The Statue of Liberty, the Cross, and the Real Hope for the New Year!

Word from the Center
Written By Dr. Gregory Seltz

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New Year’s Eve is a time when Americans gather to ceremonially put the past behind them and cast their hopes forward for a blessed New Year. As a country, the notion of liberty, life, and the virtuous pursuit of happiness always seems to compel us forward with bold resolutions, or at least bold assertions that the future, the years ahead, will surely be much better than the past.

But what happens to these “New Year’s hopes born of Freedom” when they are confronted by a growing barbarism or government abuse to the contrary? What happens when even the law-abiding, “good” citizens, striving to live virtuous lives, accountable to God and in service to neighbor, suddenly become lives threatened by the state? What then? This past year we have seen too much of this in the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” For even in the land of the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment we see:

· A family man, a kind man, a man who “stands for life and serves the most vulnerable among us,” targeted by the FBI with a pre-dawn raid with guns drawn and pointed at him and his family for justifiable reason whatsoever;

· A high school football coach fired merely for praying silently—in his head!—in a public place;

· Churches, in the crisis of Covid, demonized, fined, persecuted, even shut down, while liquor stores and casinos were deemed essential and free to do as they please, and violent protests occurred;

· A baker continuously “sued into oblivion,” now with his family targeted by lawsuits, merely for kindly refusing to make “special cakes” that violate his conscience . . . when there a plenty of bakeries that will do it with ease.

Even in western countries like Finland, which profess tolerance and protection for freedom, we have seen a pastor and a politician publicly, politically, harassed, arrested, tried, exonerated, tried again, and exonerated again. Why? For teaching that marriage is between and man and a woman, and the biblical view of sexuality is to be practiced within the marriage bond.

What’s going on? Well, this growing darkness is the extension and misuse of “hate speech” laws, using them to label, to silence moral, ethical, kind people. Why would officials do such a thing? Those who are perceived to be on the wrong side of the modern chaos of gender assertions, the “life” side of the abortion debate, or the “God side” of the “faith in God, or absolute faith/dependence in government” debate, they are a threat to the secular empire. And if so labeled . . . they must then be punished.

So, what about this “hope in the new year” then?

Well, first of all, we have First Amendment protections to prevent some of this nonsense from destroying our country. So, use those protections as long as you have those to use. Yes, celebrate the fact that these are indeed blessings from God, blessings that give us a bit of hope. Remember too that these blessings are purposeful in service to God’s people living boldly the life of faith that He has given us to life.

To that end, never forget the most important thing of all. God’s light of grace and mercy shines brightest amidst the darkness. And hope rooted in Jesus can never be extinguished. As believers in the “It-is-finished” Lord Jesus, we are called to be salt and light in this world, and to let His light shine for all to see. We have hope because of the civil, temporal liberties we have, no doubt. But we have an even more certain hope because of the person and work of Jesus on the cross for all. Being a people who know how to cherish both is the opportunity that we have in the world in which we live today.

I love the song written by Neil Enloe, called “Statue of Liberty.” He said that he was given the inspiration while performing with his group, “The Couriers,” for a large group of Christians on a ship out in the waters around New York City. Over 2,000 were on the ship, but only 400 could hear the concert at any given time. His group had to do six concerts that night as a result. Tired after the performance, cold, and gazing out from the ship’s deck into the darkness of the night, suddenly he was confronted by the Statue of Liberty directly in his gaze. It was brightly lit, shining boldly in the darkness. That confrontation caused him to cherish both the liberty he had as an American and the ultimate liberty that he had because of Jesus. He wrote these words, words we should all cherish anew in 2024:

In New York Harbor stands a lady, with a torch raised to the sky; And all who see her know she stands for Liberty for you and me.

Chorus: I’m so proud to be called an American, to be named with the brave and the free; I will honor our flag and our trust in God, and the Statue of Liberty.

On lonely Golgotha stood a cross, with my Lord raised to the sky; And all who kneel there live forever, as all the saved can testify.

Chorus: I’m so glad to be called a Christian, to be named with the ransomed and whole, As the statue liberate the citizen, So the cross liberates the soul.

