Mayflower

After his successful handling of temptation by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus went to his hometown of Nazareth and introduced Himself in a fresh, new way, as we read in Luke 4. That's where we find these verses:
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

We can consider whether or not we are experiencing the true freedom in which Jesus intends for us to walk. In our flesh, according to our human desires, we can place ourselves in bondage to our own desires, the things we idolize.  But, Jesus offers us a transformed life, a life in which we can depend totally on Him and experience His unconditional love and walk in the power of His Spirit.  We can partake of His peace and have joy in His presence. 

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For those of us who have called upon the name of the Lord, we can experience spiritual freedom: the freedom from the power of sin, the promise of eternal life, and the capability to walk with God, even during our difficulties. 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 relates:
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

In the year 1620, a group of people seeking religious freedom in a new land set sail and eventually landed in what is now the state of Massachusetts.  Jerry Newcombe, who is with D. James Kennedy Ministries and leads Providence Forum, released a documentary last year called, The Pilgrims.  CBN.com published a feature on it last fall. 

The CBN article noted that:

"You will worship as they say you worship," Plymouth Rock Foundation founder Paul Jehle told Newcombe. "And so to do this illegally meant you could be arrested. If you continued, you could be put to death. In fact, some of the friends of the Pilgrims were killed in the Tower of London."

So the Pilgrims fled.

"They just wanted to worship Jesus and the purity of the Gospel, and the king wouldn't let them do that. He was ruling over their conscience. That's why they fled," Newcombe explained to CBN News.

Jerry Newcombe is quoted as saying, "The Pilgrims gave us the Mayflower Compact, which was an agreement for self-government under God, which really was the first step in the creation ultimately of the Declaration of Independence and of the US Constitution...;" the article goes on to say:

In "The Pilgrims," William Federer, author of "America's God & Country," says of the Mayflower Compact, "It was a polarity change in world government. Instead of top-down – rule by these kings who kept getting more and more powerful – it's bottom-up. It's the people themselves deciding what laws they're going to pass and agreeing to submit to them."

Another group of people who had face religious persecution landed on America's shores earlier this month, according to The Christian Post.  They are members of a Chinese church - their name: Mayflower Church!  The article says that:

"In November 2019, the Christians, comprising 32 children, from Pastor Pan Yongguang's Shenzhen Holy Reformed house church (dubbed "Mayflower Church") fled to Jeju Island in South Korea after encountering threats and interrogations from Chinese police.

The article notes that a total of 63 members, having departed in 2019, went to an island in South Korea, and then went on to Thailand, where they were "detained" by officials. It goes on to say: "U.S. officials successfully negotiated their release, the U.S.-based group ChinaAid, which advocates for civil freedoms and human rights in China, said in a statement to The Christian Post."

The Christian Post article also stated:

Pastor Pan earlier said the decision to leave China was influenced by a lunch he had with Pastor Wang Yi of Chengdu's Early Rain Covenant Church in 2018. Wang, who is now serving a nine-year sentence, urged Pan to prepare himself to go to prison as well.

After Wang's arrest, police started monitoring Pan and making in-person visits on a regular basis to intimidate him and other church members.

Eventually, Pan and his church members had to decide whether to leave China or stay. Despite having good jobs in China, they were concerned about raising their children in a godly manner amid communist pressure and indoctrination, Pan shared.

Rep. Christopher Smith stated, "It is a very Good Friday indeed, and a perfect Easter gift to see these persecuted Chinese Christians arrive and be allowed to practice their faith freely in the United States," adding, "Had they been forcibly repatriated to China, they would have been jailed and severely persecuted."

The Christian Post also reported:

Johnnie Moore, an Evangelical public relations executive who served as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said the churchgoers' resettlement makes him "so proud to be an American."

"In [the U.S.], we provide refuge to the persecuted," Moore tweeted. "No country in human history has given refuge to so many persecuted people of faith. Welcome to your new home, Mayflower family....just in time for Easter. You're safe here."

The article notes:

Southern Baptist congregations and other churches in East Texas have pledged to sponsor the resettlement of the exiled Christians.

This is the first known instance of a Chinese church fleeing persecution en masse. The church's name, Mayflower, comes from the English ship that carried passengers — some of whom were Protestant separatists seeking religious freedom from the Church of England — who traveled to the British colonies in the 17th century.

These Chinese Christians provide a clear expression and a reminder that God is our refuge. The new "Mayflower pilgrims" have exhibited a visible faith in God and a willingness to trust Him with their lives, moving to a new country in order to practice their faith. 

They came in search of liberty: that applies to the old and new Mayflower pilgrims.  And, America has always stood for freedom.  In fact, one of the symbols of our country, the Liberty Bell, features a Biblical inscription, according to Jerry Newcombe, who said, according to the CBN article: "The Liberty Bell has only one thing on it other than who made it, and that is a Bible verse. It says 'proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof.' Leviticus 25, verse 10."

And, ultimately these Pilgrims of two eras have looked to the Lord for freedom.  The Bible tells us that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 

We also recognize that there are believers in Christ who are suffering in foreign lands who are free in Christ, yet do not enjoy the blessings of civic liberty, facing persecution and harassment.  We can maintain sensitivity to the suffering.  And, be willing to speak on behalf of religious freedom at home and abroad.