"Men Have Forgotten God."

Alexander Solzehnitsyn

In The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn parallels the disappointment God felt toward the rebellious nation of Israel and their eventual fall into judgment with God’s disappointment in America and its impending judgment.  Critics disapprove by saying you can’t take Bible verses that were specifically meant for God’s chosen people and apply them to other nations.  I don’t agree.  I think there are certain principles that apply to ALL nations as well as to Israel.

Do not certain principles apply to all individuals, not just a chosen few?  Specifically among them is the biblical teach that if one disobeys God there will be severe consequences.  If one worships another god there will come a severe judgment.  If a person ignores God or claims he doesn’t exist, in a very literal way, there will be hell to pay.

The Bible teaches that these certain principles that apply to all individuals also apply to all nations. This is expressed clearly in Psalm 9:17 “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”  If one rises early in the morning before the light of day and casts his gaze toward the eastern horizon he will see something that all men of all generations have seen for thousands of years.  He will see the sun rise.  That is really a misnomer, the sun doesn’t actually rise.  When we see the sun appear we can rest assured that the earth is still spinning on its axis.

Just as surely as that natural law plays itself out every 24 hours, there are certain spiritual laws that cannot be compromised or altered.  Among them is one very important to Americans:  A nation that forgets God cannot and will not escape the judgment of God.  We have pushed God aside. We have chosen to worship our own idols.  We are obsessed with our own position, possessions and pleasure.  Multitudes claim to be a part of the Christian family but only for their own expediency, not because they have actually made any sacrifices for or developed any relationship with Him.

We tend to think that nations rise and fall based on the type of governments they form and the value of the policies they adopt.  This is humanism:  giving man more credit than he deserves for the rise and fall of nations.  It is a sovereign God who determines life or death for the nations of the earth.  He explains in his word over and over again the reasons for the rise and fall of nations:  “Righteousness lifts up a nation, but sin is a shame to the people” (Prov. 14:34).  The same laws that apply to individuals apply to nations. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)  If pride comes before the fall of the individual, pride also precedes the fall of a nation.

When nations turn away from God, acting as if He does not exist, sinfulness festers within the soul of that nation like an abscess in a boil.  The nation become infected with political corruption, dishonesty, slander, public displays of sexual perversions, rape,  violent crimes, , theft, , adultery, abortion, pornography,  drunkenness, drug abuse, gluttony, graft, greed and gambling of all kinds. 

God’s anger is revealed as his hammer is applied to the pillars of society.  Economic woes surface as taxes increase and government borrows more and more money to pay for the public demand for entitlements.  Government always fails in its attempt to satisfy the needs of all the people because their resources are limited.  Our God “owns the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10).  He is unlimited in his ability to provide and care for his own.  He entitles his follows to a fountain of grace and mercy that can never run dry. 

The spring of blessing from which the church has drawn its life begins to dry up.  The family rambles toward wreckage.  Education crumbles under the strain of trying to maintain a justification for eliminating truth from its curriculum.  Entertainment mollifies the masses and the press prostitutes its integrity.  The pillars weaken as God seeks to remind us of our failure to acknowledge him.

May God have mercy on America!

My father had four sons.  I was the youngest of the pack.  There are many disadvantages to being the youngest.  I didn’t get away with much because by the time I made my appearance my father had a pretty good grip on how to do the father-thing.  But there is one outstanding advantage that I didn’t always take advantage of.  The youngest can always learn from the mistakes made by his older siblings. 

Why is America not learning from the mistakes made by older nations?  The Israel of the Old Testament lost its identity because they disobeyed God.  Judah was taken into captivity because of their rebellion against the Almighty.  In the modern age, Germany was defeated and destroyed because the German people chose to follow Hitler instead of Christ.  On Christmas Day in 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union and a great nation fell without a shot being fired, one of the most amazing historical events of our time.  How could this happen? 

We who live in the west would do well to consider the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the great writer and historian of Russian society.  When attempting to answer the question as to why a horrible revolution took place in his country that killed 60 million people, Solzhenitsyn said, “More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.” 

The truth is never complicated, it is always so simple.  We could fill libraries with the books men have written about the causes of WWI, WWII, The Cold War and the present unrest in the Middle East.  Don’t bother spending too much time perusing through those sources.  The answer is simple:  Men have forgotten God.

Dark clouds are gathering on the horizon of America’s future.  Those clouds indicate the judgment of God upon a nation that has disobeyed, a nation that has abandoned the intent of its founding fathers.  We have become softened and weakened by our wealth and abundance.  We have chosen to place our trust in other things rather than in God.  He has allowed us to do this just as he allowed a multitude of nations that preceded us to do the same.  What are the consequences of forgetting God?   I believe the answer is found in Psalm 106:15 “And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” 

It is not too late to return to the temple.  Let us repent of our sin of self-sufficiency.  Let us seek forgiveness for our callousness and forgetfulness and let us sincerely and desperately seek to restore what we once had; the blessings and approving smile of God upon us.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

The Truth About America: Has The Glory Departed?

The Bible teaches Christians to be aware of falling into deception.  The Great Deceiver tempted Adam and Eve in the garden.  When he was told that God had forbid them eat of the fruit, Satan asked, “Did God really say that?”  The message of Christ is no different today than it was 2,000 years ago.  “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No man comes to the father except by me.” – (John 14:6)  The Great Deceiver still asks the same question;  “Did Jesus really say that?”  The truth about America is that millions have embraced the deception that there are many paths to God.

Our lust for power and our lean toward pride prevent us from understanding the truth.  History’s wisest man wrote these words to describe the dilemma of man:  “There is a way that seemeth right unto man, but he end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) The truth about America is that there are many false prophets portraying themselves as angels of light when actually they are devils of darkness.  The Apostle Paul was compelled to leave the Church at Ephesus and go to Jerusalem and this was his warning before he left.  “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” (Acts 20:29)

Why are there so many false prophets?  Why do so many embrace lies rather than truth?  Why is the modern American church becoming so powerless?  I must ask a dreadful question.  Has the glory departed?  Truth and deception are like water and oil.  They cannot coexist.  Is the Spirit of God fleeing our culture because of the prevalence of deception and evil that exists, not only in our culture but also in our church?