On the cross is my statue of Liberty, it was there that my soul was set free, Unashamed I’ll proclaim that a rugged cross is my Statue of Liberty1

Defend, protect, and use the liberties that we have in this country, they provide a freedom unlike any other in the world. But defend so as to proclaim what you know to be true in Christ for you and for all. Do that . . . and there is real Hope for the New Year—2024.

The Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz is the executive director of the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty.

Be Informed

Order copies of “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: Elementary Activity Booklet on the Beginning of Life” for the kiddos in your life who support life from conception to natural death!

 

Be Equipped

Dr. Peter Scaer explains the truly Satanic nature of abortion.

 

Be Encouraged

“Teach your children to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and their neighbors as themselves. Teach them the Bible that shows them their living God. Teach them the catechism that shows them how His truth fits together.” – Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz


[1] https://townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/2020/12/24/the-power-of-christmas-n2582043

See Also
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It’s Friday, July 4th, 2025, in Washington D.C. and it has been an incredible journey. Our LCRL work started in 2017. From the start, our mission has been to bring a faithful two-kingdom voice into the heart of federal politics—a voice that limits the reach of government, defends the family and the Church, and upholds First Amendment freedoms so that God’s people can freely proclaim the whole counsel of God without fear of coercion or intervention to the contrary. For a time, threats like COVID shutdowns, the Obergefell decision, and the politicized coercion of DEI-LGBTQ mandates eroded those protections and weaponized government against those holding to traditional, biblical values.

The Oppressors and the Oppressed
The Oppressors and the Oppressed

That's how Marxism works. In the Communist Manifesto, it's the freeman and slave, the patrician and the plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman. Translated into the present, it's critical theory where it becomes a matter accumulating points. Score one for being a woman, one for being a person of color, one for being LGB, and perhaps two for being T. Count yourself as an enemy of the one percent, and that's at least a half-point. Such an odd thing, yet you gain a bit of oppressed status by including yourself among the 99 percent. Say you are an LGBTQ ally, another half point, and so on. Colleges have long operated this way, and many young people, young women especially, come home as trained Marxists.

Cohabitation Hurts More Than a Couple
Cohabitation Hurts More Than a Couple

If a couple came to me and said, “Pastor, we’d like to get married, and we’d like to do everything we can today to make sure our marriage ends in divorce tomorrow,” then I would tell them that the first thing they should do is move in together. Cohabitation is that destructive to marriage and family life.

However, the warning must not stop there. Because it is a form of public and intentional sin, cohabitation is particularly destructive to the conscience, and not just to the couple’s conscience but also to the conscience of the Christian community. Many couples view their choices as going no further than themselves. I would like to challenge this by considering some of the ways that cohabitation harms the broader Christian community.

Defund Planned Parenthood?
Defund Planned Parenthood?

That's the very least we can do. We have a lot of work to do. Blue states love abortion, want more of it, will never even speak against partial-birth abortion, much less children who, if born, could live outside of the womb. Red states are full of pro-life folks, many of whom would rather not push the issue. Abortion is the dark underside of our culture. What's a child in the womb worth? Nothing at all? Or is an unborn child dispensable? Is the child's worth totally dependent upon the mother? If a person is not loved, does that mean they can be dispensed with?

Compassionate Abortion?
Compassionate Abortion?

The story has many troubling aspects, not least of which is the parents’ decision based on inaccurate information about the child’s chance of surviving and thriving. But what troubles me most is that I encounter fellow Lutherans who have bought the narrative that it is better for babies with physical imperfections to be aborted rather than embraced and loved for whatever time the Lord allows them to live. I offer four problems with that mindset.

The Mob's Demonic Shrieks
The Mob's Demonic Shrieks

Abortion is a human right. So also is the right to ensure that children have puberty blockers and hormone treatment leading to mutilating surgery. Engage in debate, present the facts, and you will be shouted down by the mob. But that is a little child in the womb, a human being at an early stage. But you will hear only "My body, my choice." And if you take the argument further, you will hear more shouting, as the protestors screams and then repeats over and over again. What is a woman? There is no answer, but that doesn't bother the mob. Is there really such thing as a trans-child? How would you know? Might the child simply be confused? No answer, only the mantra, "Trans right are human rights."

