NEWSLETTER Vol. 2 No. 1

February 2023

Remember, freedom matters today because you matter to God.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the first newsletter of Freedom Matters Today for 2023. Happy New Year! For many, it is the Year of the Rabbit or the Year of the Cat. I hope this year brings God’s blessings of safety, peace, and joy to you and your families.

It has been a busy time for Freedom Matters Today since the end of our first podcast series in August. Since then, four books have been published by our imprint Hidden Road Publishing, available through Amazon in paperback form. These books cover the themes of fascism, Covid Hysteria, the war in Ukraine, faith and flag, and Christian Nationalism, all from a Christian perspective. They were originally based on the blogs and podcasts but were also extensively rewritten, revised, and updated. I also have an author page set up on Amazon.

Freedom from a Christian Perspective

Freedom Matters Today looks at freedom from a Christian perspective. I believe that freedom goes to the very heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The liberty that Christ brings has been a light to the world and has shone out over the centuries into all the dark places such as the church, the state, and tradition.

Jesus said: ‘If the Son shall make you free, then you shall be free indeed.’

Paul wrote, ‘the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’

Paul also wrote, ‘it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.’

These three verses from the New Testament make it very clear and unambiguous. God is in the freedom business. He did not come to bring slavery, servitude, or submission to tyranny, in fact, quite the opposite. All the movements for freedom in the West have been echoes, ripples, aftershocks, tremors from history’s great event which was the rescue God wrought through Jesus against spiritual tyranny, sin, death, and evil, at the cross where he died for sin, in our place, where we could not stand, so we can stand with him, free, and in liberty.

I was astounded, horrified, and shocked during Covid Hysteria to hear many of those who used to walk with Jesus out themselves, betray their Lord for money or power, or both, and denounce freedom as antithetical to the good news of God’s grace. Those in the church who stand up and say that freedom is a lie, are themselves liars, and it is not surprising for they work for their master diabolos, the master of tyranny, the king of deceit, and the pimp of power. I wrote about this more extensively in ‘Is Russia our Enemy?’ and ‘Following Jesus.’

Freedom matters today because you matter to God. In fact, everyone matters to God, and there is no one for whom God does not matter. This is a great relief, especially to those who feel that they have wandered too far from the love and mercy of God, but it was for such people who have wandered, for those who were lost, for those who sit in darkness that Jesus came.

How can we understand freedom?

Freedom comes from God and all other freedoms we enjoy are derived from God’s freedom. True freedom comes from knowing God and being known by God, so we might know who we are, and know each other.

Freedom Matters Today is also in the freedom business. We seek to bring clarity and hope to many who seek freedom, and encouragement to those who enjoy freedom. That is why I decided in 2021 to focus on six themes that arise from my understanding of the Bible, the New Testament, and the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament:

• Freedom from fascism and tyranny.
• Freedom from fear and despair
• Freedom from guilt and shame.
• Freedom from sin and death.
• Freedom from past and prejudice,
• Freedom from war and conflict.

Three Years of Covid Hysteria

Last year, from February to August, we focused on freedom from fascism and tyranny and freedom from fear and despair. Covid Hysteria was a great and terrible evil. It has been three years of deceit, three years of fear, and three years of corruption. Fear and despair have become the new languages of our society along with the stifling of debate and the end of diverse opinions.

Once claiming to represent the freedom of Christ, the churches, overall, embraced with enthusiasm a malicious apostasy that we have not seen for a generation. As we saw, those who supported Covid Passports, Lockdowns, and Martial Law directives from within the Christian Church were those who apostatized from their faith and betrayed the God who brings freedom.

I was astounded by the apostasy, the betrayal, and the capitulation. So many famous Christian leaders outed themselves, that they do not, in fact, believe a word of what they preach. They are in it for the money, the reputation, and the power. Those who say that they only follow the science deny the resurrection, and if they don’t believe in God, why do these hypocrites turn up every Sunday at church in their robes or their tailored suits and draw a salary? They are in it for the money, the power, and the influence over others.