Good beginnings are meaningless when followed by bad endings.  This story repeats itself thousands of times all across this nation.  A young man, Spirit-filled and enthusiastic, feels called of God to minister to others.  He invites several couples into his home and shares the gospel.  God blesses his efforts and his small gathering grows into a small church.  He is gung-ho for God and the gospel and his church experiences tremendous growth, from twenty to two hundred to two thousand and before you know it the pastor has grown a mega-church.

He realizes he can no longer shepherd the flock, he must now drive the herd.  He can’t manage the herd any longer without turning the church into a corporation.  He hires others to do the counseling and to develop policies and programs.  The people he has hired yearn to climb the corporate church ladder.  They become competitive and loyal to their superiors and the institution becomes man-centered as they slowly and progressively forget God.  Unwelcome and forgotten, the Spirit of God departs.

Will you consider 1 Samuel chapter 4 with me for a moment?  May I paraphrase to save time?  The Israelites and the Philistines battle one another and the Philistines win the contest.  It was a day of great mourning for many mothers and wives and daughters.   4,000 Israelites are killed.

The leaders of Israel pondered this horrible defeat and decided they needed to bring the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh to protect them.  They were ready to battle again under the deception that simply carrying the ark with them would assure defeat of the Philistines.  So many today fail to experience outward victory because they’ve never realized inward change.  They were smashed again by their enemy and lost 30,000 men.

During this tragic time, Israel is ruled by a great priest and judge, Eli.  Eli waits to hear of the outcome of the battle.  He sees a weary and dusty messenger in the distance approaching.  Eli is 98 years old and he lifts his weakened voice to the runner.  “What has happened, my son?”  (1 Sam. 4:16)  “Thousands are dead, your two sons have perished and the Ark of the Covenant is in the hands of the enemy.”  The news was so shocking and overwhelming to Eli he passed out, fell backwards off his chair, broke his neck and died on the spot. 

Eli’s daughter-in-law, wife of one of his sons, was pregnant at the time.  When she heard her husband and her brother-in-law and her father-in-law were all dead she went into labor.  The midwife was able to deliver a son before the mother died in labor.  The midwife named the boy, Ichabod, which means, “The glory is departed.”  The ark of God is captured, the Spirit of the Lord has departed, the presence of God no longer abides.

The truth about America is that we have done much to offend the living God.  Our national sins are many.  We have put out a “Do Not Disturb” and made clear that we don’t want to be bothered.  We have clearly indicated we want our sin more than we want His grace.  We no longer fear the Mighty God.  We question his word and ask, “Did God really say that?”  We question the existence of heaven and hell, his virgin birth, his death and resurrection.  We question the very existence of God himself.  We are driving him from our schools.  We no longer welcome him in our courts and halls of government.  There is no longer a hallowed place provided for God in our midst.  Without the protective presence of God we have become dangerously vulnerable.

The truth about America is that we need desperately to repent of our sins and humbly seek the one and living God in all his grace and mercy.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

“Beware Lest You Forget”

My wife labored long and hard in the kitchen after putting in a 10 hour day as a teacher and cheerleading coach on her first day of school.  She prepared a delicious meal with chicken, rice and lots of other ingredients I am unaware of.  After studying the recipe and investing over an hour in actual preparation, she sat three steaming plates on the supper table and my family gathered for our evening meal.  Kameron, my seven-year old tasted of his meal and crinkled his nose and said, “I don’t like this.”  I saw the hurt on his mother’s face and tried to intercede to lessen the pain she felt from his unappreciative spirit. It was painful for me to remember how many times I had said similar things after my mother, who has passed, saw her labors of love go unappreciated. 

                                       

The failure to show or feel gratitude seems to plague our modern society.  A progressive callousness has infected our hearts.  A large number of Americans are more interested in acquiring entitlements they haven’t earned rather than invest a fair day’s labor in exchange for a fair day’s wage.

We now live in cities we did not build.  We occupy homes filled with things we did not put there.  We draw water from wells we did not dig and we eat the fruit that falls from trees we did not plant.

When I was a child I used to sit quietly and listen to my father and my uncles talk of their experiences fighting in the Second World War.  That war changed them forever.  They crossed the ocean as young, reckless, daring men who felt the invulnerability common to all youth.  They returned with a humility acquired from watching their colleagues demonstrate superhuman courage in desperate moments.  I listened as they pondered why they had survived and others had not.  They had a deep appreciation and patriotic love for the country their comrades had shed blood for.

Now I sit quietly and listen to my grown sons and their friends discuss politics and talk about their country.  The conversation of the generation to follow mine is much different than the conversation of the generation that preceded mine.

Very few Americans favor the politicians that fill the halls of Congress and they wonder what is happening to the country.  There is a self-consuming selfishness and egotism that infects modern day ‘statesmen’.  Why do they not appreciate and deeply love the country their fathers founded?  Is it not because one tends to remember his own sacrifices but he forgets the sacrifices of others?  If you’ve not sacrificed anything for the purchase of freedom and liberty you assign less value to those virtues than those who paid dearly.

The Lord God cautioned the Israelites as they were about to enter the land that flowed with milk and honey.  God was going to give them “large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill.”  They were about to inherit “hewn-out wells they did not dig” and fruit from “trees they did not plant”.  (Deuteronomy 6:10-11)

When I was a youth I asked my father to buy me a bike because all the kids in the neighborhood were riding really cool bikes their father’s had bought them.  He taught me a lesson I’ll never forget and I hope my own sons learn well.  “I won’t buy you a bike, but I’ll help you get a job so you can buy your own bike,” he told me.  He purchased a paper route from my friend Bruce and I rose every morning at 4:30 AM so I could cover the three-mile route before catching the bus to school at 7:00 AM.  After a couple months of collecting fees, I had earned enough money to buy the best bike in the neighborhood… banana seat, sissy bar, streamers…the whole nine yards.  I was so proud of my ‘wheels’. 

The lesson:  my dad knew I would cherish and care for a bike I had earned with my own labor much more than I would had it simply been given me.  The investment of blood, sweat and tears makes the object obtained precious to the owner.

I fear for my country because I believe the truths taught in the Word of God.  My father served his country well in WWII.  I never served in the military.  I’ve not had to make any real sacrifices to preserve freedom for my sons and grandchildren.  Neither of my two grown sons chose to serve in the military.  My family may very well live through three generations without having to fight to preserve the precious purchase of those who gave their limbs and lives in previous wars.