A Lutheran Wedding
A Lutheran Wedding

There was a great wedding in Leipzig, Germany, in the mid-1730s. We don’t know whose wedding it was, and we wouldn’t think anything of it today at all, had not Johann Sebastian Bach composed a cantata for it. A cantata was a piece of concerted music, about 20 minutes long and split into various movements, made up of sung Scripture passages and poetic verses. Almost all of Bach’s cantatas end with a hymn stanza.

Think for a moment about which hymn stanza would best conclude a cantata at a wedding. What words should be echoing in the ears of bridegroom and bride as they prepare for married life together? Which would be best?

Created In God's Image
Created In God's Image

What does it mean that Adam was created in God's image? Surely this includes righteousness, as well as the ability to be in conversation with God. But then, the same could be said of angels, who are not said to bear that image. This image also looks forward to God's eternal intention to become one of us in His eternal Son, who is the express image of God.

Marriage: Human Construction or Divine Institution?
Marriage: Human Construction or Divine Institution?

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) will go down in history as the landmark Supreme Court case which redefined marriage in this country, granting same-sex couples throughout the land the right to marry. Keen observers have noted, however, that nowhere in the opinion of the majority (written by Justice Kennedy) is marriage itself ever actually defined.

Jesus vs. Caesar
Jesus vs. Caesar

“Savior.” “Lord.” “Son of God.” If you asked someone in the ancient world who these titles referred to, they might tell you “Jesus.” But depending on who you were talking to, they might also tell you “Caesar.” Modern readers of the Bible often miss the fact that some of the language the New Testament uses to talk about Jesus was also commonly used to talk about the Roman Emperor, who was not just a political leader, but someone whom people worshipped and even offered sacrifices to.

SEEING THINGS FROM GOD’S “MISSION-VICTORY” POINT OF VIEW!
SEEING THINGS FROM GOD’S “MISSION-VICTORY” POINT OF VIEW!

D.C. We have seen religious liberties for Christians now protected and defended rather than threatened and litigated. We have seen other constitutional protections undergirded as well. But sadly, we are also seeing a growing callousness to the issue of life, not just from a select group of secular elites, but even from American citizens who are religious. The Pew Research Center shows that while conservative Christians still see abortion as an illegal action against innocent Children in the womb, other Christians are beginning to support the “abortion in all circumstances” mantra in pop culture.  The abortion euphemistic cover of a constitutional “right to choose” has been properly litigated, but now the deceptive phrases of “reproductive freedom” and “women’s health care” has many callously embracing the killing on demand of innocent children right up to the moment of birth. Politicians and citizens alike are growing in their support of the outrageous notion that a child can be aborted up to the time of birth and even after it is born, as long as the mother and the doctor decide.

Religious Liberty and Bearing the Cross: It’s Always to Share the Message of the Cross
Religious Liberty and Bearing the Cross: It’s Always to Share the Message of the Cross

A blessed Good Friday, Easter morning to you all!!

One of my favorite recurring guests on the “Liberty Action Alert” is Cal Thomas. He is a clear-thinking, fearlessly-engaging, Christian voice in the public square. His columns and commentary always give “public” Christians a lot to think about as they try to live out their faith lives in the particular vocations in the world in which they serve. He wrote this Good Friday piece about 3 years ago,

Sacrificial, Unconditional, Incarnational: A Biblical View of Marriage
Sacrificial, Unconditional, Incarnational: A Biblical View of Marriage

I recently began a wedding sermon addressing the couple, “Your marriage is going to be tough! It’s going to be filled with conflict and suffering and sorrow and pain. And, if you do it right, you’ll eventually get to watch each other get old, have more pain, carry more grief and watch each other move toward death.”

Their eyes got as big as saucers, and their huge smiles started to waver. I paused for a bit with a very serious look on my face, because it is all, sadly, true. I then continued, “However, you’re about to enter one of the most beautiful experiences you can ever have on earth. You’ll have glimpses of heaven that most will never see. You’ll delight in the love of Jesus overflowing to you from your spouse. When you fall, you’ll have each other to speak words of forgiveness and renewal. Your joy will grow and overflow to everyone. And I can say this with certainty.”

The Common Order of Christian Love
The Common Order of Christian Love

According to Luther’s teachings about the Christian life, the good works God desires of us are carried out in our vocations. That is to say, the Christian life does not necessarily involve heroic accomplishments and dramatic deeds. Rather, God calls us to love and serve our neighbors in our ordinary interactions with the members of our families, our coworkers and our fellow citizens.

