Today is America's designated National Day of Prayer. Few times in our young history have we been so far from the face of ALMIGHTY GOD. Though we have multiple missteps that have taken us far from the way of the Founders desired of our nation, we nonetheless, have strived to attain a higher moral ground and to be an example of freedom to the world. We have failed. We have failed miserably. I see the culmination of our efforts and apathy every day. I'm sure you do, too. We can no longer spotlight the sins of others when ours are so luminous they cannot even be hidden in the dark or behind closed doors.
We condone the murder of babies in the womb, overlook and tolerate so much of the world's views and pleasures that we lost our moral compass. What does integrity, truth and honesty mean to Christians, to leaders of Christians? When we compromise integrity, fail to constrain, and fail to exact spiritual discipline when necessary, then how can we the light in a dark world? Can we overlook deceit and reward it with position and elevate it with power and status? I do not know, maybe it's just me who sees black and white. Is right no longer right? Is wrong no longer wrong? Perhaps our churches need to consider cleansing our own house before praying for a nation. Can we put new wine into old wine skins?
Our nation is a mess. Our leaders are proving to be spineless and mindless of the MOST HIGH GOD and His 200-year blessing upon our country and the efforts of our founding fathers who sought to preserve religious freedom and protect us from tyranny. Our world is a disaster in the making. Famines, earthquakes, godless behavior. Today I read an article by Rick Boyne, pastor of Immanuel Southern Baptist Church in Waggoner, Oklahoma.
I believe it speaks truth in a succinct and powerful way. It needs to be read and grasped in its simplicity. With Rick's permission I repost it here and pray it is widely read. Please drop by Rick's blog and encourage him as he seeks to live as he writes.
Definition of APOSTASY
1: renunciation of a religious faith
2: abandonment of a previous loyalty : defection(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apostasy)Let no one in any way deceive you, for it [the return of Christ] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, (2 Thessalonians 2:3 NASB)Our nation has fallen away from God.Despite what is taught today, the truth is our Founding Fathers believed in Jesus Christ and sought to create a government on godly principles.To be accurate, our nation began to fall away from God and now has turned her back on God.Once the shining light of freedom and hope to the rest of the world, the United States is now a mockery to our history with feel-good philosophy and anti-God actions.President Obama announced judgment on our land with his proclamation, "America is no longer a Christian nation."We've taken God out of our schools. We've taken His Laws down from our courtrooms. We've taken prayer out of public venues.Our national motto, "In God We Trust" is only words, and means nothing to most.We've embraced murder and call it a choice. We've embraced the abomination of homosexuality and call it an alternative lifestyle. We've embraced obscenity and call it Freedom of Speech. We've embraced insensibilities and call it political correctness.What we HAVEN'T embraced is God, His Word, His Desires, His Laws, and His Son.We have trampled these things underfoot bringing to mind the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:6, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."We see the persecution of Christians on the rise in our country. Truth is now considered "Hate Speech." People have been arrested for conducting Bible studies in their private homes in California. Campus ministries have been expelled from universities for requiring student leadership to actually BE Christians.Our nation is under attack from radicals from an ungodly religion. The news media is so far away from God that they are unwilling to admit that it is a religious war being conducted against us, for fear of insulting or offending others. The only ones they don't worry about offending are Christians.I want to believe that we are still at a crossroad; we may still have the ability to repent, as a nation.HOWEVER, since the Apostasy must come before the anti-Christ is revealed AND so many of the biblical signs are being manifested, judgment may be inevitable for the United States.In order for the conditions of the world to be "right" for the anti-Christ to come, I believe the world must be in economic disaster. In order for the world to be in economic disaster, the United States economy must fail.It is quite possible that the national apostasy is taking place because God has lifted His hand of mercy from the United States to allow what must take place for the "Man of Lawlessness" to be revealed.Perhaps our national apostasy is irreversible. Perhaps God is allowing it in preparation for the return of Christ.I will keep praying for my nation and for it's leadership. I will keep sharing the Truth. I will keep my faith in God, for, in the end, He is the One Who is truly in control.It, however, may not be too late for you, personally. God is still in the salvation business. Trust Jesus and you'll be saved from your sins, from eternal damnation, and be adopted into God's family. If you'd like more information about this, please contact me or see the link at the top of the right column, Do You Know Jesus?"