The danger is that we will forget the price paid and having invested so little we may fail to understand the value of our blessings.  God foretold and warned the Israelites what would happen when they drank from wells they did not dig:  “Beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” (Deut. 6:12) 

Alexander Solzhenitsyn sought an answer as to why the Soviet Union had deteriorated so quickly and totally.  He listened to the older ones speaking about the disasters that had plagued the Russians.  He heard them say, “Men have forgotten God: That’s why this all happened.” (1)

We have reached the point where we eat the meal provided and we push back from the table without even a thought as to the amount of effort and preparation that was invested to provide it for us.  We have forgotten God.

1.  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, as quoted by Tom Pauken in “Bringing Home America,” p. 101.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Sermon: What's Wrong With America

The Truth About America - Why are so many in America feeling like something is just not right.  There seems to be a troubling spirit hovering over us.  It is a feeling of fear and of uncertainty.  69% of Americans believe the country is in decline.  83% are worried about America's future.  What is happening and what can Christian Americans do about it?

http://landmarknazarene.org/media.php?pageID=36

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

America’s Homosexual Evolution

President Obama has certainly made his mark on the history of the United States.  Our children will one day read about him in American History books as the first black president, the first foreign born president and the first president to play 150 rounds of golf in one term.  Now, after the completion of Obama’s ‘evolution’, he has become the first president to support homosexual marriage.  But even those in the homosexual community are questioning his motives.  They realize that his support on this issue, just like every other issue in the life of the Narcissist in Chief, centers on himself. 

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post epitomized the pressure from the left for Obama to step out of the closet regarding the homosexual issue.  Marcus proceeded to pommel the president with a series of punches:  “Same-sex marriage is turning into a test of character and leadership for President Obama,” she wrote. “Does he favor it, or doesn’t he? In the wake of Vice President Biden’s remarks supportive of marriage equality, the continued presidential equivocation makes Obama look weak and evasive”. 

The greatest fear of this president is that his façade of strength will be melted away by the heated disapproval of his own supporters to reveal just how weak he really is.  Marcus’ uppercut was followed by this gut punch, “The longer Obama waits, the worse he looks. The President’s first stall tactic, that he is ‘evolving’ on the issue, doesn’t cut it anymore.”  She finally throws the knock-out punch:  “…doesn’t evolution imply change? And if you think perhaps he’s still conflicted — well, that’s hardly an advertisement to be leader of the free world. At this point, Obama’s reticence is looking cowardly.”  Being criticized by Fox News is one thing, being pummeled by fellow liberals is more than the president can endure.  It’s like learning your wife is seeing another man.

So, just what is it that Obama supports?  Homosexuality is an act of immorality.  It is immoral by the standard of natural law, “men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another”,  (Romans 1:27) and it violates God’s moral law.  The Apostle Paul lists the offenses that will earn eternal separation from God.  “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders.”  (1 Cor. 6:9) If the leader of the free world will step out and support the immoral behavior of homosexuality, is he also willing to support adultery, fornication, and polygamy? 

These forms of immorality will eventually destroy a family, a church and finally a nation.  Any president who would promote that which would destroy us has no right to be the leader.  This utterly contradicts the intent of our founding fathers who founded this country on Christian principles.  We’ve had many presidents who participated in immoral behavior, from lying to staining a blue dress, but we have had none to blatantly verbalize that such immoral behavior should be accepted as the norm.  The president’s evolution on the immoral practice of homosexuality simply mirrors the evolution in our society toward sexual depravity.  We must ask ourselves the question:  Does the president’s evolution toward the acceptance of homosexuality indicate that our society’s evolutionary slide to Gomorrah is complete?

Why does God condemn adultery?  Why does he condemn homosexuality?  Why did the original marriage plan of God include one man and one woman, one husband and one wife?  It is because the institution of marriage is sacred.  The primary purpose of the marriage relationship is to portray the relationship Christ has to the church.  “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  (Eph. 5:25)  God provides us with the wonderful opportunity to have a personal relationship with him but there are conditions we must meet.  He demands fidelity, just as any decent husband would demand of his wife or any wife her husband.  When we pursue other gods, when we worship other idols, our relationship with Christ becomes unsustainable.  The marriage relationship between a man and a woman is an earthly reflection of a spiritual relationship that can become eternal.

The effort to destroy marriage, to muck up the pure waters of something so sacred, is satanic.  How better to besmirch the purity and sacredness of marriage than to assault the institution with pornography, with adultery, with infidelity and most definitely, with homosexuality.  These sins cannot be participated in without consequences.  The sexual revolution of the last fifty years has reaped fatherless children, orphans, broken homes, innumerable divorces, rampant diseases, depression and suicides. 

God’s primary purpose for sexual relations between a man and a woman was to procreate.  God was so pleased and blessed to see his creation expand that he determined to make the experience of procreating extremely pleasurable as a demonstration of his favor.  Procreation has now become something to avoid like a plague.   The pleasure of sexual relations has been so dulled by our willingness to overindulge that we have stepped out of what God originally intended into that which is twisted and unnatural in a vain attempt to overcome our desensitization to pleasure.

There is a horrible plague of blindness that now pervades throughout American society.  In an attempt to find and experience freedom it was proclaimed loud and clear that ‘anything goes’, all sexual restraints were lifted to try to satisfy the deep emptiness of godless souls.  We became a society of moral zombies, proclaiming that all was well, while we pretended a lie to our friends and neighbors that we had finally found the secret to happiness.  But the freedom we proclaimed was not real, it was a fatal fantasy.  The smile on our faces was a failed attempt to hide the frown in our souls. 

We put up a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign to keep God from intruding in our society.  In our churches we replaced him with a cotton-candy prosperity gospel that was too anemic to save and too empty to satisfy the needs of the hungry.  So, they have fled from the church in search of another savior.  The blinded sexual libertarian cannot see that sexual depravity is not freedom, it is bondage.  It does not lead to happiness, it leads to emptiness.  It does not build relationships, it destroys them.  Discovering why they think they are free when they are actually slaves to the bondage of sexual immorality is a mystery for the ages.

