The American Covenant

A Biblical case for loving your nation.

Nations are one of two things: a derivative of fruitful ethnic growth or a unified idea.

The nation of China is essentially 100% Chinese in terms of its lineage: stemming from the common heritage, history, and biological traits shared by its Chinese ancestors. This has produced a sustained and recognized group of people who have inhabited and inherited a large portion of Asia that they call home. These shared values, culture, and ethnic background give the Chinese an unspoken allegiance and fidelity to the Chinese nation that is the unified expression of their individual identity, but in a macro-articulation. In other words, a Chinese person naturally loves their nation, their heritage, and their way of life because it rightly proclaims a valuable part of who they are and what they believe.

There is nothing radical about my statements here, and everyone would agree, from the most educated Chinese down to the grade school kid who goes on a family vacation to China. China is a nation of Chinese, and that is offensive to no one and valued by almost everyone. Just like every other nation, China's history contains both darkness and light as it navigated its path to modernity. The thing about history is that it just is (unless the scribes are tainted, but we will leave George Floyd out of this).

The good is good, and the bad is really bad. Oftentimes, it is the bad that informs and changes the future more often than the good times that the commentators mostly gloss over. Generally, the world is grateful for the rich benefits that have been added to our global lives due to the contributions of the Chinese people to the cosmic treasury. My childhood self will be eternally grateful to Bruce Lee for being one of the most significant influences in my formative years. And not just because he was the most formidable fighter, per pound, of all time. But also because he was a proverbial fortune cookie of wisdom and wit that helped my soupy grey matter start to form a useable shape.

"Be like water… Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless—like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup; you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle; you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend."

• I think about that statement regularly because it informs my ministerial life in ways that require me to embrace fluidity and change. Paul had similar opinions:

1 Corinthians 9:19-22

Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law. To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

• Paul was like water. He utilized the non-ethnic reality of the Spirit of God to educate and express truths that created connection and opportunity for the Gospel. As an American, a nation or people group that did not exist in the first century, I find it significant that I am reading Paul’s wisdom and desiring his inspired words to conform me into the non-ethnic Christ. This should speak volumes about how well he succeeded in his above statement.

America is not Chinese. We are not African, or European, or Pacific Islander. We are American, the second type of nation I mentioned above. What binds us as a nation is NOT our ethnic heritage, or closely aligned DNA attributes, our singular familial lineage, or our ancestry. For us, the one unifying virtue is the idea of America, not the pigmentation of our skin or the historical garb of our patristic fathers. The uniqueness of the American idea lies in its composition of many people with diverse heritages who have chosen to covenant together as one people, known as, "We The People."

This idea was not novel, just rare. This was the idea of Christianity before Plymouth Rock was ever tripped over by Christian pilgrims desperately seeking a place for their faith to call home. For those founding Americans, the binding family of faith was greater than the homelands of their ancestors, the cultures of their progenitors, and the security of their ethnic likeness. They sacrificed all of these benefits for the pain and hardship of forging a new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal. They left the first kind of nation to do the excruciatingly hard thing of making the second kind of nation. To call oneself an American is to declare that you are the offspring of a Christian idea, a covenantal heritage of fiercely strong people who contended with the unrelenting forces of the natural elements, while wrestling with the hardships of famine and the terrors of the unexpected laments associated with settling an unknown and uncharted land mass. Most of them did it without complaint, without comfort, and without affirmation of man. Only now, through the lens of (true) history, do we extol these early settlers as heroes. They did the hard thing because the hard thing was the right thing and the needful thing for the covenant of faith they wholly believed in. The loyalty and allegiance they shared as a new people, from many nations, were not ones that rallied them around a flag. No. Their allegiant fidelity produced a flag that gave them a unified expression. The flag was a fruit, not a root of their faith.

Contrary to the race hustlers and prostituted propagandists that populate the punditry of public media, we are not a hyphenated people. These terms are contradictory to the imaginations of those who founded this nation:

• Chinese-American

• African-American

• European-American

• Hispanic-American

Even more obtrusive to me is the insult of a hyphenated faith inside the oxymoronic term American-Christian. Oxymoronic because any authentic reading of the scriptures would immediately convince a submitted heart that there is only One Lord, One God, Who is all in all, above all, and worthy of all. There is no Biblical allowance for a hyphenated believer. Truly covenantally committed people cannot fathom a life divided by a hyphen. Every time I see some well-intended, but arrogant progressive gal with a hyphenated last name, I always wonder why her pre-covenantal identity is more important to her than her marital vows… “leave father and mother to cleave to your spouse” (AWFL?). These are the same people who embrace articulate pre-nuptial agreements that make divorce a well-planned prophecy instead of an enemy to be slain at the marriage altar. That itsy bitsy dash is the gargantuan enemy of covenantal fidelity and national allegiance.

