One Nation Under God?
Is America On The Verge Of A Spiritual Meltdown?
Is America in trouble with God? Have we abandoned our faith in the Creator? Unfortunately, there is serious evidence that suggests we are nearing a spiritual meltdown that may have already begun. The moral and spiritual health of America is anemic and in rapid decline. Ungodliness is in and godliness is out. Part of the problem stems from our lack of Biblical knowledge and intimacy with God. Although many Americans own Bibles, most of us know very little about what is actually written in the Scriptures because we seldom read the book. The danger of not knowing God’s wisdom and counsel dangerously exposes us to being deceived and believing just about anything. Our unenlightened minds grow darker as the light of His word is shut out. Consequently, what was once easily identified as ungodliness now seems acceptable behavior.
According to Barna Group’s 2014 research information, America’s lack of biblical knowledge is astounding by comparison. Over 88% of American households reported owning a Bible and approximately 87% of Americans say their faith is very important. While this seems huge, something is wrong. Only 56% of Americans believe the Bible is truly inspired by God with no errors and only 37% find time to read the Bible once a week. Even more revealing, only 36% of Americans attend church on a regular basis while about 19% of Americans say they read the Bible about 4 times a week. It appears that only about 19% of us are actually engaged in regular Bible reading.
Based on these numbers, about 81% or 8 out of 10 people lack a serious understanding and working knowledge of the Scriptures. Perhaps this explains why so many people seem to ignore much of what God’s word commands. With only 2 out of 10 people actively engaged in reading the Bible and about 36% regularly attending church, it should not surprise us that sin is in and godliness is out. Sadly, we are more likely to applaud and celebrate sinful behavior rather than recognize and resist it.
The absence of God’s word from our minds and our lack of desire to hear it fosters darkness that distorts our moral conscience and dulls our senses. Knowing God’s words of wisdom is necessary to illuminate our minds so we can understand what is prudent, proper and good in every sense. God’s words impart abundant life to those who follow them. Consider these benefits:
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105 NIV)
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalms 119:11 NIV).
The idea that we have outgrown God’s word is a serious misconception that affects roughly 80% of Americans. Excluding God’s word from our minds leads to drifting further into the world of darkness where sinful behavior becomes acceptable. Our natural minds require spiritual light and guidance to safely navigate clear the dark paths of ungodliness and destruction. Unfortunately, our nation has drifted far from the path of righteousness to embrace the renegade lifestyles of ungodliness. We have lost our way and are headed down the path of destruction.
The darkening of our minds requires nothing more than removing and prohibiting God’s word. Conversely, to illuminate our minds requires the introduction of God’s word into our minds. Scriptural words are very special and superior to ordinary words because they are inspired by the mind of God. Consider this:
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV)
God’s words are alive and dynamically active! God’s opinion on any subject is of greater importance and value than anything we could possibly say or think. His words of wisdom are from a supernatural dimension and when they migrate into our hearts they affect our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. They feed and penetrate to the core of our being, to the essence of our soul. Our minds and hearts become illuminated with the thoughts and ways of our Creator. His words change lives, save lives and restore lives. We are desperate for His words that transcend the natural minds of mankind. Without His words, we will grope in the darkness of human intellect and ultimately self-destruct. As created beings we cannot say to our Creator we have no need of your counsel, your guidance or your wisdom. We are foolish to believe we have no need to read, study and follow God’s words.
Please tell me where were the geniuses of this world when God hung the stars in the sky and spoke the galaxies into existence? And who is this God that formed a man from a handful of dust and breathed human life into existence? And who told God to place the sun exactly 92,955,807 miles from the earth to perfectly regulate our climate and seasons for human habitation and survival? Please don’t tell me we are here by chance, by natural selection, by man’s theory of evolution with its pseudoscience. Please look around at God’s incomprehensible creation that He created by His intelligent design. God declared that He is the Creator of all things. Please don’t be so foolish as to believe the lie of evolution and tell me we just happened along or aliens put us here. There is and has never been any evidence for these fairy tales. Evolution, unfortunately, has become the religion for those who reject God and His declaration that He alone is the Creator.
The world has abandoned true faith in God and substituted a man-made philosophy. “Believe in yourself” and “have confidence in your abilities” and you will succeed in becoming whatever you put your mind to be or do. This concept is practiced by many, but as you can see it is limited by one’s abilities and one’s confidence. In God, there is a vast difference without limitations. God says, listen to me, study my word, follow me and you will see and do unimaginable things, impossible things far beyond what you could ever imagine.