We are living among “a rebellious people.  They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but they do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.”  (Ezekiel 12:2)  It is most troubling that we are now assured that the one who leads us is blinded as well.  It is fearful to think of what our destiny will be when the blind is indeed, leading the blind.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Why Power Corrupts: Self-absorbed Leadership

Over one hundred years ago, Lord Acton declared that “Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  The concept was first demonstrated when Lucifer aimed to supplant God and God would have nothing to do with it, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God”.  (Isaiah 14:12-13)   There is a parallel passage in Ezekiel 28:11-19 that reveals that the ability of power to corrupt is not confined to Satan, but his plans are carried out through earthly kings and rulers who think just like the father they serve.  They take to themselves what belongs exclusively to God. They make outrageous claims of divinity, just as Lucifer did before he was cast out of heaven. 

The ancient Chinese rulers of the Qin Dynasty claimed to be the “Sons of Heaven”.  The Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar became “the Divine Julius”.  Imhotep, the ancient Egyptian physician was elevated to deity after his death when he was declared the god of medicine and healing.  The early kings who ruled Europe often thought they were privileged with divine rights.  Some modern day rulers are certainly so drunk on their own power, they also believe they are divine or have at their disposal divine power to rule over the mere mortals of earth.

So the question to be answered is this, “Why is it that some are corrupted by power and others are not?”  When one contrasts Hitler, Stalin, and Castro with Washington, Lincoln and Reagan the differences are very pronounced.  Who can explain the failure of Communism and Totalitarianism?  Is it not true when man attempts to use power apart from God he becomes corrupt.  Communist leaders who bought into Darwin’s theory of evolution hook, line and sinker had a rationale upon which to build their atheistic philosophies.  The absence of God created an empty vacuum in their souls which they filled with the only thing that remains when God is removed, self.  While one set of rulers refer to God frequently and seek his assistance the other group lifts their fist in the face of God and denies his existence.  After they have declared God eliminated, there is no one to set a standard for morality or determine proper human behavior, so, the self-absorbed ruler declares  that he is the arbitrator of all.

Jesus addressed this very idea of replacing God with self when he addressed a group of ruling lawyers and judges of his day, “…you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (Matthew 23:25)  Why does death follow after political systems that reject God?  The Apostle Paul gave us the answer 2,000 years ago:  “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger”. (Romans 2:8)  The leader who exaggerates his own importance often uses his power to attempt to create what actually does not exist.  He wants to be the architect of a heaven on earth, a utopia, for the elite, those who share in the divine rights.  The status of their divinity cannot be fully realized until someone worships them so they oppress the common masses and encourage class warfare to create a great chasm that separates them from the mere mortals.

They visualize themselves as creating a society of underlings who will live in total submission to them and will be overwhelmed with admiration for them because they were able to create a system in which all share equally in the wealth.  The gratefulness of the masses will remove any bitterness that might be directed toward those who are living the high life.   The ‘gods of the marketplace’ deserve to live lives of leisure and luxury because of their gift to the masses.  While they fantasize their own divinity and revel in the worship of the multitude they are actually being set up for failure.  “You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.”  (James 5:5)

A culture has a sure anchor of morality when it is centered on God.  When God is removed from a culture, morality collapses and men, especially rulers, become nihilistic.  Moral character becomes obsolete and nihilism takes its place.  There are no exceptions to this rule.  It is the same for a liberal or a conservative, for a Democrat or a Republican.   The removal of God from the formula eliminates satisfaction in the soul and that individual begins to seek satisfaction from outside sources, mainly through pleasure, prestige and power.  When God is replaced by self a peculiar panic develops within.   Those who deny God are tormented by the illusion that there is no one in control.  Frantic control-freaks begin to immerge from the godless.  They begin developing rules and policies to govern the behavior of others.  Apart from the wisdom of God, these regulations and mandates become asinine and absurd. 

When men like Al Gore address the peons with statements like; “The world only has five years before it is destroyed by global warming”, and they roll their eyes at the absurdity, he is deeply offended.  He has come to save the world.  He knows better than we.  We should not resent the fact that he wants us to ride bicycles while he is flown about in his private jet.  He is the chosen one to save the citizens of the world from themselves.  For those of us who understand the sovereignty of the true God, Gore’s behavior seems juvenile and maniacal.  “Relax, Al.  We don’t need another Savior, we already have one.”

The emptiness of the soul that must depend on self rather than God often drives them to a grandiose self-assignment.  He tries to fill up his own emptiness, not with God, but by making themselves saviors.  They visualize themselves heroes of the poor, the working class and the downtrodden.  God-fearing leaders find their value in the God who created them and the God they serve.  Those who have alienated themselves from God must find satisfaction in becoming their own deities, saving the world from environmental pollution, saving the whales, saving mankind from the threat of nuclear annihilation and eliminating poverty.

This self-appointed task of becoming savior leads to arrogance.  This prideful spirit is always followed by disgrace and lack of wisdom.  (Proverbs 11:2)  Many think it is quite arrogant when President Obama strong arms the Supreme Court to approve of the ‘individual mandate’ in his healthcare law that is blatantly unconstitutional.  Is he above the law?  Does he assume the power to write his own laws and self-impose them on the rest of society?  There is an unattractive self-centeredness in the president when he declares a policeman acted “stupidly” before all the facts of the case were gathered.  How many Pennsylvanians were offended by his condescending statement regarding those who come from small towns in Pennsylvania (that would include the author) who “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion”.  The inference is that he has a plan to rescue those small town people, a plan that guns and religion cannot possibly provide.  Is this not more than arrogance?  Is this not one who believes he has divine rights?  Michele certainly thinks so as she recently stated that her husband has “brought us out of the dark and into the light.”

Can you not see the writing on the wall, just as Nebuchadnezzar saw?  “You have been weighed in the scales and found wanting.  The days of your kingdom are numbered, it is to be divided and given away”.  (Daniel 5)   There are no exceptions to this truth:  when God is defied and removed he no longer blesses and destruction is sure to follow.  Our future as a country and society will be determined by whether our leaders choose to serve self or others and by whether we embrace and worship the true God or continue to reject him.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

"If I wanted America to Fail"

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

We Have Forgotten God

American's seem so obsessed with celebrity.  We have applied the slang term 'tinsel town' to Hollywood, the cradle of American culture.  The word 'tinsel' has been used since the 1600's to allude to the fact that where there may be name recognition or much personality, there may be a total deficit of substance.  "All that glitters isn't gold." That cliché actually originated from Shakespeare's play, Merchant of Venice: "All that glisters is not gold; Often have you heard that told".  The apostle Paul alluded to the impotence of a loveless man's influence by comparing his words to "a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." (1 Cor. 13:1)  In the more modern vernacular we refer to someone who is puffed up with certainty of his own importance as an 'empty suit'. In reality he is lacking in substance and his influence is mostly imaginary.