Making the Case for Life
Making the Case for Life

It’s easy to talk about your pro-life beliefs with your Christian friends. You’re all coming from the same source: the Bible. But what happens when you chat with friends or teachers who aren’t Christian, who don’t see the Bible as anything at all? How can you stand up for life in a pro-choice world?

Don't Be Political
Don't Be Political

Don't speak against abortion, though it will undermine everything you say about the sanctity of life and the Incarnation, our Lord who made His life in the womb. Oh, and babies will be killed. Don't be political and speak the truth of marriage, though God gave it for the sake of all children, so that they might have a mom and dad. Whatever you do, don't get into the whole male and female debate. Let the confused kids fend for themselves. Don't go out of your way, like some Good Samaritan to help them. Don't stand in the way of the predator wielding the knife.

Being for the Family
Being for the Family

“What is marriage?” It seems like a silly question. But it’s one our society is vigorously fighting about. For thousands of years, and for all of recorded history prior to the year 2000, societies around the world recognized that marriage was an exclusive relationship of faithful permanence between one man and one woman, who vowed to remain together until death parts them.

However, in a matter of a few short years (in the scope of human history), the institution of marriage has gone from being exclusively defined between one man and one woman, to being debated by society (it’s now at the highest court in our land), to consider if it might also be applicable to two homosexual men or two homosexual women.

Trust Not In Princes
Trust Not In Princes

“Trust not in princes?” Of course not. But be politically active to defend the unborn, remembering that the aborted child will never be baptized. Trust not in princes, though we don't really have princes, because the Constitution is what governs us. Trust not in princes, but elect the kind of people bold enough to ban males from the sports of females. Trust not in princes, but rejoice when our national laws are in congruence with the higher law. Trust not in firefighters, police officers, or soldiers, but work to create a system where they do their duty for the sake of the common good. Trust not in doctors, but find a good one.

THE GOD OF CREATION
THE GOD OF CREATION

The order for Confession and Absolution often begins with these words: “Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.” It is a plea lifted from Psalm 124. But it prompts some questions. Why are we invoking help from God as Creator rather than as Savior? Why not plead for spiritual deliverance? Why are we looking for help from the God of creation?

Two Threads, One Blessing: A Tale of Harmony and Salvation
Two Threads, One Blessing: A Tale of Harmony and Salvation

Jesus said a very interesting thing in Luke 20:25, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are Gods.” And later to Pontus Pilate, the governor of Judea, who claimed that he had authority over Jesus himself, Jesus responded, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). Wow! God is at work. He saves the world through the person and work of Jesus; that’s the main message of the Bible.

A Strange World
A Strange World

We live in a very strange world. It is world that says men and women are the same. In fact, they are so much the same, that a man can decide he is a woman, or a woman can decide she is a man, and everyone around that individual is supposed to act like this is just the way things are. It is asserted that men and women are completely interchangeable, and so marriage can occur between a man and a woman or between two men or between two women.

2025 TO DO LIST
2025 TO DO LIST

What might we, as a people, wish to accomplish in the coming year? Most of it has to do with gaining our voice, and then putting our words into action. That means cultivating courage.

First, we should deal with a constellation of issues revolving around gender. Of course, men should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. Speak up, boycott, act like you mean it. Likewise, let us keep males out of the public bathrooms of women. Protest. Let them know you care about your daughters. Along with that we must begin once again to speak the truth and to reclaim the language. Do not call Rachel Levine a woman, for he is not. Mock those who cannot answer the question, "What is a woman?" And, for heaven's sake, never speak of gender affirming care. Call out such surgery for the barbarism that it is, resulting in irreversible damage, bodily mutilation, a lifetime of misery. Make such treatment illegal everywhere. Instead, help our young people become comfortable in their own bodies.

Fight the Good Fight
Fight the Good Fight

 

We are told to be at peace, for Jesus is Lord. I get that. But don't let it be the kind of peace that serves as a sedative, the kind of peace that puts you to sleep while it is still day, and there is work to do. Christ remains on the throne, but that fact should stir us all the more to do good, and that means, on a day like today, in the political arena. The fact that Jesus is King should not lead us to complacency, but to the boldness that our Lord has our backs, now and into eternity. Knowing that our future is secure, here and now we defend our neighbor, including our littlest neighbor in the womb.

