Monday, December 14, 2009

The last straw

Most are familiar with the old phrases; “ The last straw” or “The straw that broke the camel’s back” The idea is that a long period of patiently waiting for change and not seeing any finally brings that patience to an end with one last action. Since the 1920s, America had practiced following after the gods of philosophy, pleasure, and government. Even though many Americans still followed God, the majority had turned away from the God of their fathers. Schools began to teach evolution and reject the Biblical account of Creation. Humanism replaced the teaching of Biblical morality. The family came under the attacks of television, movies, and other forms of hedonism. The people turned to government to solve more and more of their problems as government spending sky rocketed. Finally, in 1962, America made the ultimate slap in God’s face. The event was a Supreme Court case known as Engel V Vitale which officially removed prayer from public schools. The case declared that a simple prayer in school was a violation of the Separation of Church and state. Imagine the very school system that had declared that the purpose of education was to teach religion, morals and knowledge, was now being made to abandon two of those elements. A year later, the Supreme court decided to remove Bible reading from the public school system. America had officially declared their turning away from the God of Heaven. This was the last straw in our forgetting of our powerful friend as Ben Franklin had warned. Since that time, our schools have become violent, lowered their standards, and lost their prominence in the world. Our society has seen an increase in divorce, abortion, and a general decline in morals. I believe that since 1962, America has experienced what it is like when God turns His back on a rebellious people. We now face financial collapse, political corruption, endless wars, and Spiritual weakness. God has made it clear in his Word that sin is a reproach to any people. America’s only hope is to return to God. If we will not do it as a nation, we must at least individually return to Biblical living.

Monday, December 7, 2009

God can be seen even in the darkest of times

Whenever something tragic occurs on a personal or national level, the following question usually follows; “How could a loving God allow this to happen, and why didn’t He do something to help”? The truth is that while we live here on earth, we may never be able to understand many of the circumstances that God allows us to endure. For Job, it was to test and strengthen his faith, for Israel in the Old Testament it was punishment for sin, and for Christ it was to save mankind from their sin. However, even in difficult situations the hand of God can be seen. Perhaps the greatest example of human suffering in modern times was during the Holocaust. Hitler and his Nazi party systematically rounded up millions of Jews and put them to death. Jews were worked until they could do no more, and then they were put in gas chambers and then burned. This unimaginable hatred and wickedness caused many Jews and Gentiles to question the love or even the existence of God. While it is impossible to know the mind of God as to why He allowed this suffering, it is possible to see some good to come out of this horrible chapter in history. After the Holocaust was made known to the world at the end of World War II, many nations around the world recognized the need for a Jewish state. Israel had been out of their land since the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Jews had been forced to live in exile all over the world since the first century. God used the massive outpouring of sympathy for the plight of the Jews after World War II to move countries to form the nation of Israel in 1948. Hitler’s plan was to destroy the Jews and set up a super race of Arians. God’s plan was to defeat the designs of wicked dictators, and allow the return of His people to the Promised Land. Hitler and those who followed him were responsible for the Holocaust, but God was able to take that tragedy and turn it into something that has been a blessing to the Jewish people for the last sixty years.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

God's hand in a day which will live in infamy

December 7, 1941 was a day that will live in infamy. The attack on Pearl Harbor marked the beginning of the United States involvement in World War II. Japanese planes attacked our forces, destroyed many of our ships and airplanes, and killed over 2400 of our military personnel. In the midst of all of this destruction and suffering, we still can see the hand of God. One of the goals of the Japanese attack was to cripple our navy in order to gain control of the Pacific. However, all of our Aircraft carriers had left the night before to practice maneuvers to remain battle ready. The attack did not cripple our Navy at all, God allowed us to keep the most important part of our defense. Some suggest that because we had broken the Japanese code, we knew they were coming so that is why we moved our Aircraft Carriers out of harms way. The bottom line is that they were spared, and America was spared also.
Another example of God’s hand of in World War II was seen during the battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the battle of the Pacific. If Japan won, than the United States would have been helpless to stop their conquest of the Pacific islands. The Japanese had the advantage in numbers of ships and planes. The only advantage held by the Americans was the element of surprise. The Japanese sent out planes to find out the location of the enemies’ aircraft carriers. One of the Japanese planes spotted the American Aircraft carriers, but when they went to radio the location, their radio went dead. The Americans were able to take the Japanese by complete surprise, and were able to change the course of the war. Was is just luck, or was the God of the airwaves working His will at a key moment of history. I believe that God wanted America to help the forces of freedom defeat dictatorship, in order for His Word to be able to continue being spread across the world.