There is a common deception prevalent among Americans today. The obsession with personality over substance indicates a misplacement of proper priorities.  Many are convinced that the economic, political and social problems of America can be solved by a person.  All that is necessary to successfully climb out of this dark hole of despair is to find the right person to occupy the White House.  Politicians and candidates seem to spend 90% of their time defending their past and 10% of their time casting a vision for the future of a struggling country.  Substance plays second fiddle to persona.

Another cancerous deception eating away at the soul of America is the idea that our primary problem is political or economic in nature.  The reality is that America has a spiritual problem that will require spiritual solutions.  John Adams summed it up very nicely, "Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."  A suit custom-made fits you well.  The same suit won't fit the guy sitting next to you.  Our government was custom-made for a God-fearing Christian people.  Trying to force a godless people into the same suit only reaps disastrous results. 

Perhaps John Adams was echoing George Washington who made a similar statement:  "We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained…" What was President Washington saying in a nutshell?  God will only bless us in our obedience.  Rebellion and defiance will merit God's judgment, not his blessing.

America's success wasn't a freak accident of nature in spite of what the political or social evolutionists might want you to believe.  America has been blessed of God.  Now, it seems we have forgotten God.  There are dire consequences for the individual or the nation that forgets God.  "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."  (Psalm 9:17)  I'll receive a ream of hate mail for making such a bold statement.  It is interesting how times have changed.

Abraham Lincoln struggled to find a reason for a war that divided the nation he loved so dearly:  "It is the duty of nations…to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins…with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy…The awful calamity of civil war…may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins."  He is insinuating that the Civil War was God's judgment for a nation's sin of slavery. What might God's judgment be for a nation's sin of infanticide, evidenced by the murder of 53 million unborn infants since 1973?

President Lincoln continued his call for a National Day of Fasting and Prayer:  "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven…We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God."  If Americans had forgotten God 150 years ago, how much more have we forgotten God now?

When national or natural calamities occur we always ask the same question.  "Where is our God"?  Where was God during 9/11?  Where was God during Katrina?  Why do we expect him to be anywhere near?  We didn't invite him to the party.  He isn't on our guest list anymore.  We no longer allow our children to study his love letter to them in government schools.  They can no longer whisper his name before they partake of their meals.  We have ripped down his formula for living together in peace and harmony from our courthouse walls.  We applaud the empty suits of tinsel town who have become millionaires by making a profession of mocking God. 

We seem determined to fill the cup of God's wrath.  It is one thing to invite corruption into one's own soul, it is quite another to attempt to corrupt the souls of others.  Nothing stirs the anger of God more.  We have rejected Christianity in our education system and have replaced it with a pagan secularism.  We charge children for their school lunch but the condoms are free.  We are stirring the pot of God's wrath by exporting pornography, abortion and homosexuality to other nations and other cultures.

Do we expect God to shrug his shoulders and slump away?  How will God react to American's rejecting him?  That question can be answered because God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.  He never changes.  He will react to us just as he did to other nations that rejected him.  The pattern can be observed, especially by studying the history of Israel.  Israel and America have a stark commonality.  They were both founded upon the precepts of God for the purpose of being that "light upon a hill", the salt of the earth, examples to other nations of what a God-fearing country might become and accomplish.

America has followed the pattern of ancient Israel.  First there comes a serious departure from God.  America's divorce with God has gradually been realized over the last fifty years.  Divorce is following by a warning to get back on course.  The events of 9/11 and the economic collapse of 2008 may very well have been warnings to Americans of impending judgment on the impenitent.  The failure to submit is evidenced by a spirit of arrogance, a fist in the face of God.  When a people choose rebellion and revolt rather than repentance, multiple warnings are finally followed by greater calamity.

This calamity can be avoided.  God's anger can be assuaged.  The solution is to follow the formula provided in 2 Chronicles 7:14  "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."  Americans are busy seeking but they are not seeking the face of God.  They are seeking wealth, comfort, pleasure, fame, and satisfaction of their own desires. 

Storm clouds are gathering on the American horizon but let us be reminded that revival never comes during times of comfort and prosperity, revival comes through the hand of God in judgment.  The pearl hidden deep in the difficult times ahead may very well be a revival that will stir the hearts of Americans to return to the God of their fathers. 

Let those of us who are Christian vow to let our voices be heard.  "I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call upon the Lord, give yourselves no rest."  (Isaiah 62:6)

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Is God Warning America?

What is the secret of America’s great success?  America’s freedom and prosperity didn’t happen by chance.   We are a nation blessed by God.  We have been blessed beyond any nation in history but now we have forgotten God.  Psalm 9:17 "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."  We continue to fill the cup of God’s wrath with our corruption.  God is saddened when a man seems content to live in the filth of his own corruption.  A man should tremble at the wrath he stirs in the heart of God when he attempts to destroy the hearts of others, especially the young and innocent, with his corruption.  As a nation we have awakened the wrath of God by exporting our corruption to other nations.  We use to export steel, textiles and technology.  Now we export pornography, abortion and homosexual rights.

We have banned the Bible, prayer and the Ten Commandments from our schools and institutions.  We have banned the very mention of God’s name.  Do we expect God to slump his shoulders and walk away?  What is God’s reaction to America’s rejection of him?  Because he is the same yesterday, today and forever and he never changes, we can learn how God will react to America today by looking historically at how he reacted to countries of the past that committed such sins. 

What do Israel and America have in common?  They are the only two nations in history that were founded upon God from their very inception.  America was called to be a light to the nations just as ancient Israel was.  God’s plan for countries that he has chosen to be light and salt is that if we continue to follow him we will be blessed but if we turn our backs on him and forget him we shall be removed. 

