| America
Under Siege
America is under siege. Tens of millions of Americans seem ensnared
by an evil mindset. The evidence is everywhere we look.
Crime, abortion, divorce, violence, suicide, drug addiction, alcoholism,
teen pregnancy, lust, pornography, fornication, adultery, and sodomy
run rampant.
Our airwaves carry sordid sex into the living room. We distribute
condoms to our children in the public schools. Homosexuals parade
half-naked down the streets of our nation's capital demanding special
rights as a minority.
America is slaughtering tens of millions of its unborn babies in
the womb and arresting those who try to peacefully stop the bloodshed.
We have expelled God from our schools. We cannot even place the
Ten Commandments on the walls of our classrooms.
Powerful forces within our country want to make it illegal to mention
the name of Jesus, carry Bibles, display religious pictures, or
wear Christian emblems in schools and in the workplace. They argue
that to do so creates an “offensive environment of harassment.”
As a nation, we have spent our way into a $3 trillion national debt.
It is still climbing at an alarming rate, threatening to bankrupt
our nation in the next few years.
In many instances, our state and local governments are accused of
linking arms with organized crime by legalizing lotteries and gaming
houses. They are joining the ranks of the largest gambling operators
in the world.
Selfishness has become a hallmark of the people. Americans are growing
more cynical and less compassionate. Their attitudes toward minorities,
immigrants and the poor have hardened.1
This sharp decline into decadence can be traced back to the day
when secular humanism took control of our country. The level of
America’s sins would have even astounded ancient Rome before
her own moral decay resulted in her self-destruction.
The Church is Asleep
And where is the Church? For the most part, it is asleep. Polluted
with the desires and materialism of the world, she knows little
about spiritual discipline and living the Spirit-filled life. She
is complacent and at ease, thinking she has everything and is in
need of nothing.
This picture is a mirror image of the churches at Ephesus and Laodicea
portrayed in Revelation 2:1-7; 3:14-20, to whom the Lord spoke these
sobering words:
“ You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from
which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand
from its place” (Revelation 2:4,5).
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you
were either one or the other! so, because you are lukewarm--neither
hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
“You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need
a thing But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor,
blind and naked” (Revelation 3:15-17).
These pictures of America and the Church are but a few of the alarming
snapshots of our nation. As I thumb through the pages of our national
album, I cannot help but feel a sting of shame. Our great and God-blessed
nation has forsaken its once-solid foundation of biblical principles.
And much of the Church is spiritually impotent–void of a vital,
personal and intimate walk with God. Having fallen into the cult
of the comfortable, the Church, for the most part, is no longer
a power to be reckoned with. It has largely lost the respect of
the masses; it is often the object of ridicule; tragically, it has
become the last place our nation would turn for help.
A Warning
Surely our nation needs a visit from our great God in heaven. We
need another Pentecost! Many Christian leaders across the country
are warning that unless America turns from her wicked ways, she
will self-destruct. I believe America is under judgment. God's judgment
is not coming, it is already here. That is why a tidal wave of evil
courses freely across our land.
In Scripture, God warns that He will discipline His people and bring
judgment for continued disobedience:
“ If you forget about the Lord your God and ... follow evil
ways, you shall certainly perish, just as the Lord has caused other
nations in the past to perish” (Deuteronomy 8:19, TLB).
“I will bring evil upon this people; it will be the fruit
of their own sin, because they will not listen to me” (Jeremiah
29:18, TLB).
“Now I say that each believer should confess his sins to God
when he is aware of them, while there is time to be forgiven. Judgment
will not touch him if he does” (Psalm 32:6, TLB).
[Excerpt from Chapter 1, The Coming Revival by Bill Bright]
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“God's Call to America”
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