America's Greatest Possessions/ America's Greatest Need!

By John Stallings

Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34

Humorist Will Rogers was covering the 1932 presidential campaigns. At one national convention a reporter cynically said to him; “Will, I’m covering the serious side of the convention. If I see anything humorous I’ll let you know.” “Thanks” said Rogers, “And if I see anything serious I’ll let you know.”

Though America has problems, what Abraham Lincoln said of her still stands; “America is the last best hope of the earth.”

Thomas Jefferson said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”

In our U.S Constitution, our Founding Fathers drew up, if not the greatest, certainly one of the greatest documents mankind has ever produced. The following is an excerpt showing what they envisioned in the six fundamental functions of the federal government;

“We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

TODAY WE FACE POLITICAL CHAOS

One day a surgeon, an electrician and a politician were discussing which one of their professions was the oldest. The surgeon said, “When God formed Eve out of a rib in Adam’s side, that was the work of a surgeon.” The electrician said, “Yes, but on the first day of creation the world was in a state of chaos and God said, “Let there be light,” and that was the work of an electrician.” “Yes” said the politician, “but who do think created the chaos?”

LET’S LOOK AT SOME OF AMERICA’S BLESSINGS

1. FREEDOM

The Bible says, -Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom... 2. Cor.3:17. Whenever we champion freedom we’re doing the will of God. God sent Moses to Pharaoh with the command--Let my people go. Ex.5:1. The Liberty Bell bears an inscription from Leviticus: Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants’ thereof.—Lev. 25:10

I don’t need to tell you how precious it is to breathe the rarefied air of freedom. Juda & I just got through watching “Hotel Rwanda” a movie about the civil war that devastated the country of Rwanda in the mid-nineties leaving over one million corpses. It has been called an African Schindler’s List. The movie highlights some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind but in an era of high-speed communication & round the clock news the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world.

This was the second time we’d watched the movie but still we were profoundly moved by the cold, barbaric way the innocent men, women & children of that little nation were treated during that blood-bath.

As we watched, we were reminded again how blessed our lives have been by virtue of the simple fact that we were born in the U.S.A. I rise every day & after I tell Jesus good-morning, I thank Him that I haven’t lived a day of my life under the jack-boot of a tyrannical regime’.

It isn’t my job or my calling to endorse a candidate for president nor would my endorsement carry much weight outside a few of my immediate family. Nor is it my intention to glorify any man.

Having said that, I’d like to ask you a question; do you remember the seventies? Do you remember as I do how bad things were? There were gas lines, interest rates were through the roof & we lacked the level of national pride that had always been an American hallmark.

One of the reasons I remember it so well was I voted for the first time in a national election at the end of that decade. I took a snack & stood in a long line to vote that year. Let me ask you another question; what was wrong with us back then? Why were we so frustrated & unhappy? IMHO it was the fact that our national soul was suffering. We looked at the Soviet Union & wondered what to do about them. As I traveled the country I heard people asking if there was any hope for us. Maybe you didn’t see it like I did but looking back; we almost collapsed as a nation during the seventies.

How did we get through it? I can answer that in four words; The Lord & Ronald Reagan. I’m not saying that from a political point of view as much as I’m saying that Ronald Reagan, though certainly not perfect, was God’s man for the hour for America.

What did Reagan do for us? I believe he simply gave us new hope & sense of national pride. As he was delivering his inaugural address, the Americans who’d been held hostage in Iran for a year were winging their way back to America. He said, when asked how he saw the Russian situation, “It’s simple. We win, they lose.” I like that don’t you? It gave me chills then & it gives me chills now. He went to East Berlin & called to the leader of Russia, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” when the State Department had taken those words out of his speech four times. You will remember that a short time after that, the Berlin wall fell without a shot being fired.

One of my very favorite patriotic songs is; “God bless the U.S.A.” I doubt very seriously if that song could have gotten popular during the 70’s. This may surprise you, but I doubt seriously if Lee Greenwood introduced that masterpiece right now, if it would be that great a hit in today’s national funk. I could be wrong but I doubt it. Though we are now in a state of chaos, I believe God has another leader for this great republic who will come on the scene & help to defeat the specter of despair that once again threatens to engulf Americans. Another great possession that America has is;

2. FAITH

Let’s face it, nations die. But America has stood because she was founded on principles of Scripture & Christian faith.

George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God & the Bible.”

John Adams said, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”

America was founded on the belief that Christ is the answer to every problem. John 14:6. Yes, there are many religions but there is only one Savior.

William Penn [1644-1718,] English Quaker & founder of Pennsylvania, stated, “If we are not governed by God we will be ruled by tyrants.”

Psalm 20:7 says, --Some trust in horses & chariots but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Politicians in modern day America have long had to face the fact that love for God & religious traditions run deep in this country & aren’t about to go away. You probably noticed that July 5th when Barak Obama vowed to expand President Bush’s emphasis on Faith based programs. That’s a definite move to the middle for him, although I’ve never been as interested in “right wing” or “left wing” as I have in the whole bird flying straight.

