Lessons from Montana: The Weight and Significance of Freedom House Ministries for Our Time
- Jun 26
- 5 min read
This past May 3rd – 7th found me once again in perhaps my favorite place in the world – Montana.
John Muir once said, “When a man comes to the mountains, he comes home.”
I know what he means. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I can’t commune with and listen to God from right here in my beautiful home in Southeastern Pennsylvania, but when I go out West, it’s as though God has, in a sense, met me halfway. He’s already there, waiting. So easy to feel His presence!
This time I was in a tiny town called Noxon in the northwestern part of the state. We were hosted by a man named Fred Markert in his beautiful lodge positioned in the stunning Cabinet Mountain range.
Fred is the International Director of YWAM Strategic Frontiers based in Colorado Springs and follows the global situation carefully, with a strategic focus towards evangelism in Iran. Fred has spent many hours researching and studying life cycles of cultures and civilizations. Our conversations over the week ranged from sexual addiction recovery programs to church structures to hiking trails to the rise and fall of civilizations.
Many people, myself included, believe that America is approaching the end of its life cycle as a culture unless it changes direction in a dramatic response to the Gospel. It is a well-documented fact that no culture has flourished once it has begun to dismantle gender. We declared God was dead in the sixties and have systematically tried to remove all evidence of Him in our society ever since. As a result, America has lost her moral framework and now finds herself in a crisis situation. We will also be in population decline in the very near future as a result of rearing a family taking a back seat to education, careers and housing priorities.
There are many facets to understanding the perilous situation we face, including moral decline, an extremely spread-thin military operating on multiple fronts, and certainly out-of-control immigration, which has allowed literally millions of illegal immigrants into our country who have no interest in integrating into the American culture but rather are bent on seeing America destroyed. The axis of evil we are confronted with is huge – Iran (85% of all terrorism is produced there), China, Russia, and North Korea. China has its own fairly short timeline to essentially take over America. Whether or not they have the ability to implement said timeline is a hotly debated topic.
If the above is true, we as Christians are facing a massive responsibility.
We are to be aware of the times in which we are living – this is Biblical. 1 Chronicles 12:32, “Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do. . .”, Matthew 16:3, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and the Sadducees – “And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?’ While I am by no means a news junkie and for the most part recommend Christians not take in a heavy dose of daily news, we are still responsible to understand the days in which we are living so that we may be “diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless. . .” 2 Peter 3:14. Further, we must take on the responsibility of evangelizing a nation that seems less and less interested.
We need to operate by faith, but also with a sense of urgency. We need to communicate the situation our nation is facing in light of world events, work with diligence to help men live into a greater vision for their life, and offload their addictions.
Our work here at Freedom House is critical to our time. We are in a race to get men free – to help them find their place in the Kingdom and release them to the work for which they are called. It is a critical time to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1) The need is huge, and the time is short. We only have this lifetime to follow all that the Lord has given each of us to do. My ministry is solely concerned with men finding freedom from whatever is holding them back from living into the mission of God. The days are shorter than ever concerning the return of Jesus. People have thought in possibly every generation that the end might come in their lifetime. However, never in our history have we been more strategically postured than we are now to see God’s Kingdom come to earth. In Acts 13:36, we read, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers…” We, as David, have a purpose of God that we have been given a certain number of days to carry out. “So teach us to number our days, that we may preset to You a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
Fred was very encouraging about the work we are doing and the importance of it – especially in our current time. This was a strong affirmation of a powerful word given to me on March 31st of this year, which I believe was from Jesus. Concerning the times in which we live, I felt I heard Jesus speak clearly, “Tom, you have a role to play in this! Think 'supply chain.' You are a tiny training camp – but you are also a part of the global movement of God. Don’t underestimate what I am doing through Freedom House!”
This was a hugely encouraging word from the Lord early one morning while journaling. It is easy at times to feel alone in this endeavor and the Lord was quick to take me to a bigger picture of the work that we are doing at Freedom House. I was able to share this word with the board and I believe we were all encouraged and had a new sense of importance and urgency for the journey ahead.
Lastly, I can’t thank you enough for your support. We are not a large, flashy ministry that can boast of big numbers and large outreaches. We are, however, doing a deeply personal work in the lives of many men who had lost all hope of ever being truly free from the grip of addictions and lies in their past.
This is a long and often messy work but we at Freedom House are convinced that this is the most important work we could be doing. Our goal is to help men find freedom and release them into the world to live fully into the purpose and mission of God. Thank you for seeing the importance of the work here and joining with us through your prayers and your generous giving.
We are eternally grateful for you!
Strength and Honor,
Tom
PS: I shared more about my Montana trip in my mid-year ministry update. You can learn what Freedom House has been up to recently, hear some powerful stories of impact, and some new, practical ways to support what we're doing.
If you found this post valuable, please forward it to a friend, or share it on social media.
Freedom House Ministries of PA is equipping a generation of men to be set free in Christ and live with courage, sexual integrity, and brotherhood – transforming families, churches, and communities.
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we are supported by the voluntary gifts of individuals, organizations, and local churches.
Thank you for prayerfully considering a monthly donation of any amount to support the work of this ministry!