Matthew 10:34-39

Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Jesus, the original Christian, insinuates there is no room for hyphenated disciples in His genuine family. Jesus believes the Kingdom valuable enough to forsake all in order to gain it.

As a person who has been a Patriot my whole life, I often find myself befuddled by those standing in the garbage-filled ditches screaming at me, while properly driving down the road, that I am ‘doing it wrong.’ There are those on the Left ditch who feel that theological supremacy compels them to hate America, which means, by default, Americans. They use obscure scriptures and obtuse doctrinal summations to ‘prove’ that God hates nations, so in order not to be hated by God, you cannot be in a nation. (They never seem to articulate where they are supposed to go after they leave all the nations, though…)

Sadly, the opposite rings more foundational to the love of God and the Great Commission:

• Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

  • This sounds like Jesus promises to be with me in America while I try to disciple America into the teaching of Christ.

• When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:31-34)

  • Notice how the term ‘nations’ and the term ‘people’ were interchanged by the Lord. It is almost as if He sees nations as groups of people that need salvation and redemption.

• “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15b)

  • This redemption doctrine seems to be a common theme for Jesus.

• And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:14)

  • What does ‘every’ nation mean to you?

These poor Left-ditch folks have forgotten that ‘God so loved the world’ that Jesus came to redeem us… not that God so hated the world that He sent Jesus to destroy us. The embarrassing thing is that a majority of these ditch-dwellers are American citizens, using their internationally rare protected rights of free speech to hate the nation that guards the liberty they are rejecting and insulting. For me, it is just another eye-roll moment like Jesus must have had with the hypocrites and Pharisees of His day. “Search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are what testify of Me…” is akin to, “search the nations of the world for a better place to live a lawfully allowed Christian life and place from which to advance the Gospel, then here, because America was founded to testify of Christian liberty”.

Then you have the ‘other’ ditch-dwellers on the Right side who hate me as I pass by on the center line for believing that my faith trumps my patriotism. The Stars-n-Bars have unseated the Cross in the hill of their hearts so much so that they brag about bleeding red, white, and blue. It is so sad to see good people overcorrect so badly that they don't even realize they are in a ditch.

“Why is every window filled with cornstalks, Frank… it is like we are driving in a cornfield?”

“Hush, woman! I know exactly where we are… I don’t need your nagging!”

Every. Single. Time. I gather and take the elements of communion at the Lord’s Table, I quietly but adamantly remind myself that my blood has been replaced with His blood as I take the cup of the New Covenant. My humanity has been replaced by His divinity. His identity has replaced my ethnicity. My DNA has been changed into His DNA (Divine Nature Awareness). My life is now His life. My nation should become His Kingdom, and I have a significant responsibility to fulfill that mandate. This is why my purpose has great significance as well.

I do not pledge allegiance to the flag… I pledge allegiance to the flag, which represents the national idea that birthed a conventionally Christian nation, that has willfully submitted itself ‘under God’. If you take the ‘under God’ out of the pledge, you take me out of the pledge.

What is the American covenant? How is it related to the Judeo-Christian concept of freedom? And why does this covenant make America different from other nations? Biblical scholar and social commentator Liel Leibovitz explains why the answers to these questions will determine the future of the United States.

THE chief founding father of our national identity reiterated this solemn commitment with these sincere words.

"While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.”

- George Washington

In honesty and clarity, I do not have ’NAIVE’ written across my forehead. I am fully, painfully aware that there are well-funded and prolifically proficient groups of people under demonic deception and irrational ignorance. One cannot scan the headlines without being assaulted by the Transgendered cultists so poisioned by satanic whispers that they shriek for the right to cut off their healthy genitalia. Not a day goes by that some educational conglomerate publicly awards a dude who just beat a little girl in track and field, like the rest of us with functioning brains are too stupid to notice the female abuse associated with their woke humiliation. We have ghetto politicians assaulting ICE, getting into verbal scrums with language that would make a rapper blush, and some willing to marry their siblings if it means having a little power and control. About half the country is hating on Elon for the sin of finding fraud, waste, and uncovering the tax embezzlement schemes of the deep-state that has been enriching them and their families for decades, instead of getting angry about being stolen from. As I type, there is some blue-haired liberal Karen cussin’ out a police officer because he dared to pull her over for breaking traffic laws.