Dr. Luke recorded these words of Jesus; “…to whom much is given, of him shall much be required."  (Luke 12:48)  We were established on the foundations of the very word of God and he blessed us for our efforts, for our obedience.  We became the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth.  We were blessed with resources, we were blessed with ingenuity and innovations and a standard of living that other nations could only dream of. 

Israel experienced similar blessings over 2500 years ago.  Israel was chosen of God to be that “city upon a hill”, that nation that would be the flag ship for all other nations, pointing them toward God.  But Israel was influenced by the pagan practices of neighboring nations.  They lost their hunger for God and they began to yearn for frivolous things that would temporarily satisfy the lusts of their hearts.  They began to live for the moment rather than for eternity.

God allowed Israel to suffer an attack from Assyria from the north.  This was a wakeup call.  But rather than respond to this warning from the Almighty, Israel continued in her waywardness.  When God spoke against the sons of Jacob and his judgment fell on Israel they said, “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.” (Isaiah 9:10) 

God removed the umbrella of protection from Israel.  He meant this attack form Assyria to be a warning.  It was a wake-up call.  He was pleading with his chosen:  “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)  But they were a rebellious people, they had “eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear.” (Ezekiel 12:2)

The attack of the Assyrians didn’t move them to repent, rather, it revealed their arrogance.  “We will replace the damaged bricks with dressed stone.  We will replace the fallen sycamores with tall and noble cedars,” they said.  The first stage of judgment was completed and it resulted in no conversion.  Therefore, God will try again to awaken the hardened, sleeping hearts of the Israelites.  What is more serious than to lift one’s fist to the face of God and refuse his call to repentance?  God could not ignore this blatant rebellion.

When God smites he means to humble us and turn us back to him.  When the reaction is pride instead of humility we are setting ourselves up for a greater smiting.  Matthew Henry says of this verse:  (Isaiah 9:10) “The people turn not to Him who smites them, therefore he continues to smite: for when God judges, he will overcome; and the proudest, stoutest sinner shall either bend or break.” 

Messianic Rabbi Jonathon Cahn identifies 8 harbingers in this verse. (The Harbinger, Jonathon Cahn)  A harbinger is anything that foreshadows a future event.  Cahn makes a convincing comparison between God’s treatment of Israel and God’s treatment of America. 

The first harbinger was “the bricks have fallen.”  This bricks were weak, sun dried and easy to destroy.  There was damage but it was limited.

The second harbinger; “but we will rebuild.”  God is encouraging repentance but they are defying this and choose instead to display their arrogance.  They will apply human effort to undo the judgment of God.

The third harbinger:  “we will rebuild stronger.”  “If you destroy our bricks we will replace them with strong and ornate stone.  If you destroy our sycamore trees, trees of little value, we will replant great cedars.  We will make what you destroyed greater than it was before,” they said.

The fourth harbinger:  “the hewn stone”.  “The bricks have been destroyed but we will rebuild with hewn stone.”  The weak bricks made of clay will be replaced by stone hewn and cut from the mountain.  They shook their fist in the face of God and said, “You destroyed us in our weakness, we will come back stronger than ever.”

The fifth harbinger:  The spirit of defiance.  God recognizes this attitude and he is trying to purge them of this sin.

The sixth harbinger:  “The sycamore has been cut down.”  This tree was a type of fig mulberry tree.  They were common, they were weak.  The Assyrians cut them down when they attacked.

The seventh harbinger:  The strong Cedar tree.  “We will replace the weak sycamore with the strong cedar.  You sent the Assyrians to attack us.  You thought it would weaken us and turn us to repentance.  Instead, the weak will be made strong and we will do this by our own effort with no help from God.”

The eight harbinger:  The leaders of the nation say that they will rebuild.  “We will be stronger yet.”  They failed to humble themselves in the eyes of God and because of their arrogant reaction, “his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” (Isaiah 9:21)

Cahn compares this first judgment of God on the Israelites with America’s 9/11 experience.  What was 9/11?  It cast our country into shock.  Seven years later our economy came crashing down.  Was this God sending a warning across the bow? 

The Rabbi draws our attention to the next chapter in Isaiah:  “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!”  (Isaiah10:5)  God is using the Assyrians to warn the Israelis of judgment yet to come.  He then says that after he is finished with this ‘rod’ he will “…punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.”  (Isaiah 10:12)

As God allowed the Assyrians to wake up the Israelis, has he not allowed the terrorist of 9/11 to wake up America?  Are we going to humble ourselves and repent or are we going to be arrogant and ignore his judgment?

The Harbinger, Jonathon Cahn

The Harbinger, Issues in Education, Bob and Geri Boyd

Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Isaiah Chapter 9

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

The Reason For America’s Decline (And What We Can Do About It)

There has been much discussion in recent months regarding the decline of America.  Some deny it.  Some seem to actually revel in the decline of America.  Still others will explain it away as an illusion.  It only appears we are declining because other countries like China and Brazil are experiencing an incline.  But these facts remain:  we are plagued by the fear of terrorism, we are rocked by corruption in our government and our economy teeters on the brink of total collapse.

There seems to be a natural law at work in all societies.  It is the law of atrophy.  It is truly phenomenal the structures men have built over the centuries.  But they all reach their peak and then began to decay.  We wage a constant battle to fight decay in our historical structures like the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.  Other men have been builders of empires and institutions. All of them, without exception, have decayed and eventually died.  Multiple billions of people have lived productive lives throughout the ages and all have degenerated and finally died.

Ezra Pound once said, “Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance…poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from the music.”  Mothers keep their young near for fear of their getting lost and dying of hunger or being consumed by a predator.  If America is in decline it’s because she is getting further and further away from the truths and principles upon which she was founded.  We can expect a progressive atrophy of freedom and independence when we allow ourselves to float so far downstream from the original intent of our founding fathers.  When we twist the U.S. Constitution in such a way as to sanction the murder of the unborn, when we use the sacred scriptures to condone the sinful actions of mankind rather than condemn them we are in serious decline. 

