Monday, July 6, 2015

The Path towards a Post Christian America

How blessed are the people whose God is the LORD! Psalms 144:15
As American Christians we find ourselves on this Independence Day facing the reality that for the first time in American History we may be becoming a minority when it comes to influence on our government.  The most basic contours of American culture have been radically altered. 

     Two thirds of the public (68 percent) now say religion is "losing influence" in American society, while just 19 percent say religion's influence is on the rise.
     The percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 points in the past two decades. That statistic explains who we are now—and what, as a nation, we are about to become if changes are not made.

The moral teachings of Christianity have exerted an incalculable influence on Western civilization. Once Christianity is abandoned by a significant portion of the population, the moral landscape necessarily changes.  Christians have allowed the world to define us as bigoted, racist, intolerant, narrow-minded, mean-spirited, uncompassionate, backward thinking, and the list goes on.  Why are we so surprised? Why do we think a non-believer would think like a believer?  Paul said, So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. Ephesians 4:17-19

We are on a path towards a “Post-Christian” America.  Here the gods of political correctness and humanism (man is god) assume the thrones of power and threaten anyone who disagrees with attacks of “racist, bigot, homophobe, or worse.  Christians have spent too long trying to change the world by controlling the lives of people instead of influencing them and changing their hearts.  We were not taught to fight this way but with the sword of the Spirit and the Helmet of Truth.  
Our constitution was undeniably tied to the Bible and Judeo Christian values were core to the content.  The men who constructed the documents that frame our nation were greatly influenced by the spiritual awakening.  To remove the core of anything is to change its nature.  Values come from the center and today we are seeing the result of the abdication of our Judeo-Christian core with rulings contrary to God’s Word.

Most citizens believe that the U.S. Constitution governs America, but it does not.  The Constitution gives citizens the power to elect leaders, but if the wrong types of leaders are elected, the Constitution will be absolutely worthless in their hands.  When the Founding Fathers were creating it at the Constitutional Convention, delegate John Francis Mercer affirmed: It is a great mistake to suppose that the paper we are to propose will govern the United States. It is the men whom it will bring into the government and interest [they have] in maintaining it that are to govern them. The paper will only mark out the mode and the form. Men are the substance and must do the business.  Constitutional Convention, delegate John Francis Mercer

Consider Israel as an example: was there any nation in the history of the world with better civil laws? Certainly not, for God Himself had written their laws.  Despite the fact that their laws came directly from God, they were completely disregarded by corrupt and deficient leaders and led the nation into apostasy and bondage.  It is crucial to realize that it is elected individuals who set judges on the Supreme Court who interpret all law for the country.

It was not the legislature that allowed abortion in America.  It was not the Senate that removed the Ten Commandments.  It was not the President who denied states laws against gay marriage.  The problem with America is the same thing that happened to Israel…over-reaching judges have torn apart the core of our society by disregarding the Law of God.

God spoke to Isaiah and stated how He would restore Israel.  As God explained: I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors [attorneys] as at the beginning; after that you will be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city. Isaiah 1:26  Justices are not independent of the will of the people but must stand accountable to the people according to the constitution.  Supreme Court Justices violate their constitutional position when they set policy or make laws.  They are NOT legislators!  Today, however, the current Judiciary disdains this original plan and regularly exerts both force and will; it has wrongly become the dominant policy-making branch in government. 
It is a sad day when Supreme Court Justices overreach their appointed and legal thresholds to try to change the behavior of citizens.  Government was not designed to watch and control what everyone does or how they think.  It should be remembered by all Christian citizens that you cannot legislate righteousness. Only a revival can change America.

Scripture to Claim:
and 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.  2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB

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