When I write about my patriotic passion, please do not conflate that with me having amnesia about what is happening in D.C., our universities, and Democratic city downtowns. I am hip to Big-Tech, Big-Pharma, Big-Business, and Big-Media wanting to enslave and kill us with their agendas and world-depopulation religions. But none of that… let me reiterate… NONE of that is consistent with the founding ideals that transformed Christian immigrants fleeing oppressive nations to form this nation and its heritage to despise oppression. I am awake and aware of the reality of my surroundings, but also not so hopeless as to believe that the foundations of our great society are beyond redemption.

"I heard a fine example today, namely that His Excellency General Washington rode around among his army yesterday and admonished each to fear God, to put away wickedness ... and to practice Christian virtues ... From all appearances General Washington does not belong to the so-called world of society, for he respects God's Word, believes in the atonement through Christ, and bears himself in humility and gentleness. Therefore, the Lord God has also singularly, yea, marvelously preserved him from harm in the midst of countless perils, ambuscades, fatigues, etc., and has hitherto graciously held him in his hand as a chosen vessel."

- Lutheran Pastor Henry Muhlenberg

The Great Awakening that birthed the idea of our American founding was accomplished because only 3% of the people of that fledgling idea were willing to fight for what they believed in. During the American Revolution, only a minority of colonists actively fought for independence. At any given time, roughly 3-5% of the population (about 20,000–30,000 men) served in the Continental Army, though up to 15-20% may have participated in militias at some point. Historians estimate that about 30-40% of colonists were Patriots (pro-revolution), 15-20% were Loyalists (pro-British), and the remaining 40-50% were neutral or uninvolved. The success of the Revolution relied on the faith-in-action of a committed minority.

I am writing today to a minority. If you are reading this and you consider yourself an ardent Christian who also desires to see our national heritage restored, then you are in the 15% who would embrace patriotic beliefs. If you are even more rare, as illustrated by your desire to actually DO something about woke wickedness, trying to transform our nation into a demonic playground, then you have captured my heart and the approving nod of the God Who desires all men to be saved.

1 Timothy 2:3-4

This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Here at SCM, we have opportunities for you to exercise your desires:

• Check out our website for additional resources and action steps

• Buy a copy of my book and read it, or gift it to someone who should invigorate their faith

• Support Steve as he travels the world ministering the messages of “The Holy Cause of Liberty” and “The Finished Work of Christ” to anyone who is willing to bring him.

  • By partnering here

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  • Share the bold messaging of Beloved Church here and here

We have been surprised, honored, and blessed by the people, all over the world, who have been excited about the opportunity to actually do something about the darkness in our progressive modernity. The lethargic and self-centered attitude that once infiltrated the Church, causing sterility and irrelevance, is passing away as hearts are alighted by truth.

I see a cloud the size of a man’s hand…

The Gideons are coming out from hiding…

The Esthers are willing to do the hard thing…

The Best Is Yet To Come!

In Adoration,
Steve and the SCM Team

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Dr. Steve Cassell served as the “tip of the spear” in the state of Illinois when tyranny and fear culminated in the capture of freedom during the infamous COVID-19 pandemic. When the despotic oppression of State and Federal officials, intent on marginalizing and destroying the Christian moorings of society, unlawfully declared the Church as “non-essential” and attempted to shutter the gathering of the saints, Steve fought back as the first minister in the nation to take on the Goliath of government. Righteously empowered by the First Amendment and Godly resolve, Pastor Steve and Beloved Church were able to secure a Supreme Court victory for religious freedom that reverberated throughout the entire country, liberating the Church in America from the clutches of unlawful overreach. Now, Steve is invited as a National Speaker and Influencer for the Holy Cause of Liberty and the Finished Work of Jesus Christ (Tetelestai). Steve Cassell Ministries (SCM) is growing into a connecting point for authentic Christian Patriots to change the nation and world through local action and national impact. As a published author, professor of Biblical Studies (head of Pastoral Studies), and nationally known influencer, he has had the opportunity to inspire multitudes into repentance and sincere engagement against the insidious actors and ungodly agenda plaguing our society. These inspired citizens have been actively engaging in society, government, and politics to tear down oppressive and tyrannical intrusions into the church and the American republic.