The military commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money”, and the Apostle Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” And the chief captain answered, with a great price I obtained this freedom. And Paul said, “But I was free born”. Commentary: The apostle Paul was born in Tarsus. It was a free city in that Mark Antony gave the city citizenship status so when Paul was born there he became a Roman citizen by birth! This Roman authority was not born a citizen but was legalized by paying a large sum of money! He was probably a Greek or a Syrian. The Jews tried to get Paul arrested by the Roman authorities because he was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The Roman soldiers bound Paul and were about to flog Paul when he declared his Roman citizenship! The soldiers were frightened because to punish a Roman citizen without due process meant death for them! Paul went on appealing to Caesar spending years in Rome preaching the Gospel and writing letters to the churches while his stay in Rome was paid by the government! Eventually he was executed in Rome which a few short centuries later became the Holy Roman Empire the center of Christianity for centuries to come! Your value as an American citizen should be worth something! To be a legal immigrant in Rome you had to pay a huge sum of money! So the citizens of Rome were then highly valued! So as hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants flood across our open southern border does this increase your value as an American citizen? No! It devalues you! Your tax money goes to support them! So what are you left with? A crime waves as they flood your communities with stealing, drugs and felonies committed against your people! Unsafe neighborhoods and your resources in your communities stretched beyond capacities! Instead of the illegals paying our government they pay the drug cartels to get them here millions of dollars! When our own government breaks the law to devalue her own citizens what can we do? Go to the voting booth this November and make some changes! Put people in authority over you who respect you the American citizen! Rodney Dangerfield used to joke I get no respect but sadly it is a reality today from our own government! Own it and change it! James & Hamsa Sasse. IndiaJesusLovesYou.com