We have replaced the absolute truths of God’s word (the Ten Commandments) with our own relativism (the ten suggestions).  We have asked God to change himself to suit our own nature and desires.  We don’t want to be accountable to a holy and just God.  When the unchanging, eternal God ignored our suggestions to change, we chiseled out our own God.  Our new god was proportionally distorted.  The god we created was filled so full of love there was no room for justice.  The god we created would never separate himself from those who hate and despise him.  The new god we worship has renounced his righteousness and purity in the name of inclusiveness.  Repentance and holiness are no longer requirements to enter the presence of a holy God.  He has opened up the doors of eternity to the impure and the impenitent.  It will be a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31) because he will be nothing like the god we envisioned.

Life is a constant battle against this natural law of decay.  We fight to protect our marriages from the numbing effects of living in the grind of routine.  We are constantly introducing new programs and agendas into our churches and institutions to stir new life.  Aging is like a slow descent into a miry quicksand.  We diet, we get surgeries, we frantically exercise to fight off this universal enemy.  We fight on valiantly even though no one ever wins this battle.  The life of America parallels the life of any person.  It arrived as an infant.  It struggled through its teen-age years.  It gloried in the strength of its youth and prime.  It then feels the atrophy of age and it will eventually find its rest under a tombstone in a graveyard of empires.    

The decline we are witnessing is simply the depravity of man bursting through the decaying dams we have built to contain it.  We are experiencing the consequences of our own choices.  We began to think badly about the time of the cultural revolution of the 1960’s.  Not only did we turn our face from God, we lifted our fist to him and declared ourselves wiser than he.  We replaced the “God of the Copyright Headings with the gods of the Market Place.”(Rudyard Kipling)  Divine truth and wisdom was replaced by humanism and materialism.  “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isa. 5:20)   We boldly declared the validity of our own truth and proclaimed that there were many ways to God and surely there was no hell and all were bound for heaven.  We attempted to tie ropes around the arms of God and live unaccountable lives.

Now we find our society in decline and in our foolishness we cry out, “Why, oh why!”  It is because he “lets all nations go their own way.” (Acts 14:16)  Lee Greenwood said, “I believe there is a decay that is eroding America, and as a result, God begins to disappear from our society.”  Our own depravity is constrained by the presence of the Spirit of God.  When he withdraws his presence from a “rebellious and a stiff necked people” (Deut. 31:27) the harness that holds back the beast is released.

So, what must be done to stave this rush to destruction?  Americans still are not thinking well, even when it comes to devising a solution.  We think the solution is to find a Priest in Chief who will lead us to the moral high ground.  We ignore God’s laws and obsess over the laws of men.  We want a law against abortion, a law against sexual perversion, a law for this and a law for that.  The solution will not be found in adding laws to the books of men.  There is no dam built with the laws of men that can contain the depravity of man.  The real solution is to go to the source of the river.  The waters will not recede until we return to a genuine faith in God and embrace the truth of his word.   

I heard an older teacher once ask his students this question:  “How do you eat an elephant?”  A classroom of math students waited eagerly to hear his reply, “One bite at a time.”  How do we rebuild a Christian nation?  How does the Kingdom of God grow?  We allow ourselves to be used of God.  It will be done the same way Christ demonstrated two thousand years ago when he met the woman at the well, when he conversed with Nicodemus, when he confronted Saul:  one convert at a time.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Memo To All Secularists: Christians Are More Than Two-Dimensional.

"Let not your heart be troubled"

Why are Christians viewed by the secular world as being only two- dimensional?   Why are we perceived as only supporting life and marriage and opposing abortion and homosexuality?  We are also very concerned about idolatry, murder, theft, lying, and many other issues that negatively affect society.  We don’t perceive ourselves as being cultural watchdogs, rather, we find ourselves being concerned about the things our Heavenly Father is concerned about.  As John Calvin once said, “"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."

As the presidential primary season approaches and the blogs are scatter shot with political opinion, let it be known that Christians are concerned with far more than abortion and homosexuality.  We are far more complex than the average secularist gives us credit for.   As we consider which candidate to vote for we are very troubled by the fiscal state of America. We consider fiscal responsibility a moral issue.  As a husband and father in my home, I would be acting immorally if I used the money earned to feed and provide for my family to satisfy some personal desire.  Likewise, Christians believe it is immoral behavior for government officials to steal money from future generations to selfishly satisfy the desires of the present generation.  Living high off the hog at the expense of our children and grandchildren isn’t a political problem, it’s a moral problem.

Christians and secularists have differing worldviews.  The secularist divides the issues by defining the contest as “conservative vs. liberal” or “right vs. left”.  There is room for a sort of moral relativism as you might place yourself anywhere along the spectrum of the line between extreme right and extreme left.  Christians frame the issues by defining it as a contest between “right vs. wrong.”  There is no moral equivalency here.  Ripping a baby from the womb of its mother is wrong whether it be done in the 3^rd month or the 6^th month of pregnancy. Killing a baby is wrong whether the mother is poor or wealthy, whether she is busy going to college or holding down two jobs. 

Christians believe that destroying the sacred institution of marriage is wrong.  We believe that God sanctioned the existence of the church, the government and the family.  God clearly defined family in the Garden of Eden.  It was to be one man and one woman.  They were to commit to each other.  God wrote the law against adultery into the Ten Commandments to protect the sanctity of the marriage relationship.  Any attempt to make marriage anything other than what God intended it to be is an affront to the sole intent of God to sanctify marriage.  It isn’t about Democratic or Republican policies.  It’s about the mind of God.  Redefining marriage to satisfy some personal or societal desire is a transgression of God’s known law.

Christians believe that a government that steals from future generations is participating in a blatant immorality.  We aren’t so much looking for a candidate that is Republican or Democrat, or Independent or Libertarian.  We are looking for a candidate who will dedicate himself or herself to doing the right things.  We want a candidate who will remind us that we were founded as a Christian nation upon the concepts taught within the Holy Word of God.  We aren’t begging for a theocracy.  We simply want God-fearing men and women who are determined to do what is right for our country and for future generations.

John Adams once said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  The word ‘religious’ in his quote refers to Christianity.  We were formed to be a Democratic Republic where people are represented by those elected to do so.  Our founding fathers had a clear perception of the true nature of man.  Man is essentially wicked.  We are born in depravity. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9)  Their knowledge of the true nature of man caused them to establish a government that would take into account the probability that some leaders would be corrupt rather than righteous. Our first governors understood that it was their fear of God, their reverence for God that would restrain them from doing evil.

