The Church in America Today
The church today is much different than it was when we became a nation over two hundred years ago. The primary reason people came to America before its independence from Great Britain was to escape religious persecution. The Pilgrims and the Puritans were serious about their beliefs and strived to live Godly lives. Throughout the years, there have been waves of spiritual rivals that turned millions of people to the Lord Jesus Christ. The church flourished. Every denomination had healthy numbers of people who were serious about their relationships with God. The church grew along with our country. God and the church were huge factors in our breaking away from England and forming our own sovereign nation. The church has always been an integral part of who we are as Americans in a Christian nation, and advancing morality in America.
What happened? The church's influence in our nation's affairs today is minimal. Prayer has been kicked out of Congressional meetings. The U.S. military has removed it's Bibles. Prayer at ceremonies has been banned or replaced with "moments of silence." Yet when tragedies like 9/11 occur, people flock to the churches in droves for answers. Very few churches today speak out against immorality. Yet, those pastors and churches that do speak out, are labeled "hate mongers" and "homophobic". Many have received threats from radical atheist and activist homosexual groups. Then there are the "feel good" churches who promote messages of salvation without true repentance or fear of hell fire and damnation. Then there is the lukewarm church, much like the one described in Revelation 3:16. They don't want to offend anyone, so they preach a neutral, non-confrontational message that evades the consequences of disobeying The Word of God. Thus, the church is weak overall. Very few, until recently, have stood firm in their faith and not compromised. The atheists and secular media have repeatedly used the erroneous "separation of church and state" argument to silence the churches from speaking out.There actually is no such thing as "separation of church and state" in our Constitution. Let's clarify this: This phrase came from the time a Pastor wrote a letter to Thomas Jeffereson in 1801 expressing his fears that the president might restrict religious freedom of expression. Thomas Jefferson wrote back reassuring this group of pastors that the government would not interfere, reiterating the First Amendment.(The government shall make now laws prohibiting the free excercise of religious expression). The phrase means the opposite of what people have been led to believe over the years. We need separation of the church from the state meaning, that the government should not interfere with the affairs of the church, not the other way around. This was never a law. Many churches are afraid of losing their non-profit status if they preach sermons against immorality or support a particular Godly politician running for office. No church has lost its non-profit status yet in over 60 years since the 501 3c status was established. So the immorality increased with very little challenge from the church as a whole. Have we given up too much ground as the body of believers (the church)?
The sleeping giant awakes. I pray that the recent incident with Dan Cathy the CEO of Chic-Fil-A, a major fast food restaurant, has awakened the church as a whole, and that she will continue to stand strong for righteousness' sake. Mr. Cathy simply verbalized his view that marriage is between one man and one woman and that God will judge nations that reject His way, and that America is in trouble. You might have thought this man committed treason or murder by the reaction of the homosexual and liberal community. They threatened to sue and ban this restaurant from their cities. So we had a Chic-fil-A Appreciation Day on August 1, 2012, and the turnout of Christians in support of eating at that fast food restaurant that day was overwhelming. The Christian community is fed up with relentless harassment, bullying and threats from radical activist judges and special interest groups, and liberal politicians all promoted by the mainstream media. The church, along with her pastors, staff and flocks need to stand up and be counted. We need to lead the charge for morality and salvation in this country. If we don't, we will lose more ground and accelerate the inevitable destruction of this Godless nation. We have moved from being a God-fearing to a God-less nation. That is very dangerous. Enough is enough.
I urge you to join me in sharing your passion for God and country today. Get your church involved in promoting government leaders and leadership in America that obey God and follow the U.S. Constitution. Encourage your pastors to fearlessly preach morality like the ones in the past God used for revivals in America. God held His hand from judgment then and He can now, but only if His people will pray and turn from their wicked ways. The church needs to speak the Truth in love and confront our government. We must challenge them to stop imposing immoral, ungodly laws, and values on all Americans. We must unite as a body of believers and speak out. We must do our part in changing the corrupt system, lest we be overrun by a government that should be held accountable by "we the people." We are the church, brothers and sisters. Let's get busy!
