- 2 Chronicles 7:14 My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
In recent weeks we continue to experience the result of unchecked greed, poor policy, and inability to manage our finances as a nation. This combined with a moral decline and diverging social culture have challenged America’s leadership position. We only need to look across the Atlantic to England to see the future, yet we continue in our ways. Last week I went to Rick Perry’s event, The Response. It was well done and the content was presented well. I was glad to see Rick Perry take a personal stand and am proud of him for that stand even though I recognize his role as Governor and representative of all in the state that may confuse his personal stand with the position of the State of Texas. The real “elephant in the room” was the fact that half of the stadium was blocked off and the other half was only 60 – 70% full. This tells me that as bad as it may be, our churches, cities and state are not mentally ready for change. There is a remnant that is charged and ready to repent and turn toward God, but only a few. If there was a genuine desire for change the stadium would have overflowed and been directed to overflow venues to accommodate all desperate for a change. Unfortunately, most of us remain content to stay at home.
Over lunch this week I had the privilege of discussing the state of America with my boss who is 85 years old and is one of the Great Generation that fought to protect our nation and was responsible for building this great nation. How quickly their efforts fade away. The following are a few observations and points discussed that have lead our nation
to this point in history. They are also a formula repeated in history as to how to destroy a nation.
- Become prosperous. For many who have reaped the benefits of hard
work and financial rewards, success leads to a growing appetite for more. I am reminded of John D Rockefeller’s famous quote when asked “How much is enough?” He replied “Just a little bit more.” We get sucked into a life that craves the next deal and indulges in work to refuel on the self-satisfaction and pride that comes with success. The priorities of life become out of balance and relationships suffer. For our family we justify our choices by trading time with our family for the responsibility of providing for our family. If we are really successful we are pleased leave our children without a need to work. This privilege is often wasted and destruction is soon to follow. - Destroy the family. If you cut off the head the body will die. There are many ways to “cut off the head or remove the father as the head of the family.” The pursuit of success keeps him at work and is easily justified because he thinks he is meeting his families’ needs. Let him realize financial success and distract his attention to enjoy travel, golf, pursue hobbies, or chase the lusts of the flesh. Give him easy access to drugs, alcohol, and pornography to provide a temporary escape on a path that is a slippery slope to a tragic addiction. Confuse his role and responsibility as the leader of the family. Make it easy and socially acceptable to abdicate his responsibility as spiritual leader, moral compass, and role model to others. (media, culture, celebrity, athletes, school/government)
- Eliminate religion and moral standards. Convince the society that there are no moral absolutes and that free thinking and expression is to be valued above all else. No one person’s ideas or morals are above another’s. The result is a society that lacks self-governance and requires more laws and justifies more government involvement to determine what is socially acceptable.
- Educate to the lowest common denominator. We cannot leave any child behind so we will slow down the progress and restrict the learning of all to accommodate those that are the slowest.
- Remove the incentive to work. Convince the society that it is only fair
that all men shall have a equal standard of living and it is acceptable to take
from those with more to give to those with less. Creating a society that penalizes
hard work and entitles the masses to accept a mediocre security over the risk
of failure in striving to achieve higher aspirations. Once you have removed the
incentive to work, hope of a better future will disappear, creativity will die
with hope, and financial ruin will soon follow.
If the first 5 have not ruined your country then leave the borders open and let foreign languages and cultures blend in with your own and call it diversity. Simply forget or take for granted the sacrifice that our forefathers made to win and defend our homeland.
Sound familiar? Certainly there are too many factors to list contributing to the fall of a nation, but this is a pretty good list and history has proven these to be true. It was interesting to hear Britain’s prime minister’s comments regarding the recent riots in London. He said “I have said before that there is a major problem in our society with
children growing up not knowing the difference between right and wrong. This is not about poverty, it’s about culture. A culture that glorifies violence, shows disrespect to authority, and says everything about rights but nothing about responsibilities.”
So what are we to do? Don’t give up. There is too much at stake. This took a couple of
generations to get to this point and can be corrected. Seek the mercy, grace, direction, and blessing of the almighty God in prayer. As leaders of your family and community take personal responsibility for standing up for truth and teaching truth to your children. Consider and write down a vision or picture of what a successful family and community look like and begin making decisions and taking the actions to lead your family and
community to that vision. Fathers take back the responsibility and commitment to lead your family and much of the rest will follow. The enemy set his sights on the family and has targeted fathers. It is the fathers that can restore peace and unity to the family. It is the fathers of our families that can teach right from wrong and lead a community, city, state, and country. We can learn from many nations before us that once America blesses God by obeying His instruction, God’s blessing will be on our land. So what are you to do? Start today. Get yourself on the right course and turn from your old ways, seek God and His truth. Then begin being the leader that God called you to be at home.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “My people who are called by My name humble
themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I
will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