Modern Psychology has attempted to replace God’s view of man (essentially evil) with man’s view of man (essentially good).  The secularists teach that men are basically good and any evil they do is learned behavior due to a poor environment.  ‘Sin’ is a religious term that secularists avoid at all costs.  Sin carries with it an association with punishment or reward.  Our youth are being taught that there is no need for salvation.  If there is no salvation there is no Savior.  We don’t need to confess and be saved from our sin, we simply need someone to come along and build up our self-esteem. 

When I worked in a hospital years ago to help pay for my college education, I was often the only orderly working the evening shift.  When hospital personnel heard the words “Code Blue” on the intercom we were spurred to action because we knew someone was being threatened by the grim reaper and time was of the essence.  I am amazed at how much damage has been inflicted on our nation in the last few years.  We must act quickly and efficiently if we are to save our country.  The time is short.  I don’t want to be one to cry “wolf, wolf” or be another Chicken Little crying, “The sky is falling.”  But I do believe we are running short on time.  You don’t have to be a Christ- follower to feel disturbed about the direction our country is taking.  I believe we are facing a real national emergency.  The coming election is crucial to the future of our country. 

Our currency is extremely unstable.  Europe rulers are terrified of an economic collapse in the European Union. The president of Iran is seeking to build a nuclear weapon and he openly rants that he will destroy Israel if ever he is successful.  George Soros recently warned that the world’s economy may be on the brink of collapse.  Russia and the United States have naval fleets feinting and sparring in the Mediterranean Sea in preparation for disruption in the Middle East.  The Arab Spring has replaced dictators who opposed Sharia Law with the Muslim Brotherhood who is determined to enforce draconian Islamic laws on Arab peoples everywhere. 

This may not be the Great Tribulation Christians often speak of but it certainly is a time of testing.  The people of the world are looking for a savior.  Someone to save them from economic woes.  Someone to bring political unity.  Someone to solve unresolved problems. 

There is a great hunger for peace.  Jesus Christ offers a peace the world cannot understand or provide.  It is a peace that passes all understanding.  In view of all these things how should we as Christians react?  Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me.”  (John 14:1)  The troubles and trials that lie ahead will have a distinguishing affect on all who are followers of Christ.  The dross will float to the top and we will be purified by the refiner’s fire.

The remedy for this dilemma is simple.  We as a nation and as individuals must confess our sins and humble ourselves before God.  We must run without becoming weary and we must endure to the end.  For those who persevere to the end will surely be rewarded.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

The Truth About America (Part 1) Who Is Weeping For America?

The Truth About America (Part 1)
Who Is Weeping For America?
By Kevin P. Probst
One man said the “truth hurts, not the searching after, the running from.” I see so many who are running away from the truth about America. I understand that coming face to face with the painful truth about a country one loves can be extremely painful but I also know that solutions to our problems can’t be found until we stop running from the truth. For those who are followers of Christ, he taught us: “the truth will set you free.”
So, what is the truth about America? You’ll not find that truth in the voices you hear on talk radio and network television. Many listen to Rush Limbaugh, Anderson Cooper or Glen Beck, as if they were infallible sources of truth. The real and only source of truth is the divinely inspired Word of God. It is God conversing with the hearts of men through his own Spirit.
My in-laws came to visit a couple months ago. In fact, my wife’s father had come to help me put in a new hot water heater. We worked well together. I don’t have a mechanical bone in my body so he turned screw drivers and twisted wrenches and I held the flash light for him. But as I stood there watching things I didn’t understand I began to feel something was not right. My head felt light. My stomach felt queasy. My wife had grilled steaks and baked potatoes but I had no appetite. I finally dismissed myself and went to bed. Later that night a gut-wrenching sickness gripped me.
Americans are feeling like something isn’t right. There is a queasiness deep within. There is a gut feeling that things are not as they should be. According to a recent poll conducted by The Hill Newspaper, 69% of Americans believe our country is in decline. 83% are worried about America’s future. So, what is wrong with America?
We see a strange group of people Occupying Wall Street. We observe copycat demonstrations going on all over the country. Angry, violent flash mobs are robbing convenience stores and beating patrons. Rage seems to be reaching a boiling point. We are more politically polarized than ever. The promise to unify us seems to have morphed into a determination to divide us.
I see a vast number of Americans who desire to see but they cannot. They want to know but they can’t. Jesus said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” (Matt. 13:13) The multitudes are crying, “What’s wrong with our society? What’s wrong with our country?” Isaiah said, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this peoples' heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.” Jesus quoted that verse to his disciples and then he said to them, “blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” – (Matt. 13:16) A clear perspective of this problem cannot be achieved unless it is viewed through the lenses of truth found in the Word of God. Any other perspective muddies one’s view of what is really happening.
This is the truth about America. We have exalted our government to be our god. It has become our idol. The American people keep voting for more and bigger government. The poor no longer look to God. They look to the government for more welfare. The ignorant no longer look to God. They expect the government to educate the masses. We no longer look for wisdom in the Word of God. Instead, we have removed that book from our schools. We presume that government can solve the problem of alcoholism. We pretend that Government is winning the war on drugs and eliminating poverty. We expect government to integrate us and teach us to live together in love and harmony.
People are angry because their god has failed them. The pain of disappointment and disillusionment is causing them to hate their government. They hate Bush. They hate Obama. They hate Republicans and Democrats. They have no confidence in the Congress. Only 9% are pleased with the job Congress is doing. (CBS, NY Times poll) The corruption in their government has reached unprecedented levels. Something has gone terribly wrong but an unrepentant people can’t perceive what it is.
As a history teacher I teach my students that the one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history. History certainly does repeat itself. America is not suffering from a new and mysterious ailment. America suffers from the same things that affected previous nations and empires of the past. We have eyes but we fail to see. Isn’t this affirmed by the fact we have seen a multitude of nations try socialism and communism and everyone without fail plunged into societal darkness and experienced economic failure. Russia, China and numerous eastern European countries are fleeing a failed system. Who can explain the mysterious and incomprehensible fact that our country (America) is moving toward socialism and big government? Why are we abandoning what brought us success and embracing what has brought failure to other nations? It is because we have eyes but we cannot see.
One day Jesus stood on a hill overlooking the city of Jerusalem. He opened his heart and revealed the great compassion he had for his people, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matt. 23:37)
Who is weeping for America?