Liberation takes on many forms and in many ways, freedom is costly.

In the spring of 1939, in Bonn, Germany, a scene of heroism unfolded that would save the lives of a young Jewish family — six-year-old Hal (aka Helmut), who would become my father, and his parents Karl and Betty, as they were liberated from Nazi Germany.

My Grandpa Karl had served in World War I in the German army with a man who later became an SS Agent in the Nazi Party. The two had become friends during the war and remained close through the years. This man put his life on the line by falsifying immigration papers that enabled little Helmut and his embattled parents to escape. They left Germany and boarded a ship. Three months later they landed in British Honduras, modern day Belize. Eleven months later they made their way to Daytona Beach, Florida. Heroic indeed!

While Hal and his parents escaped, the remainder of his family were soon murdered by the Nazis.

Just a few years later, Allied forces led the charge to liberate Europe. D-Day was catalytic in bringing freedom to millions living under the tyranny of Nazi Germany,

but the price tag of that victory was staggering.

As our nation marks 250 years this month, I am deeply grateful for our earthly liberties. Yet, the weight of history compels me to ponder an even greater rescue—and the ultimate sacrifice that bought it. 

Long before 1939 or 1776, our spiritual captivity required a Messiah. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). 

Knowing the agonizing cost of our ransom, Jesus stepped forward anyway because, as the Apostle John wrote, “He loved them to the full” (John 13:1).

While I’m grateful to be an American citizen and thankful for the freedoms we enjoy in our great country, I’m so much more grateful for the deliverance and freedom I have in Christ, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Now, those of us who’ve been liberated are called to fight the good fight of faith for the liberation of others, people who need forgiveness that only Christ can provide – the forgiveness of sin and freedom from the bondage and wages of sin.

To whom much is given, much is expected!

In 2026, as chaos and pandemonium on planet earth rages on, the Great Commission mandate remains our priority as God’s people — go and make disciples. While spiritual darkness and evil seem to be proliferating, the gospel of Jesus keeps marching on in spite of intense opposition. As the Lord Jesus declared, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

Case in point: The Anti-Defamation League reported that in 2025 antisemitism in the United States hit its highest recorded level since tracking began in 1979, while globally incidents nearly doubled in a single year. At the same time, according to Open Doors International, 388 million Christians worldwide — one in seven believers on earth — faced high to extreme levels of persecution for their faith. 

Two communities. Two targets. One enemy. Satan.

As I expose in my upcoming book, Satan’s Long War on Israel, which we plan on releasing later this fall, Satan and his forces oppose the Church and its effort to fulfill the Great Commission. They also seek to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people from the face of the earth — because if there is no Israel, then God is rendered unfaithful to keep covenant. That is not an accident. That is the faithfulness of God being contested.

In sharp contrast, be encouraged. At the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948, there were 23 known Messianic Jewish believers in the entire country. Twenty-three. Today that number stands between 15,000 and 30,000 — more than tripling in just the last 20 years alone. And in the sweep of history, more Jewish people have come to faith in Jesus in the last 50 years than at any time since the First Century, when the early Church was Jewish. The darkness and the awakening are happening simultaneously. That is not coincidence. That is prophecy.

And it is the greatest privilege of our lives to be part of it.

That privilege comes with a cost. In a world increasingly hostile to the spreading of the gospel, we understand that as God’s people, “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). May God grant us the faith, courage, and boldness to share the truth of the gospel — that many would experience the fresh air of spiritual freedom found in Messiah Jesus!