Flags fly as hearts fill with pride and men
scramble, and so
America prepares to go to war with a nostalgic zeal for glories
past.
Entrepreneurs swing into the defense effort with T-shirts, key chains,
coffee mugs and any other item on which they can imprint a flag or
inscribe
a snappy patriotic slogan. Most popular with the public, since it
covers both bases of God and country, is "God Bless America,"
especially
since the hymn of the same name is the hit of the nation, being sung at
ball parks and public gatherings across the land, and quickly assuming
the status of war anthem, as it sends the politically correct message
to
our enemies that God is indeed on our side. Rather than a prayer
or plea, modern America uses the phrase "God Bless America" as a
demand,
as if God is being put on notice that America was not pleased at
terrorist
attacks, and what with all the praying and church going of late, better
service will be expected in the future (thank you for your
compliance).
And on a little deeper level, what this represents is a national false
bravado at the creeping realization that our corrupted human
institutions
have failed us: The continual communal singing of "God Bless America"
is
a frightened nation whistling into the darkness of a stormy future.
The United States of
America is a spoiled and selfish country, with
a government that has strengthened itself by preying on the weaknesses
of its citizens. Our so called "classless society" has bifurcated
into two distinct castes: those that pay outrageous taxes and those
that
receive outrageous benefits, with government in the middle as referee,
keeping the peace, as well as a hefty portion of the proceeds.
And
so it seems quite natural to the people that when the president, and
from
his lead the other politicians, and from their urging the mainstream
religious
leaders, encourage prayer for the nation both private and public, that
this should be be like any other government program. Going to
church,
singing the hymns and praying the prayers is no different than going to
the interview, filling out the forms, and receiving the check.
And
so it is assumed that God too is a socialist, and essentially just
another
public official, and that going through the government prescribed
motions
will bring the expected result: victory and national glory at minimal
pain
and expense. And today this is what we call a Christian nation.
While it is easy for
Christians to criticize the American public for
mocking God at the urging of the government, it is also the height of
hypocrisy,
for had we our own house in order, none of this would be a
concern.
This "going through the motions" approach to Christianity is a natural
for America. Is this not how we behave in church, that is those that
can
still stand to attend? How many have discovered that it is
easier in America today to raise Christian children outside of the
liberal churches
than within them? We upbraid the sins in our society yet some how
fail to see that it is merely our own image in the mirror looking back
at us.
Preachers have for years
denounced our society of decadence
and sin, complaining that the church was becoming a reflection of the
world
around it. But the opposite is true. Since Constantine,
when
the followers of Jesus emerged from the Roman catacombs to redefine the
world in Christian terms, society has been a reflection of the Church,
and now, through centuries of our failure to overcome sin and doubt
and bring the kingdom of the Prince of Peace into the hearts of men
through the Church, society
has become a Frankenstein that breaks the seals of Revelation and sets
loose the demons bound at the Euphrates.
We face an enemy that will
face
death for a lie, while we choose not to live for the truth. And
so,
with the power to heal, to cast out demons, and to raise men from the
dead
at our disposal, we have chosen instead to believe the lies the
world
has told us, and so return to the catacombs to take our place amongst
the
dead. The wages for our sins is death and payday is at hand; this is
why
we tremble in fear at men that would quake in the presence of a true
disciple
of Jesus Christ. Our forebears conquered the world for Christ and, like
Jack, we have taken the family cow and traded it for a handful of magic
beans. Now we tremble as the giant climbs down the beanstalk.
And so, as the armies of an
angry world gather blindly for the madness
of that last march into the Valley of Jezreel, we realize too late that
the road to hell has indeed been paved with our good intentions, and so
respond by picking up the devil's standard and joining in the cheers
for
death. Before our eyes, the world divides into satanic forces of
cataclysmic
strength that are about to unleash the greatest conflagration upon
mankind
that the world has ever seen. Our present terror is but the first and
mildest
of the birth pangs. And it will go easier with Chorazin and Bethsaida
at
the judgment than it will with either of these! Jesus, in Luke
8:18,
asks, "When the son of Man cometh, will he find faith on earth?"
Today it seems not likely, for we have lost the battle for the hearts
of
men, and this to our utter shame!
And so repentance is not a
national
matter, but a personal one, for each of us has been weighed in the
balance
and found wanting, and only in turn our nation. And as America sinks
into
her own degradation, our own repentance becomes a life boat to a
shining
light upon the shore. And so, if repentant in our tattered faith we so
approach the City of our God, then sit in sackcloth and ashes and make
lamentations and supplications at the gates, perhaps our Lord will open
to us and forgive us: For Jacob's Trouble is at hand.
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