Three years of Covid Hysteria have ushered in the revival of political and religious fascism, and a world of fear. Most in the church want to pretend that the last three years didn’t happen, and they want the church to go back to business as usual, which is a life of tax exemptions and profiting from exploiting vulnerable people.

Life is real, so faith needs to be real as well.

Paul wrote his letters because he had his ear to the ground. James wrote his letter because his readers struggled with what it meant to be a Christian in Jewish communities. John wrote his epistle and his letters because he lived in the real world, and they resonated because he spoke to people where they were.

When they are not killing, slandering, or fighting each other, the churches of today live in a world of abstraction, a world of detachment, and a world of obtuse reasoning. They are out of touch, inauthentic and irrelevant. They refuse to admit their complicity, corruption, and collusion with the state. With centuries of tax-free benefits and exemptions, the churches have no idea about the lives of ordinary people. Offered mammon so early on, it is difficult to say no, and most do not. Churches covet wealth and power that comes from wealth for money is the language of power, but it is not the kingdom of God, nor is it true spiritual power.

Jesus rejected the opportunity to convince Pilate at his trial, and he had no interest in even speaking to Herod. For Jesus was interested in ordinary people, rich people, poor people, insiders and outsiders, but he repudiated and rejected institutions and all they stand for. Jesus did battle with the author of politics, the crafter of the state, the authority of institutions, diabolos, in the wilderness after he was baptized, and prevailed.

All that matters to the church is its money and political power, and it has no intention of connecting the teachings, work, and identity of Jesus with the real problems people face every day. To do that ministers, pastors, and priests need to extend their hand in friendship but that is not possible, for under their whitened knuckles is the money they covet so dearly, the properties they protect so feverishly, and the power they secured so deviously.

The reality is that in the first century, Judas Iscariot was the apostle of shame. He was in it for the money. Two thousand years later, the church holds Judas up as their model, betrayal is their language, and secrecy is their diet. In Australia, the going rate for bribing a church is $500 a week, a small price to pay for one’s eternal soul.

Brownstone Institute

Thank you for subscribing. I know that many of you have joined due to the recently published Brownstone Institute article, on the third of this month. Thank you. The Brownstone Institute article can be found here for those who have not read it. I believe in making a stand, nailing one’s colors to the mast, of standing for the truth.

https://brownstone.org/articles/covid-theology-in-the-australian-church/

The article is a succinct distillation of one of the themes of my first book, Freedom from Fascism, A Christian Response to Mass Formation Psychosis, published on November 7, last year. I have been greatly encouraged by the incredible response to this article. Thank you for your honesty in sharing your stories, and your experiences.

New Publications!

As I mentioned in the beginning, Freedom Matters Today has published four books exploring freedom from a Christian perspective. If you are interested, we would welcome reviews of one or more of the books. They are reasonably priced ($9.95 US). The titles of the books are as follows:

• Freedom from Fascism (November 2022).

http://Freedom from Fascism: A Christian Response to Mass Formation Psychosis (Freedom Matters Today): Sutton, Dr. Michael John: 9780645567106: Amazon.com: Books

• Is God on America’s Side? (November 2022).

http://Is God on America’s Side? (Freedom Matters Today): Sutton, Dr. Michael John: 9780645567113: Amazon.com: Books

• Is Russia Our Enemy? (December 2022).

http://Is Russia Our Enemy? (Freedom Matters Today): Sutton, Dr. Michael John: 9780645567120: Amazon.com: Books

• Following Jesus when the Church has lost its Way (December 2022).

Following Jesus: When the Church has Lost its Way (Freedom Matters Today): Sutton, Dr Michael John: 9780645567137: Amazon.com: Books

Moving Forward: A New Podcast Series

Our podcast will recommence in March this year. I hope to spend time talking about what freedom means from a Christian perspective in more detail. The Western Church, in my belief, is dying, but not the word of God, for it lasts forever. The message of the good news of God’s grace found in Jesus Christ is a message for all generations, and for all people, for it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Best wishes,

Michael J. Sutton
CEO and Founder of Freedom Matters Today.

February 2023