sam Adams, Patrick Henry,
James Warren, James Otis, etc., to pledge their lives,
fortunes, and sacred honor in defending America`s
Declaration of Independence; it gave courage to the
hearts of the brave men at Lexington Green, Concord
Bridge, and Bunker Hill; it


cemented
those


stalwart defenders of The Alamo
to those ramparts, even though—to a man—they knew they
had no chance of surviving


Santa Anna`s siege;
and it inspired the pioneering spirit of men such as
Daniel Boone and


Jedediah Smith.

In
truth, the history of God`s people since the call of our
spiritual father, Abraham, has been one of intense,
determined, and undying commitment to both the spirit of
liberty and the pilgrim spirit. And it was the pilgrim
spirit, in particular, which, more often than not, was
the tool God used to secure those liberties that were so
deeply embedded in the human heart.

And,
ladies and gentlemen, that same pilgrim spirit is alive
and well in the hearts of freedom-loving people all over
America today! I have personally heard from hundreds of
them. They have confirmed my belief that the spirit of
liberty is not dead in these United States.

Granted, while the powers that be in government,
education, the media, and organized religion have
successfully stolen the liberty spirit from the hearts
and minds of many Americans, there are yet today many
more than Elijah`s 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to
Baal, and who never will!

In
fact, it is that same pilgrim spirit, that same spirit
of liberty that has invaded the hearts of my family and
I, and has led us to take our own pilgrimage to the



Flathead Valley of Montana
(the area around Kalispell, to be exact). Our move to
Montana should be mostly complete by the end of next
month.

Now,
people should know we are not moving to Montana to



create a
"theocracy"
or to attempt to abuse or misuse the Natural Law rights
of men to worship or not worship as they see fit. We
certainly plan to be faithful to the Gospel, but the
acceptance or rejection of that message is left to the
individual free will and volition of every person: this
is a God-given right that I would personally defend to
the bitter end! Furthermore, I certainly am not
qualified to even pretend to be the Holy Spirit in
another man`s heart and life.

We
are certainly not going to Montana to attempt to use
government to force people to do anything! My
deeply-held conviction is that government`s only
legitimate function is to protect the right of free men
and women to make decisions and choices for themselves,
consistent with the principles and precepts of America`s
Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and our
State and US constitutions. Only when those choices
inflict harm upon others or suppress the Natural rights
and liberties of others must the force of government be
employed. But, notice, the purpose is to PROTECT
liberty, not usurp it!

What we are doing is answering the
pilgrim spirit (put there by God) in our hearts. Of
course, as believers, each of us is instructed to carry
forth our Lord`s Great Commission. And we do plan to
once again livestream my Sunday messages just as soon as
possible. We also plan to join with an already sizeable
(and ever-growing) patriotic Montana citizenry in their
defense of freedom against an ever-burgeoning federal
usurpation of State autonomy and personal liberty by
those miscreants in Washington, D.C. And we further
expect to be at the tip of the spear in this upcoming
freedom fight that is as inevitable as the sun`s rising
in the east. And, oh yes, we fully intend to be a thorn
in the side of this emerging New World Order as often as
we can!

Our
Creator has placed a strong pilgrim spirit and love of
liberty deep in the hearts of the Baldwin family, which
is why we are taking this permanent pilgrimage to the
great State of Montana. And I am convinced that God is
placing this same pilgrim spirit in the hearts of tens
of thousands of likeminded people all over America.

Dear
Reader, if you find a renewed pilgrim spirit rising in
your heart, rejoice! If you find yourself longing to
break free from the shackles that Big-Government toadies
(from both major political parties) are rapidly
fastening around your neck, rejoice! You are not alone.
There is a new day coming in this country. It is a day
of hope and gladness. Oh, we may have to face difficult
days in the meantime, but God would not be putting this
pilgrim spirit into the hearts of so many people if He
were not preparing us (as He did Abraham and our
forebears) for the dawn of an exciting new day of peace
and freedom!

Dr. Chuck Baldwin is the
pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola,
Florida. He hosts a

weekly radio show. His
website is

here.