First I want to start out this posting with a Praise. I want to say THANK YOU to the Lord and let him know just how much I love him. If I could get up on Mt. Everest at this moment and shout at the top of my lungs THANK YOU JESUS, and have the whole world hear me, I would. If I could by up an entire Prime Time Television Slot and get up in front of the camera and say THANK YOU JESUS for the entire time, I would. If I could go up into space and somehow let the entire Universe hear me say THANK YOU JESUS, I would. For you see, I am a blessed individual. I have seen the Hand of God in my life, like I have never experienced before. You see 2 weeks ago, on June 16th, 2013, I by all human perceptions and observations, should have left this world.Not only me, but my youngest Son, Joshua and his two oldest girls, my granddaughters, Mackenzie and Torie, should have right with me. You see at 5:30 Central Time on June 16th, on I-20 in Tuscaloosa Alabama, I had fallen asleep at the wheel of my sons truck, and rolled it down an embankment of approximately 100 ft. One minute I was seeing a sign that said Tuscaloosa 12 miles and the next thing, I was waking up Rolling over and over down this embankment. The State Trooper who arrived on the scene after we had already been transported to the local ER, said there was no way anyone should have made it out alive, but I am here to tell you WE ALL WALKED AWAY, Literally, from the Wreck. After we stopped rolling, my son and I both smelled strong gas fumes, so we grabbed the girls and got out of the truck and up the hill as fast as we could. When we got to the top of the hill my son, who was a lot more alert than I was was making sure the girls were OK and then made me sit down because I did take a few shots to the head. You see the Drivers window was partially open and when we rolled it busted and at one point my head and neck were hanging out the window as we went over.I am just so thankful that my son and two granddaughters were relatively unscathed. My son had a scratch or two, Mackenzie had what I call seat belt rash where it locked into place and Torie had a few small cuts on like her knee from getting out. I took the brunt of the injuries with a concussion, that is still lingering, but that's fine with me. I will gladly accept any injuries instead of the kids having them. So yes I say THANK YOU JESUS for taking us and wrapping your arms around us and keeping us safe. For you see every person I see who knows what happened, or sees the pictures of the truck and says you were lucky I say no, I am BLESSED.
Now because of the accident, and the concussion, I have had the last two weeks to pretty much do nothing but become a vegetable in front of the TV, that is when the pain meds and the muscle relaxers would let me stay awake. I have done some reading, watched a lot of news programs and history channel type shows, and visited more doctors than I know what to do with. And something I am seeing has got my spirit uneasy, or I actually should say it has me hurting in my spirit. The reason I am hurting in my spirit has nothing to do with my accident, but everything to do with the condition of this Great Nation of ours. The United States of America, which for so long flourished and prospered, soaring high above most nations has lost it's way. This nation, which once was a role model for what other nations strive for. We were loved by many, for the advances we made and the strength we possessed, and we were hated by many for those same reasons.
But during this "down" time I have been experiencing, I have noticed that this great Nation, one founded by Godly men on Godly principles, is nothing more than a shell of what it was when our forefathers stood up and said that we were to be One Nation Under God. You see for over 180 years, from the revolutionary war through the Civil War and beyond, God was at the forefront of everything in the United States. Meals were started with a heartfelt prayer of thanks, school children started their day with a prayer and many schools taught from the Bible. And just as the day started, it ended with a prayer before bedtime. Families would rise on Sunday morning and the only thing that mattered was Sunday morning Worship services and making sure that God knew how thankful we were. Businesses were run a biblical principles as were city governments, state governments and our own federal government. Then in 1962, a decision was made by the Supreme Court of the United States to remove prayer for public Schools, and this same group in 1963 decided that "government" sponsored bible reading was unconstitutional and also removed from the public school system. That my brothers and Sisters was the beginning of a very slippery downhill slope for the USA.
Now jump forward to today, June 28, 2013 and look at some of the headlines you see. Military Chaplains Must Contend With 'Hate Speech' Accusations. Why you ask, because if they teach the scriptures that teach say homosexuality is a sin, or that the Muslim religion is a false religion, or that anyone who fails to repent of their sins is headed to hell, then they are said to be preaching hatred. They are being silenced on many subjects because it offends people and we would rather give in to Sin, rather than preach the Gospel, by which our founding fathers lived by. Just this week the Defense of Marriage Act, which said marriage between a man and a woman was the only way a couple was able to receive federal benefits. Now basically the US Government is saying that Marriage is no longer between a Man and a Woman, it can be Man and Man or Woman and Woman. Next thing you know if Joe down the streets want to marry his prize heifer because he believes his deceased ex-wife has came back as a cow, they will allow it. Military Soldiers are facing Court Martial's because they refuse to give in to Worldly views,. One such individual is Army Master Sergeant Nathan Sommers. He had a spotless military record of 25 years and then started getting reprimands for things like expressing his Religious beliefs, even holding a Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day Party. He was given a court Martial recently for petty offenses like giving a wrong date for a doctors appointment, but only after these "reprimands".
Look at Chick-Fil-A as another example. When the founders son, Dan Cathy, expressed his personal beliefs that marriage was between a man and a woman, it was referred to as Hate Speech. But When someone goes on a rant and says Christians are narrow minded individuals who think they are better than anyone else and should be burned at the stake, that is just them using their "freedom: of speech to "Express" their views. Another good example of this kind of double standard was when Kirk Cameron appeared on the Piers Morgan Show in March of 2012. Piers prodded him relentlessly about his Christianity and viewpoint on Gay Marriage. Kirk responded each time with biblical principles stating that God established marriage in the Garden of Eden between one man and one woman, and it wasn't mans place to redefine it. Well low and behold he was jumped on hard by Hollywood. People such as Roseanne Barr tweeting "Kirk or Kurt or whatever Cameron is an accomplice to murder with his hate speech." , Joy Behar told him you have a right to speak but just shut up anyway. Fran Drescher called on him to be silent with his hate speech and to "re-examine what it meant to be an American". Yet they were just "expressing their views".
Well let me say this ,brothers and sisters, ladies and gentleman, Kirk Cameron has it right. You see the bible clearly speaks to what is happening today in America. Isaiah 59:1-4 says "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt.Your lips have spoken falsely,and your tongue mutters wicked things.No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity.They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil."
The Lord has not changed and he has not turned his ear away, but we as a nation are so afraid of hurting someones feelings, or upsetting someones routine, we have forgot how to call out to him as a nation. We have allowed the devil a foothold in our society by listening to the justification of the ungodly versus seeking the face of God before making policies and laws. We let the unjust influence the opinions of public officials. We also allow Satan himself to infiltrate the church through dissension and politics. We have turned houses of worship into social gathering halls, where if you don't like what the preacher says, you can either run him off, or go somewhere else to hear a feel good prosperity gospel. We have forsaken the calling of God for excitement of Sin. We as a church have allowed the greatest gift that man will ever have to be placed in the closet and brought out only when it fits our agendas. Verse's 14-15 speak to this by saying "So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance;truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey."
But if you continue Reading Isaiah 59, you will see that there is hope for America though. For you See I have always been fond of a little saying that says that 'As long as you have breath, you have opportunity, and as long as you have opportunity, it is never to late". Now I have no idea who said that or where I heard it, but I have tried to live by that statement for 20 years or so. And Verse 20 speaks to the promise of every born again believer out there. For you see Verse 20 says "“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
No comments:
Post a Comment