Christian Families Can’t Save the World, but They Can Confess the Faith
Christian Families Can’t Save the World, but They Can Confess the Faith

On my bookshelf is a picture book from 1980 that tells children how babies come into being. The text says, “Since a family is happier with children, your mother and father wanted a baby. They wanted you … to love and to care for.” Thirty years ago, it was normal to assume that getting married and having children made life better. 

Creation and the Foundation of Marriage
Creation and the Foundation of Marriage

“Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” the man exclaimed, “she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gen. 2:23). God had put the man to sleep, made the woman from his rib and presented her to the man (Gen. 2:21–22). The man’s response expresses the profundity and joy that he had discovered in her sameness; he is also clearly filled with relief. In her, he found rest and a true fulfillment of his godly desire (sexual, emotional, intellectual).

Pro-Death Penalty, Pro-Life
Pro-Death Penalty, Pro-Life

The Lord says, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man" (Genesis 9:6). Speaking of earthly rulers, St. Paul writes, "But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer" (Romans 13:4). So it is, a functioning society must impose penalties upon criminals. A man may serve ten or twenty years for armed robbery or rape. Circumstances matter, so sentencing varies. Prisons are said to be reformatories, especially when it comes to youth who may not have understood the ramifications of their actions. Prisons do well to incorporate rehabilitation to reduce recidivism. But time in jail is more than a time-out, and a reformed person cannot reverse the consequences of harmful deeds, and for that there is justice.

What Did You Go Out to See?
What Did You Go Out to See?

A reed shaken by the wind? What do you seek in a church? The Roman Catholics, back in 1940s, endorsed the higher critical method (Divino Afflante Spiritu), which allows for Scripture not to mean what it means, just like liberal Protestantism. Perhaps it's not so strange to think a little yeast can leaven many a lump. To what then is the church moored? Tradition is not enough, unless, of course, you think the truth is so pliable as to be reinterpreted for each successive generation. Unless, like the once great biblical scholar Richard Hayes, you can now endorse gay marriage under the umbrella of "the widening of God's mercy."

Christian Citizenship
Christian Citizenship

Let not one say that this “cannot be the purpose of the Church.” We know that it is not the purpose of the Church to influence culture. The Church is distinct in origin and purpose from the civilization in which we live and of which we are a part. The question is whether Christians as citizens shall bear an equal share with the rest of the population in fashioning the character of the American community. The question is whether we shall leave, for instance, the avenues of the daily press, the policies by which journalism is governed, to men of no spiritual understanding, of nothing but material interests, of nothing but carnal ambitions, governed by desire for praise and the love of power, more dangerous than a wild beast, more destructive than a pestilence, if imbued with an atheistic or communistic attitude; or whether the Christian, the Lutheran, shall use the potent influence of journalism to mold and guide public opinion.

The Gift He Was; The Gift He Is
The Gift He Was; The Gift He Is

A blessed Christmas to all of you next Tuesday!  For “on that Day (many years ago) in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger (Luke 2:11-12).” The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus came as a blessing to the world even though the world didn’t deserve it and even worse, was unreceptive to receiving Him as the gift that He was for them (see John 1:10-13). Increasingly, the world in which we live today seems very unreceptive to that same Gospel, a message that has been such a blessing to the world for over two millennia. Instead of receiving the good news of Jesus like Mary and Joseph, the wisemen, or the shepherds, the world in which we live is violently suspicious of the message of the Messiah like Herod in Matthew 2. In a speech several years ago, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned our nation:

On ‘The Last Battle’: Hope in an Age of Political Woe
On ‘The Last Battle’: Hope in an Age of Political Woe

A charlatan sits in power. Division and cynicism have won the hearts of the people. Foes at home and abroad are cunning. The nation feels sullied. Such is the situation facing Tirian, the last king of Narnia.

In C.S. Lewis’s The Last Battle, the beloved land of the famed children’s series is under attack.  Narnia’s enemies, the Calormenes, have taken over the country. Through treachery, they have fooled loyal Narnians into believing that Aslan — Narnia’s Christ figure — is on their side. Fear and confusion prevent Narnians from coming to Tirian’s aid.

Dr. Gregory Seltz
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