The Bottom Line, Ministries Christian News, Articles, & Poetry 
Ps. 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
II Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
July 4th, in my teenage years, was a day of great glory and celebration. It was a holiday and a celebration of all we were as Americans. It was a gala affair in which all our north Wisconsin town of 3,500 participated. I was a Tomahawk High School Band member and proudly marched and played trumpet in the parade. In the years before I was in the band, I had always eagerly watched the parade honoring our nation, our military, our veterans, and all the noble heroes of our country’s history.
Throughout all our school years, we had been taught about the greatness of our country and how it was morally, spiritually, and economically unique from all other countries. It was founded on Scriptural principles by men and women of high moral principles. Even if not born-again Christians, many of our founding fathers still knew and stated that America’s foundation was based on Biblical principles.
John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the United States, made this statement at our country’s 61st Anniversary in an oration at Newburyport on July 4th, 1837: “In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity”
Thomas Jefferson: “The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man. … Had the doctrines of Jesus been preached always as pure as they came from his lips, the whole civilized world would now have been Christian.”
Sadly, today, history has been rewritten to fit the liberal notions of our politicians and educators who want to destroy our nation and erase the fact of the Bible and godly influence in the founding of our country. According to them, America was founded by racists without allegiance to the Bible or a moral code. As a result of the educational failure, we have two generations of adults today who do not have an intelligent understanding of American history and have a complete disconnect from the Bible. And what has it produced? A national discord that breeds violence, disrespect for all authority and all things decent, and widespread moral decadence, such as not seen before in America.
Christians are rightfully upset about this. But we, as Christians, forget that we have wanted a Christianity with few moral standards (we don’t like negatives) and have refused the self-denial that Jesus taught. We want a Christianity without sacrifice, without demonstrating a distinctly different lifestyle from the world around us. In the opposite of II Chronicles 7:14, we don’t want to humble ourselves, spend time in prayer, seek His face, power, and presence, and we certainly don’t want to turn from our wicked ways. We want to claim Christ’s name and live the same old worldly lifestyle of all the world around us.
Despite our rejection of the changed life through Christ, we want Him to hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land. We want to say, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,” but we don’t want Him to be Lord over us personally. How can God bless that?
Instead of discussing how wicked some of our political leaders are (and many are very wicked), we must deal with our sin and wickedness. Pay attention to these words from Proverbs 28:13. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
I believe that in these tumultuous days, God is calling Christians back to Him. He wants us to turn from our worldliness, materialism, and half-hearted devotion to Him. He wants us to make Him pre-eminent in our lives. Most Christians already know this. But what are we doing about it?
It’s time to wake up and return to God and His word with all our hearts. What will you do?
Dale,
Powerfully executed in content and delivery!
The “noise in the world” is deafening, as evidenced by all of which you’ve mentioned, and the “silence” of those who know better resounds throughout. The structure of iniquity is growing exponentially…God is calling to His children…and the events of Jesus’ words are proliferating as events and signs he told would occur continue to unfold before our very eyes.
“Psalm 91” is my peace, His promises are unwavering.
Thank you for your candor and for very this very apropos piece.
God Bless~
Thank you, C D, for your encouraging words. They encourage me to “keep on keeping on,” writing for His glory.