In this devotional video, M.t. Clark shares a personal travel narrative from a recent trip to Virginia’s historic sites—Jamestown and the Yorktown battlefield—using the experiences to illustrate the high human cost of America’s freedom. He reflects on the suffering and sacrifice of early colonists and Revolutionary soldiers, especially the daring, weapon‑less bayonet charge on Redoubt 10, and draws a parallel to the Christian call to discipleship, emphasizing that true freedom in Christ requires self‑denial and willingness to die for the Gospel. Clark cites several biblical passages (1 Cor 15:31, Gal 2:20, Matt 16:24‑25, Romans 8:5‑6) to support his theological points, and he connects the historical cost of liberty to the spiritual cost of following Jesus. The video also promotes resources from his ministry (mt4christ.org), including A.W. Pink’s The Sovereignty of God (chapter 7 on human will), and discipleship courses such as Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ, encouraging listeners to engage in Bible study and personal transformation. The segment concludes with a prayer for protection, guidance, and spiritual insight as Clark continues his journey to Myrtle Beach for further study.
Chapters
To see today's photo, go to MT4Christ or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a view of the York River at twilight time comes to us from yours truly as me and my— and the missus pulled over to capture this scene along the Colonial National Historic— Historical Parkway somewhere north of the Yorktown Battlefield after spending a day going to the places where history happened while on vacation in Virginia. Well, it's Tuesday, and even though our time in Williamsburg, Virginia is coming to an end, I have to report that it was time well spent as we used the day yesterday to see the actual places that played a part in the formation and the freedom of our country. As we, as we visited historic Jamestown, aka James— the Jamestown National Historical Site, not to be confused with the Jamestown settlement, as well as the Yorktown battlefield. So on one day, we not only visited what was the first English settlement in America, we also visited the site of what was the defining battle of the American Revolution that eventually led to the freedom of our country. I am somewhat humbled this morning by all I learned about Jamestown and Yorktown this morning, as I really gained a sense of the cost of our freedom. History is not just the study of facts and figures. It's a story about the lives of men and, if you know him, about God's shaping the course of human events. I am by no means a history buff, but even with my limited knowledge, I can think of a few instances where the outcomes of wars or battles are reported to be affected by fortunate circumstances. I generally recall mention of the favorable weather conditions for the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day that led to the freedom of the people under Nazi rule in World War II. And yesterday I learned of a fortunate storm that played a part in the events of the victory at Yorktown as the British, British attempted retreat were affected by the weather. In these two examples, our country benefited by acts of God. However, I also learned that sometimes history and life is also about enduring. When people— when things don't seem to go our way. Yesterday I learned about how the majority of the colonists at Jamestown died during the winter of 1909-1910 due to disease, violence, drought, and famine after a meager harvest. And it reminded me how, although the times have changed, the suffering and death we face as men and women can cause us to have empathy and compassion for others when we hear about their pain. Jamestown and Yorktown were replete with stories of the people whose lives played a part in the establishment and freedom of our country, and my meager blog entry really can't give you a sense of all that I saw and felt at these two historical sites. The day was a mix of wonder, amazement, joy, and sorrow as I considered the people who lived and died and the things that took place on the ground I walked on yesterday. It is often said that freedom isn't free, and after yesterday's walk through history, I can tell you that the cost of freedom is life. Men and women died in their attempts to forge a new life in the New World, and people have been dying in wars to establish and maintain our freedom ever since. The cost of freedom is life. I don't think I can say that enough. While we were— while we are not necessarily called to make the ultimate sacrifice, yesterday's walk through history made me realize that in order to be free, you have to be willing to die. You have to make the hard choices, be willing to do the hard things, and actually do the things that may lead to your death to be free. This was impressed upon me in a major way when I contemplated the takings of redoubts— redoubts— 9 and 10 at the Battle of Yorktown. A redoubt is a temporary fortification, and at Yorktown, the British positions known as Redoubts 9 and 10 needed to be taken to guarantee success. So French and American troops made the hard decision to do the hard thing—to storm the enemy positions, knowing that it could cost them their lives. While charging on an enemy position is a common concept in war, The thing that impressed me about the story of Redoubt 10, which the Americans took, was that the soldiers were asked to charge into battle with unloaded weapons. Bayonets only. Charge. Talk about hardcore. With my concept of modern warfare, this seemed positively insane to me. But when I consider the times in my life when I had to do hard things to get what I I was called to do done, or to win the freedom I wanted. I know that we simply do what we have to do, even if it costs us our lives. When I was at the Yorktown battlefield, I was overcome by emotion for a moment because, even though I was never in the military, I understood the spirit of abandoned determinism that those men must have felt when they decided to charge into into enemy lines with nothing but what they held in their hands and the desire to live. While we won't be