Is There Any Hope For America?

 

VIDIDEA??  Mississippi Squirrel Revival by Ray Stevens

 

This church NEEDED a mighty move of God!

They were in desperate need of revival!

God works in mysterious ways!

They may have been very religious “church folk

But they were ALL SHOW but NO GO!

§        They hid their sins

§        They hid their problems

§        They actually resembled the sin nature of the world more than the redeemed nature of the church!

 

Today’s church resembles this fictitious First Self Righteous Church more than we want to admit!

 

Problem is that we do not want revival

                   Too painful

                   Afraid

                   Things may change

God may want to use me to do something    

             (Jonah Principle)

 

Our problems, our failures, our DISOBEDIENCE AND LACK OF FAITH IN THE ALMIGHTY is reflected in our world.

 

We, THE CHURCH are responsible for most of the worlds problems – IT IS OUR FAULT!

 

Problems facing America

          Immorality

          Murder

          Adultery

          Homosexuality

          Open acceptance of sin

 

Where does the problem lie?

          The Government?

          The laws?

NO

WITH THE CHURCH

WE NEED A REVIVAL!!!!!!!


Look at our country today:

 

In 1962 and 1963 our U.S. Supreme Court had thrown prayer and Bible reading out of our public schools.  Ten years later (1973), Roe vs. Wade declared open game on our unborn.  Today, we have nearly 45 million dead unborn babies as a result of this decision.

 

The church of the Living God remained mute – UNHEARD!

Their blood is on our hands and hearts; Their souls cry out for justice!

And now, America - a nation under God for 200 years - is about to completely abandon the God of our founding.  In recent days, our federal courts have legalized sodomy and declared illegal the Ten Commandments.

Our countries motto:  “In God We Trust” is under assault.

 

The church remains quiet – hiding behind our stained glass and hymnals while the world continues to fall straight into the hands of hades!


In the past year, the Boy Scouts have been bitterly disparaged because they uphold time-honored moral traditions, we have seen our Pledge of Allegiance declared unconstitutional, and we have witnessed a major denomination promote a homosexual priest to bishop.  (This man, in fact, should have been defrocked when he abandoned his wife and daughters, choosing to shack up with his male lover.)

 

The church – US, YOU AND I, point and say “they really shouldn’t do that” and go on our merry way, fat, dumb and happy – like everything is hunky dorrey.  We could care less about the righteousness of God or the witness our fallen churches are giving to a world that is dying and going to hell without Jesus!

Patrick Buchanan noted, “In the West, the God of Christianity has been superseded by the gods of modernity: money, sex, fame, power.  These gods give a good life, but they cannot sustain life.  As Christianity is a dying faith in every Western nation, every Western nation is dying.”


Here are four things that I believe have caused our nation’s moral collapse:

 

(1) SITUATIONAL ETHICS


American has rejected the biblical absolutes that defined our culture during our founding and for most of our distinguished history.  Instead, we live in the ambivalent world of situational ethics, moral indistinctness and ethical corruption.

Our country considers the 10 commandments OBJECTIONABLE because it holds them to a moral standard – a moral code that they feel is not practical in “today’s world”.

 

Jeremiah 5:7-9  “How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were fully satisfied. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the city's brothels.  They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife.              Should I not punish them for this?" asks the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this?” 


(2) CULTURAL SEDUCTION


During the recent MTV Video Music Awards, rock icon Madonna kissed on the mouth young singers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.  We are witnessing the willful blurring of sexual roles before our eyes.  And the target audience is our children.

America’s children are being SEXUALIZED at younger and younger ages.  Grade school children are exposed to sexual content in magazines, movies and advertisements. 

 

Our culture finds no problem in dressing little girls like harlots and strippers – HALF DRESSED and WELL PAINTED! 

 

Our sons are told that they should expect sex from their dates, that’s why the government and clinics give away condoms!  Isn’t it?

 

Kids and adults are being seduced by what they read in school, watch on TV, see at the movies and discover on the Internet. 

 

 The message is not a new one -whatever feels good is fine.

Sadly, many of our nation’s pastors and church leaders are not teaching parents and children of the wrongness of those lifestyles that counter the biblical mandate for sexual purity, modesty and the promise of a virginal man-woman marriage relationships. 

 

Don’t be kissing that girl if you are not married or you will be kissing some one else’s wife!

 

Don’t be playing any type of sexual game or activity with someone who could very well become someone else’s husband.

 

Young People - If you feel you must have sex I want you to know that there is something you can put on that will make you safe!  Something that you can slip onto an appendage of your body to permit you to have SAFE SEX!

 

Let me show you – I have one right here in my pocket -

 

It is called a WEDDING RING!  Given and accepted by the one God has specially prepared for you!

 

The bottom line is that all sex outside of marriage between a man and woman is forbidden by God.

This is not a culturally popular doctrine, but it is God’s doctrine.

 

(3) CULTURAL ACCOMMODATION


The Scriptures are being distorted and changed in order to accommodate issues like abortion and homosexuality.

Psalm 139:13-16  “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.  You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.  You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”  (NLT)


There is simply no way to support abortion without contradicting these verses and laying waste to the Word of God!

Romans 1:26-27  “That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.  And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved.”  (NLT)


There is simply no way to say homosexuality is acceptable without contradicting these verses and completely disobeying your Creator, Savior and Father.

(4) INCLUSIVE SALVATION


Politically-correct theologians believe all religions are equal to God.  They teach that Jesus is not the only way to Heaven. 

 

But John 14:6 tells us,  “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (NLT)


We need to trust God and hold each other accountable to impact this community and our world for Christ beyond our wildest dreams.

 

Final Thought:


Has America crossed the line of no return?


Some believe so. 

 

But I continue to claim 2 Chronicles 7:14  “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

 

There is hope for our country, our families, our world - that hope is Jesus Christ!

 

The main fault lies with the church of today!  We are allowing the influences of hell and the flesh to scare us back into our little holy huddles, to afraid to make a peep in the face of any opposition.

 

THIS IS NOT FAITH!  It is folly.

 

Today’s church is:

Lazy

Self centered

Arrogant

Presumptive

Liberal – changing and diluting God’s Holy Word

Afraid

Immoral itself

Un loving

Does not fear God

Has weak leadership

Is inbred – little desire to bring in new blood

Comfortable

 

Today’s church MUST rise up and return to God!

 

We MUST NOT be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

 

We MUST be heard!

We MUST realize that Christians are the MAJORITY in this country!  We have the power of God and the power of the ballot box He gives us! 

 

We MUST rise to the challenge and stand for righteousness, truth and the Christian way!

 

We MUST repent and return to God’s Biblical truth.

 

We MUST reject ALL ungodly influences, attacks and laws in our country.

 

We MUST hold our political and spiritual leaders accountable to the Word of God

 

Let us pray and work together to see an unparalleled revival in this great nation. 

 

Are you REALLY ready for revival?

Are you REALLY ready to get real with God?

OR does God need to set the SQUIRREL loose?

 

CHOOSE JESUS TODAY!

This is the only hope for America.

 

Message adapted from an outline by Jerry Falwell