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3 NIV)
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV)
The problem with believing in ourselves while not fully following God’s word is that we are limited by our finite imagination. God, however, takes us into the realm of the unimaginable through his infinite knowledge that is beyond our imagination. God’s word and His presence moves us beyond the world of possibilities into the realm of impossibilities—are you up for the challenge? We are talking about accomplishing the impossible, the miraculous, the unimaginable. Through God “all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23 ASV).
Who is this God that inspires and empowers us to do the impossible?
Roughly 400 years ago our great nation was a vast wilderness. Christian men and women came to the new world to build a new nation, not just any nation, but “one nation under God.” A nation that said and believed, “in God we trust.” When our ancestors first arrived in the new world they gave thanks to God and the Lord Jesus:
Near the end of the voyage on April 29, the colonists erected a cross and gave thanks to God on a point of land they named Cape Henry in honor of the eldest son of King James. Captain John Smith tells of the settlers landing at Jamestown in 1607 and erecting a crude temporary structure to use for church services. It was made from a sail stretched among the boughs of trees, sides of rails and benches made of unhewed tree trunks. The altar was made by nailing a log to two neighboring trees as a cross bar. Later that year, the settlers built the first real church building. John Smith describes it as a barn-like structure and gives very few details on its construction. (source)
As their feet touched ground at Cape Henry they gave thanks to the Lord. A church building, an altar, and a cross were among the very first things erected when the Christians landed. At Cape Henry, they erected a cross, not a flag, and gave thanks to the Lord. The U.S. flag must remain under the cross, not over or above it. We are one nation under God (the cross). America was founded under the “Supreme Judge of the World” and we have existed under the “Protection of [God’s] Divine Providence” since that day. We must not elevate our lives, our liberties or our pursuit of happiness above the cross, lest we be destroyed.
The vision for America was birthed in the hearts and minds of Christian men and women who believed under God’s providential care they could do the impossible. Our founding fathers and those before them were devout Christians that believed in the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus. Historical evidence proves these unchangeable facts. Here are a few excerpts from Declaration of Independence:
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
—Declaration of Independence 1776
Look at how the founding fathers signed the U.S. Constitution:
the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven.
—(U.S. Constitution)
As stated above, America was founded on the belief that God our “Creator” created mankind to be equal, having “certain unalienable rights,” under the “Protection of Divine Providence” and the “Supreme Judge of The World.” What they believed they put in writing and signed it “in the year of our Lord.”
Now we must ask, who is this “Creator” of mankind that brought our nation into being? He is the God of the Bible. He is the Creator of all that exists. He is the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And he is the “Supreme Judge of The World” to whom we all will give an account.
The Declaration and Constitution were signed in 1776 A.D. and 1787 A.D. respectively. Notice the A.D. which is the abbreviation for the Latin phrase anno domini which means “in the year of our Lord.” Today we live in the year of our Lord 2016. We may drop the phrase and the abbreviation, but it is still the year of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God our Creator. He is the Creator of all that has been created.
In the beginning god created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1 NIV)
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16 KJV)
America was not founded by Muslims, Buddhists or Hindus. The teachings of the Quran, Vedas or Tripitaka are not part of our historical foundation or culture. Our theology, doctrines, and teachings embedded in our Declaration and Constitution are straight from the Holy Bible. We must never forget that Jesus Christ alone is the Savior of the world and America’s religious concepts and beliefs are biblically based.
America was founded as “one nation under God” and we must not and cannot continue to ignore and disregard the Creator. America was once a nation that believed in seeking God first and submitting to His will for our lives. We once believed in God’s Providential Protection. We honored God, family, and country even if we had to shed blood to defend and preserve our nation. Just a few generations ago men and women of great faith in God and country led and guided our nation to greatness, but now we see leaders lacking even a pretense of godliness. They are leading America down the path of destruction and we eagerly follow these blind leaders.
America’s greatness is inextricably bound to its Christian foundation and heritage. But American policies, laws, beliefs, and culture have drifted far from its Biblical foundation and is teetering on the verge of a spiritual collapse.
What can we do? It all begins with you who took the time to read this article. One by one we must return to His word, His church, and His cross. We must fall to our knees and cry out to God in repentance.
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