What do you think will become of America?

As a beacon of hope and freedom, the Statue of Liberty has stood over New York harbor since 1886.





The United States has changed much in the ensuing years, and the church has changed along with it.





Let's take a look at the evolving landscape of American faith (statements in red below represent just a few of the many, many  events which have contributed to America's current spiritually bankrupt state)...

• In 1890, Charles Briggs, a Presbyterian preacher, claimed the Bible is divinely inspired but contains errors. Conservative theologians were outraged but many more liberal thinkers in the church accepted his ideas.
• From 1906-1909, a move of God known as the Azuza Street revival began to awaken many believers.
  
  
• 1907 brought another division to "Christian" circles.  Evangelist D.L. Moody preached on sin and repentance while a "social gospel" began to emerge.
• Then, in 1915, Bible-believing theologians published a series of pamphlets on "The Fundamentals," with the intent of bringing churches back to the fundamental truths of the Scriptures. In the 1920s, evangelists were being heard over the radio across America.

• The Scopes' "Monkey Trial" of 1925 was viewed as a victory for the evolutionist and silenced Christians, keeping them out of politics for some time. In the '30s, the Great Depression saw the growth of the social gospel once again and and upsurge in church attendance in general.
• 1942 saw the formation of the National Association of Evangelicals in response to radio stations allowing only "recognized" religious organizations to broadcast.
• Ten years later, Dwight Eisenhower declared, "Our form of government has no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don't care what it is." His statement carried with it the idea that faithless people are "un-American."

• In the 1960s and 1970s, neo-paganism began to gain momentum and popularity,
  especially among our youth.
• 1961 was the year Pat Robertson made his television debut.
• The Supreme Court ruled school prayer unconstitutional in 1962.
•  A year later, the Bible was also expelled from school.
• 1966 saw a TIME magazine article raise the question, "Is God dead?" One might have wondered based on the licentiousness that came with that decade and one might wonder based on the lifestyles of many in America today.
  
  
• The former ban on teaching evolution in schools was overturned in 1968.
• 1972. Campus Crusade for Christ hosted a huge Christian conference which became known as "God-stock," as the number of attendees rivaled those who had attended Woodstock.
• Just a few months later, in 1973, we saw the infamous Roe vs Wade decision which has cost the lives of millions of American children.
• Newsweek proclaimed 1976 "The Year of the Evangelical," noting the huge growth of evangelical churches across America.
• In 1979, Jerry Falwell founded The Moral Majority and Christians again began to have a voice in politics. Evangelical Christians were credited with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.
• Also in 1980, the  Council for Secular Humanism published its Secular Humanist Declaration.
• Also during the '80s televangelists began to gather quite a following and, in some cases, used that following to fill their own pockets.
• In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled against prayer at graduation ceremonies.
  
• Bill Clinton, in '96, had the dubious distinction of celebrating Eid-al-Fitr, the end of the Muslim festival of Ramadan and the tradition has continued annually at the White House ever since.
• 2005 saw several battles over displays of the 10 commandments in American courthouses.
• In Madison, Wisconsin, a small group of atheists who have gained a big voice recently, who call themselves The Freedom From Religion Foundation. These are the folks you often hear ranting about student-led prayer, among other things. Last year, they began placing large ads in the magazine Scientific American. The Freedom From Religion Foundation states, "These one-third page ads concentrate on one threat a month posed by the Religious Right, including creationism, reproductive rights attacks and IRS favors to preachers". In reference to those people, yes, I agree with President Eisenhower. Their behavior IS un-American and worse, it's anti-God.
• The V.A. allowed Wiccan images on veterans' grave markers in 2007.
• 2009, Barack Obama became president and pledged to continue support of faith based organizations, yet under his leadership, the IRS has persecuted Christian and conservative groups and gotten away with it.
• In 2010, President Obama omitted "Creator" when quoting the Declaration of Independence and has done so a total of 7 times.

• Also in 2010, the army withdrew its invitation to Franklin Graham to the Pentagon prayer service after Muslims complained.
• 2011, our president resisted including President Roosevelt's D-Day prayer in a WWII memorial.
• 2013. A U.S. Army master sergeant was reprimanded and threatened because he stated he sands for the Biblical definition of marriage.
  
• Air Force leaders consult with atheists to form a religious tolerance policy.
• 2014. President Obama seeks funding for all forms of sex education in schools, except any that reflect traditional moral values.
• Our president has done little to aid Christians in various parts of the world who are facing severe threats on their lives, homes and families, sending a clear message.

