We love America.We love the brave men and women who have, and
continue to, lay their lives on the line to protect the freedoms and rights we
are blessed with.From the early development
of this country, belief in and fear of Almighty God was at our very foundation.
What helped our forefathers create a
great nation and form of government was their principles and ethical sense of
right and wrong. They were not perfect individuals but were at the forefront of
their time in bringing about a better form of government than had existed prior
to their time, drawn in part from their study and understanding of the Holy
Bible.
Notice just a few of the facts from our
history:
»52 of 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence considered
themselves to be deeply committed to God and the teachings of the Bible.
»Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence congress
imported 20,000 Bibles.
»In 1782 the U.S. congress passed a resolution approving the Holy Bible
for use in all schools.
»Mr.McGuffey, author of the
McGuffey Readers, called Christianity the “religion of our country.”
»James Madison, the primary author the constitution of the US encouraged
people to govern themselves “according to the moral principles of the ten
commandments.”
»Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly
God focused, including such institutions as Harvard University.
The Founders of all of the 50 state
constitutions acknowledged God in their state constitutions.As an example, look at the Illinois preamble:
We
the people of the state of Illinois-grateful to Almighty God for the
civil,political and religious liberty
which He has permitted us to enjoy and seeking his blessings upon our
endeavors...do ordain and establish this constitution for the state of
Illinois.
It is not difficult to measure the
moral decline in this country when you compare present day attitudes toward God
and Christianity against the feelings of our forefathers.Today, we are constantly bombarded with all
kinds of humanistic philosophies as well as the continued ridiculous teaching,
of the myth, of macro evolution as fact in our schools.The desire to be "politically
correct" flies in the face of the attitude of those who fought and died
for the right of our citizens to proclaim the existence of and worship the
majesty of Jehovah God.
God expects his people to be respectful
of the leaders of their country and to set themselves apart from the
world.Consider the following verses:
Rom
13:1-2 - Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is
no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by
God.Therefore whoever resists the
authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring
judgment on themselves.
1
Tim 2:1-2 - Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who
are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and reverence.
God
expects the same respect!!!
Psalms
33:12 - Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.
Proverbs
14:34 - Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
Those who reject God and fail to give
Him proper reverence need only look at history to see the results.
The following is an excellent column by
Brad Harrub from the July 2007 issue of THINK magazine that perfectly describes
how far our great country has declined.
“No
country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings than
United America.Wondrously strange,
then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means
and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to so plainly; I
cannot believe it will ever come to pass.” – George Washington, written in a letter to Benjamin Lincoln
George Washington believed America was
blessed by Providence. He believed that.
America’s beginnings were blessed and her
people would always be resolute to see to it that as a country, she never
drifted from her moorings. But is that the case today?
If the Founding Fathers were to travel
through time and arrive in the 21st century, would they say we had “neglected
the means and departed from the road [on which] Providence pointed us?”
Does America have troubles? One would be
foolish to try to dismiss them. But undoubtedly, America is still a great
nation with plenty of potential for good days ahead. It is a nation of people
who by and large still believe in God (90+ percent), and as a result have
strength of character, a spirit of zeal, a thirst for knowledge, a desire for
advancement, hearts ablaze with the fires of passion, and an interest in
helping others.
And then, there’s the other America.
There’s the America that is characterized by
greed, sloth, vice, ineptitude, fear, and
cowardice.There is an America that
boldly faces the future with the mindset that the direction of the prevailing
winds of society and politics can be corrected with a clarion call back to the
Bible; and there is an America that says, “There is no God, the Founders were atheists,
humanists, or at best deists, and America will only thrive when all semblance of
God and religion are removed from the public domain.” Hence, the culture war in
which we are embroiled.
Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1781,
“And can the liberties of a nation be
thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the
minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not
to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I
reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
How long will His justice sleep? How long
will His people sleep? Jefferson understood that in order for America to remain
great she must remain good. Good will only come as a result of people rising up
in obedience to God’s Word,—rejecting the Baals of today and serving the One
True God. Will Christians finally stop faltering between two opinions? “If the
Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow Him” (1 Kings 18:21).
Indeed, it is a time for choosing. Our
40th President employed that phrase many times. And, isn’t it true? Isn’t it
always a time for choosing? Will Christians continue to be seduced by the glitz
and glamour of an increasingly materialistic and hedonistic society, or will we
awaken to the dawn of a new day of righteousness in America?What will your choice be?
In Ronald Reagan’s 1992 speech before the
Republican National Convention he said,
“A fellow named James Allen once wrote in
his diary, ‘Many thinking people believe America has seen its best days.” He
wrote that July 26, 1775. There are still those who believe America is
weakening; that our glory was the brief flash of time called the 20th Century; that
ours was a burst of greatness too bright and brilliant to sustain; that
America’s purpose is past.America’s best days are yet to come.Our proudest moments are yet to be.Our most glorious achievements are just
ahead. America remains what Emerson called her 150 years ago, ‘the country of
tomorrow.’”
Founding Father Noah Webster, the “Father
of American Scholarship and Education” and author of the Blue Back Speller,
observed: “The Christian religion, in its purity, is the basis, or rather the
source of all genuine freedom in government … and I am persuaded that no civil
government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles
of that religion have not a controlling influence.”
Can America’s best days be yet to come,
her proudest moments yet to be?It will
only be when we reclaim the youth of today and of tomorrow. It will be when religious
people rededicate our lives to instilling values of purity, commitment to biblical
principles, and obedience to God’s Word rather than the varying dictates of our
hearts. America’s best and brightest days will come when Christians decide to
become educated with the facts, get motivated to teach them to the next
generation, and begin living them in the sight of God and man.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
provided us with the answer to the restoration of mankind to the principles
of Jehovah God:
Matt.
5:16 - Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Friends, the renewal of our great
country begins with Christianity’s return to being the force it was in the first
century: by God’s people being who they are supposed to be.