We’ve seen nothing but decline in our public schools since the Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that prayer & Bible reading in schools were unconstitutional. Please understand me here; I don’t believe school prayer was important because it somehow would force religion into the schools. Certainly the kids could & should pray at home. In my mind its importance lay in the fact that it would cause our youth, regardless of their religious belief or lack of, to stop for a brief moment each day & give consideration to a power beyond themselves. This could have done no harm but would have beyond a doubt lent dignity to human life in the minds of the students. Minus that prayer, we can easily date & chart the downfall & desolation of our public schools.

Thankfully our Supreme Court made what I believe to be a good ruling recently when they handed down the opinion in favor of individual gun rights. But they made a bad one in late June when they rejected the death penalty for child rape.

There’s much to be positive about but there’s still work to do in our great country. Remember, Jesus called Christians the “salt of the earth” not the salt of the church. We need to stay involved & understand that every time we stand up for Christ we’re standing up for our Country. The third thing America possesses is;

3. FULLNESS

Think of how differently we live than people do in other regions of the Planet. The poorest individuals today in America live better than kings lived centuries ago. We sit in our comfortable homes with our TVs, DVDs & computers & ride to local grocery stores stocked with an unbelievable array of food choices. We are reaping the rewards of 230 plus years of hard work & sacrifice in this country & we have more than any nation that ever existed on the planet. God has indeed blessed America with fullness.

Our free market system is another marvel & works because it’s based on competition to achieve higher levels of excellence. It rewards work with greater profits & punishes laziness. It’s based on supply & demand but its danger is greed & oppression of the working man & woman.

Socialism stifles creativity & fails to reward hard work which leads to communism & we saw the effects of that on Eastern Europe during the 20th century.

A student at Columbine High School shared these words about life in America shortly after the tragic shooting that occurred on the school campus in Colorado.

“The paradox of our time is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints, we spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy it less; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to our life, but not life to our years.

We’ve been to the moon & back but have trouble crossing the street to meet our neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space; we’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we’ve split the atom, but not our prejudices. We have bigger incomes, but lower morals; we’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of tall men & short character; steep profits & shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. It is a time when there is much in the show window & nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology can bring this letter to you & a time when you can choose either to make a difference---or just hit delete.”

[The authorship of this writing is attributed to Dr. Moorehouse & was published in 1995 in his book—Words aptly spoken.]

LET’S LOOK NOW AT AMERICA’S GREATEST NEED

1. LOOK CLOSELY AT THE MEANING & IMPLICATIONS OF THE WORD “CHANGE.”

Words are used both to reveal & conceal information. Change has become a new buzz word but we need to learn all we can about what is meant by change. Have you noticed that a lot of fairy tales start with the words, “If elected I promise….?” One humorist said, “It might end up meaning we’ll all have nothing but change jingling in our pockets.” It also could be a “Freudian slip,” describing a politician’s ability to change his mind & policies every other day.

What do you think about more taxation, the right to privacy, Government infringement, rising gas prices, drilling for oil, searching for alternative energy sources, energy independence, protecting the environment, & the protection of marriage as a sacred relationship between one man & woman? What do you think about illegal immigration, protecting our borders, social medicine versus personalized medicine, & the right for our kids to pray in school? What do you think about giving amnesty to 14 million illegal aliens & rewarding them with the same Platinum Heath care our Congressmen have? The list is almost endless, giving us much to study, think & pray about.

Every candidate is different & certainly none is perfect, so you & I must look at the bigger picture, & weigh the importance of issues in the light of the fate & future of our Republic.

I don’t know about you but I’m not wise enough to have all the information I need but the Holy Spirit can give us wisdom, guidance, discernment & insight.

2. GET INVOLVED IN THE LIFE & FUTURE OF YOUR COUNTRY.

Vote your convictions. Again, don’t look at the wing, look at the whole bird. If we don’t participate we lose our complaining rights. Early Christians didn’t have a vote under the Romans. Most of Paul’s writings are telling Christians how to exist in a pagan society. Many nations would cherish the opportunity to have free & open elections. The people of Zimbabwe have just been given a presidential election with only one man’s name on the ballot. People around the world have undergone terrible intimidation tactics & violence to prevent them from a real democratic election.

You may say, “I’m only one vote.” But in 1776 it was one vote that gave America the English language instead of German; in 1845, one vote brought Texas into the union; in 1868 one vote saved President Andrew Jackson from impeachment; in 1876, one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the U.S presidency; and in 1923, one vote gave Adolph Hitler control of the Nazi Party.

3. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY FOR AMERICA

Pray for God to guide us & to provide Godly leaders. We need & God can give us politicians like Joseph in Egypt & Daniel in Babylon.

Proverbs 21:1 says,--The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord & He directs it like a watercourse wherever He determines.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 says, I urge then first of all that requests, prayers, intersession & thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings & all those in authority that we may live peaceable & quiet lives in all godliness & holiness.

Maybe this is the greatest challenge of all;

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 will I hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and heal their land.—[2 Chron. 7:14]


Blessings,

John