doing anything as dramatic as running into enemy lines today, I recognize that when we decide to follow the Lord toward freedom, that he— the freedom that he has for us— it will cost us our lives. And the same willingness of abandoned determinism is necessary for us to have success in achieving it. Scripture bears this out. The Apostle Paul described our life surrendered to God as, as the word says in 1 Corinthians 15:31, where he said, I affirm by the boasting which in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. He also said in Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. Who loved me and gave himself for me. And Christ said in Matthew 16:24-25, then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. And whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The freedom we have in Christ cost Jesus his life, and And it should be no surprise that when we decide to follow him, that we will be called to make the hard decisions, to do the hard things, and to actually do them to be free. So if you are an American, appreciate the freedom that you have in our country because countless people have sacrificed and died to establish our country and to keep it free. If you are a Christian, thank Jesus for giving you eternal life and entrance into his kingdom. But if there are areas in your life where you don't feel free or where you don't experience peace and joy, recognize that you may have to fight to win your freedom and trust the Lord to come alongside you in your battles. In Christ, our future victory is guaranteed, but if we want to experience our freedom in the world of the living, we have to do our part to secure it. So keep walking and talking with God and ask him to lead you into the battles you can win and to give you the strength and courage to overcome. Today's Bible verse comes to— uh, verses come to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verses are Romans 8:5-6, and they say, for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, For those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Today's Bible verses warn us of the dangers of what we set our minds to, as a life that considers the things of the flesh is said to lead to death, whereas a life that is spiritually minded is life and peace. As I have tried to point out before, our lives in Christ are not merely a matter of naming Christ as Lord and Savior.. It's not just about saying, "I believe." Passages of Scripture like today's verses indicate that we are not only to change our outward behaviors, we are called to change the way we think. We have to turn our thoughts to the things of God in order to experience the life and peace that He has for us. So, study the Word and think about it. The ways of the Spirit are life and peace, and to experience all that God has for us requires that we change our minds and change what we think about. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Uh, today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God as we continue in chapter 7 with God's Sovereignty and the Human Will. And today we conclude the first part of a W. Pink's discourse, which is on the nature of the human will. So you'll see his first point concluded at the end of today's blog post today. So go to mtforchrist.org and you can check out that resource. As always, we, uh, we encourage you to pursue your freedom in Christ, pursue your life in Christ, to find the peace and joy that he has for you that comes from a lifestyle of Christian discipleship. That's grounded in the Spirit, that's built on the Word of God, and that is, um, you know, inspired by those who have gone before us and the example and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So if you don't know what that's like, we encourage you to check out our discipleship teachings that we've done on Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. We gotta know what freedom is before we can experience it. Because frankly, you might not know what that's like. So those teachings are based on the Word of God and the teachings of Dr. Neil Anderson, and we encourage you to check them out to either deepen or to establish your freedom in Christ. And as always, we encourage Bible study, as we've said today, to put that word in your mind and to think about it and change the way you think based on it. We encourage Bible study by doing a Bible study of our own. Actually, Arthur Cinkati is the author, as we produce Bible Study with the Cinkatis once a week. We didn't do one last week because we're on the road for vacation, but we have lots in the archives if you'd like to be encouraged through a Bible study. We ask you to check that out as well. If you want to get serious about the discipleship courses, I do offer the materials that I gave out in class when I taught them at my local church. Someone just contacted me via email to receive some, and I sent them out. So they apparently heard that message, so I'm repeating it. And you know, I do give the class materials so you can do a self-study with those. So anyway, we're on the road, and I have to jump in the shower and get ready to drive because we're headed to South Carolina today to Myrtle Beach, and it's going to take 6 hours to get there. And I have the Freedom in Christ course tonight to do at my hotel, so we want to get her done and be, be there. Um, so let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for the things you've done for us, the freedom that you've given us. Through our country and through, of course, our— your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today, protect us on the road, protect all the people who are listening to this or reading this message. Lord, we just pray for you to bless them as we are encouraged by their presence in our lives, that we hear people asking for materials or listening to the message or, or whatever. And, uh, Lord, we just pray for you to bless them. Like I said, to open our eyes to the things you want us to see. Lord, lead us in the things you would have us do today. Protect us and guide us because we, uh, because we need your help. And, uh, Lord, we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
