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Skolfields teachings Part eight
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(Oh this is sooooo good, I found myself wanting to applaude after each sentence and paragraph!)
America on A Knife Edge
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath
chosen for his own inheritance. (Ps. 33:12)
America On Knife Edge
When I was a young man growing up it was common to think of America as a
Christian nation. There was a national moral conscience that made you
feel like we were the 'Good Guys' who cared about family and friendship,
justice, mercy and hope for the future. Not that we didn't have our
problems and troubles like everyone else. But still, you could ride your
bike through the neighborhood, go down to the mill pond to swim with
friends, or to the ballfield without having to be under constant adult
supervision for fear some predator would kidnap or molest you or a drug
dealer would blow your head off in a drive by shooting.
Television, movie makers and radio media were expected to produce
programs that were not offensive to the average American. Public schools
were not afraid to mention God and talk about the Bible and the Ten
Commandments as a standard for moral behavior. Christmas was more about
Christ than being a feeding frenzy of commercial advertising campaigns.
Noone wondered if displaying a manger scene should be prohibited because
someone might be offended by its "religious connotations." The Golden
Rule was "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
It was common to hear the words "Yes sir" or "Yes ma'am" when a young
person addressed an adult. It was understood that you respected your
elders and honored parents and grandparents. To hear a young person
cursing in public or disrespecting others was cause for genuine concern.
We said the pledge of allegiance and sometimes the Lords Prayer to start
the school day off right . . . and their wasn't an ACLU lawyer standing
in the wings to tell us we couldn't do it.
For the most part, politicians were respected for their service to
community and country. There was the occasional corrupt official who got
caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but by and large politicians
were honored members of society doing their part to protect and serve.
Our soldiers who went off to fight for the freedoms we loved, or to
assist those threatened by tyranny and injustice, could expect a heroes
welcome when they returned. Throngs would often gather at the docks when
Navy ships came in from sea duty and hometown parades were the norm for
those returning from serving abroad.
What happened? How did we become a confused mass of people without a
moral compass? Who decided that uncertainty was righteousness and
character and goodness could best be demonstrated by unreasonable
tolerance and laws meant to uphold the rights of those who oppose
godliness and common decency? Misunderstanding the true nature of
freedom, lawyers fight to defend the rights of those who wish to do that
which is clearly evil in the name of free speech and licentious
lifestyles. Freedom is not the ability to do what you want to do. It's
the power to do what you ought to do!
We've turned our freedoms over to an army of lawyers who teach us to sue
each other at the drop of the hat, or to find legal loopholes to
litigate against anyone who can be caught off guard. Ambulance chasers
promising undeserved wealth without jurisprudence. Judges making
decisions rewarding millions of dollars to someone over a cup of spilled
coffee, yet lacking the moral courage to stop the murder of 1.3 million
human babies every year, thus endorsing sex without responsibility.
This great nation was founded by God fearing men and women who came here
to establish a homeland for freedom. A place where a man could worship
God according to his own conscience, and raise his family free from
totalitarian controls or oppressive governments. Those pioneers who
sacrificed personal position and fortune to mold a country (where all
men were created equal) were some of the brightest lights this world has
ever known. We have shamed their shining image with what we have allowed
ourselves to become.
Modern educators have re-written history to suit their own humanistic
ideas of what our Founding Fathers were like and have corrupted what
they stood for. Make no mistake about it, they were godly men who
worshiped the God of the Bible. They were 'blessed' men on a holy
mission: establishing a nation where men could truly be free to reap the
rewards of their labors, think great thoughts and achieve great things.
Our Fathers knew and warned, by speech and written word, that this
nation could only remain great if we kept the Lord as our God and the
Bible as the criteria by which we lived.
It remains to be seen whether this nation can return to God before it's
too late. One would have to be an optimist to think so, but we hope and
pray nonetheless. History proves that nations fall when they allow
immorality and perversity to prevail. When its citizens seek the world
rather than the God who made the world. When gain is considered
godliness and godliness is considered foolishness. When the Church fails
to rise up for God's righteousness, it fails to be God's instrument for
change. When one can scarcely tell the difference between a television
sales pitch and a television preacher, the nation is in great peril.
When we stop seeking God's face and seek only His hand, we have
exchanged true Christianity for humanism.
Can anything be done to save us? Yes, if we as individuals turn back to
God. It's time to reevaluate our lives and ask the hard questions. "Do I
really love the Lord? Do I even know the Son of God who hung on the
Cross for me?" Only when we can see ourselves in the light of God's Word
can we see what He wants us to do for the world around us.
If America is to be spared from the coming wrath it will not be because
of our great military might, or by political wrangling, or by
compromising our God given principles to appease those who hate us. We
must fight those who seek to destroy us (whether from within or
without). We must honor those who are putting their very lives at risk
in service to our country. We must pray for and support them with all of
our ability and faith. We must hold fast to what is left of our founding
principles and not let them be stripped away by the spiritual blindness
of those who deny God and seek to turn us into a shadow of what was once
a great nation.
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
(2 Chron. 7:14) This is our greatest hope of seeing ourselves again as a
nation that is called blessed by the Lord.
Dr. Skolfield is working on another book so this is Craig Marlatt,
Fish House Associate Pastor
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"The conversion of the entire population to Islam and the extinction of every form of dissent is the ideal of the Muslim State - This is Islamic Peace"
A moderate Moslem is one who sends others blow themselves up.