• For the last several years, a trend to sue Christians, berate and belittle them for standing on God's Word has had a devastating impact on churches, business and individuals. 

As a nation, we have turned our backs on God. Can we turn around and be a shining light in the world once again?

One day, in a Nazareth synagogue, Jesus read from the book of Isaiah and revealed the mission God had sent Him to complete.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. -Luke 4:18:19

Jesus' assigned task was to preach the gospel, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to open the eyes of the blind and bring freedom.

Historically, America has been a symbol of liberty. The great statue over New York harbor stands as a beacon of hope and freedom. If the Lady Liberty were human, she would be weeping at the state of America today.  All that made America so great is sadly disappearing.

America's strength lay not in wealth, not in our military and not in our size. Despite those who seek to rule out God from our society and erase His hand from our history, the truth is that our founding fathers were men of faith who knew the God Who has said, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Psalm 33:12). This country was founded upon God and the principles laid out in His Word.

Just as the nation, the Declaration of Independence begins with God, stating,

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Then, it says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."


Read the writings of many of the founding fathers. You'll find they had faith in a real and personal God and knew that our blessings as a nation for obedience come from His hand, just as do the consequences of disobedience.

That's where our country began. On the LORD's side. Where are we now?

We've thrown God our of our schools, our courthouses and government. In Isaiah 5:20, God gave us a solemn warning. He said,

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Is that not evident in America today?

Here's 2 very recent examples of Americans calling evil good and good evil:

    The owner of a California Chick-Fil-A franchise offered to give 200 meals to the football team to sell as a fundraiser for the school's football program. The high school principal banned the sandwiches. Would you like to know the reason why? The principal claimed it was because of the company's stance on gay marriage and she wants to promote an atmosphere of inclusiveness and diversity. The Chick-Fil-A controversy started over something company president Dan Cathy said in an interview in 2012: "We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that." Do you see any reference to the LGBT community or gay marriage in that statement at all? Me either. 

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.

     Arkansas State University players have been told to remove crosses from their helmets; crosses they wore in memory of a former equipment manager and player who died recently. Citing the Establishment Clause, legal counsel for the university told coaches the crosses must be defaced or removed form players' helmets. Coach Barry Weyer, Sr said, "It’s time that we as Christians stand up and say we’re tired of being pushed around. We’re tired of having to bow down to everyone else’s rights. What happened to our rights? The last time I checked it said freedom of religion – not freedom from religion." 

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.


Pastors, and anyone who stands on God's Word is berated in the public square and the media, yet those who defy God in their lifestyles and philosophy are celebrated and elevated.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.

After 9-11, Americans began to pray... for while... but that soon faded and was forgotten. In the years that have passed since that dreadful day, as a nation we have strayed even further from what is right in God's eyes.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. -Proverbs 12:15

According to God's standards, have become a nation of fools. Can America become wise and great among the nations once again?

What can you and I do? The only thing and really the best thing we can do is to get on our faces before the LORD and repent for the sins of the nation and plead with God for His mercy upon this land.

Take a look at Nehemiah's response when he learned of the reproach and devastation of Jerusalem...

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven...

When was the last time we wept over the state of our nation?

And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God... -Nehemiah 1:5

America is in bondage to the sins of arrogance, pride and rebellion and, as a direct result, our freedoms have diminished and will continue to slip away unless there is change, real change of the hearts of the American people.

Nehemiah owned the sins of his people as though they were his own and repented on their behalf, pleading with God for mercy upon them. We can use Nehemiah's prayer for his people as a guide to pray for our own people (see Nehemiah 1).

O LORD God of heaven, you are the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments. Hear my cry, O God. Look upon this nation in love, I pray.  I pray for my people, the American people. I confess the sins of my people. We have sinned greatly against You, O God. We have profaned Your Name in our streets and we have called evil good and good evil.  Lord, hear my prayer. Show mercy on this nation, turn our hearts toward You and make us a shining light for freedom in Jesus Christ once again. In Jesus' Name, Amen. 

The only way this nation will be blessed again is if we turn back to God and put Him first again, just as the founders did.

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Psalm 33:12).

What do you think will become of America?





Sources: 
The Word of God 
God in America: Timeline, PBS
CBS News LA
Fox News
The Freedom From Religion Foundation 
WallBuilders