Torah's Light

The American Nightmare

Not very long ago, Americans believed that owning a home in suburbia was our birthright. Today, we struggle to pay the rent for our apartments. We used to hope our little boy would grow up to be president. Now, we just pray to God he doesn't marry the little boy down the street. A college education used to mean a better career and certain success. Unemployment is rampant and grows daily. American families used to take weekend road trips. With the rising cost of gasoline, we can barely afford to drive to work. The American dream has become a nightmare. What happened to the great Land of Opportunity?

We have turned our backs on God. We have replaced the God of Heaven with worship for ourselves and our possessions. We have replaced the Almighty with greed and avarice. Like the ancient idolators before us, we worship gold, silver, and power. We hire armies to protect our false gods, forgetting that the All-Powerful One has declared that all the gold and all the silver are His. We have forsaken our Hope.

For example, in 1961, school children across the country began with this prayer: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependance upon You and beg Thy blessings upon us, our school, and our country." By 1962, this simple, non-sectarian prayer was illegal. Our Pledge of Alligence includes the phrase, "...one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all." There are presently cases in federal court to have "under God" removed. In 1960, the biggest problems public schools had were students playing hookey and chewing gum in class. Today, students are being arrested for carrying loaded guns to school. Children are gunned down by their peers in the playground.

In this age of political correctness, non-Christian Americans (Christian-challenged?) are free to express their anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Bible messages while Christians are forbidden to under the pain of hate crime violations. Preachers are not permitted to preach against homosexuality and sexual perversion while both sins fester in the American populous like a cancer. Judges are ruling that same-sex marriages are protected under law while Jesus' words echo through the centuries,

Have ye not read, that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female? And he said: For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.

Matthew 19.4-6

Political leaders have, for the most part, abandoned Biblical truth as they attempt to lead this nation. Our president pandors to our enemies while selling out our allies. He denies the truths upons which this country was founded, saying, "...we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation." Trivializing the necessity of freindship with Jesus Christ, he seeks the friendship of those who have sworn to destroy us. He has forgotten the promise of God—"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12.3)—and condemns Israel for lawfully occupying the land God has promised to them. Yet, no one in history has stood against Israel and walked away to tell about it. The reason for this is that the Lord, Himself, will fight against Israel's enemies.

The entertainment industry, though movies, television, and music, promotes Godlessness. We must remember that all that is necessary for Godlessness is not making God the Chief Source and Motivator of our lives. It is not true to say, "If Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all." Jesus is Lord! Period! And to behave any differently is to invite disaster.

The only hope the United States has of remaining a free nation—not a world power;just a free nation"—is to return to Jesus. We must remember that to repent is not to stop and wait for God to catch up with us, but to turn around and walk—no, RUN—to where He is. This is the God Who loves us. He is the God Who died for us. He does not delight in the death of the wicked, but desires that all come to repentance. (Ezekiel 33.11)

It is today that we must exercise the truth of II Chronicles 7.14: "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."(KJV) We cannot wait for our leaders or every non-Christian to repent and come to Jesus. They are not called by His Name. It is we, who have trusted Jesus for our salvation who must humble ourselves, and pray, and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. Then, and only then, will God "...hear from heaven, and will forgive [our] sin, and will heal [our] land.

And what about those of you who live outside the United States, those of you who are citizens of other lands? The same principles apply. God always "...resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." (I Peter 5.5, KJV) Let us remember the declaration of King David: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord...." (Psalm 33.12)

Come, let us pray.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, "I am the light of the world:
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life"—John 8:12