September 2003
Dear
Ministry Partner,
Can America be delivered?
Have we gone past the point of critical mass for the triumph of
evil? The issues in the news include a homosexual "minister"
being ordained Bishop in a major Christian denomination, homosexual
marriages being legalized, pornographic
spam clogging e-mail accounts, business corruption at top levels
causing massive financial losses, the ten
commandments being forcibly removed from public view, and
new abortion drugs being legalized so that babies can be killed
by just swallowing a pill. Have Americans become the Canaanites
retrofitted with high technology? The Canaanites idolized sex,
money, and power, and performed infant sacrifice as a nation thinking
they would be better off for it. (Doesn't that sound like America?)
Ephesians
4:19 sounds uncomfortably like a description of our modern
society, "Having lost all sensitivity, they have
given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every
kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more."
God spoke to me that the general church in America has let the
"spirit of this age" influence it, and the church in
America is like the New Testament woman caught in the act of adultery
— the church has compromised and not gone after its first
love (there are of course specific exceptions). Jesus' instructions
were to go and sin no more. But will the judgement of God fall
on this nation? What can be done? What should you do to ensure
your own survival and prosperity? The first issue that is of critical
importance is for people to realize that morality (Christianity)
is essential for a democracy or republic to survive. To paraphrase
the founding
fathers of America, when offering a free society to all individuals,
the people must have internal moral restraint due to their spiritual
beliefs — or else their freedom will simply become an opportunity
for all kinds of sin. And if these same individuals can simply
vote into existence whatever sounds good to them, a democracy
cannot last. Given immoral, selfish voters — they would
simply vote everything into their own possession and create laws
to satisfy their own carnal desires without caring about the next
generation. Sin that has been legalized, trillions of dollars
of national debt, and a huge prison system that is overcrowded
would all be symptoms of the breakdown of such a society.Christianity
is necessary for any form of government to work correctly. While
the free enterprise form of society is closest to the Biblical
model, even communism could work if everyone was a perfect Christian!
(Communism requires selfless sharing of resources — impossible
for selfish, Godless people.) And free enterprise will only continue
working where the Christian character qualities of honesty, trust,
compassion, and fairness are predominant in the business world.
If capitalism becomes characterized by greed, deception, injustice,
and fraud, the society will either revolt to a different form
of economy, or they will try to continually request government
intervention and control with the end result being government
ownership versus private ownership. And when unsaved government
leaders get that much ownership and control, it is historic that
they abuse that power by enriching themselves at others' expense.
It is also historic that they begin oppressing and destroying
Christianity (because the devil is the driving force in their
lives). Biblical references to what a society is like where the
people have largely turned their backs on God, and the consequences
are resulting, include:
• Breakdown
of family relationships (Deut.
28:54-56)
• High crime rates (Deut.
28:29)
• Economic deterioration (Deut.
28:38-40)
• National debt (Deut.
28:44)
• Homelessness and poverty (Deut.
28:48)
• Fear (Deut.
28:66-67)
• Injustice (Deut.
28:30-34)
• Feeling like slaves in your work (Deut.
28:68)
• Incurable diseases like AIDS, SARS, & West Nile Virus
(Deut.
28:27)
• Nakedness & immorality (Deut.
28:30&48)
• Abortion (Deut.
28:53)
• Illegal alien problems (Deut.
28:43)
• Multiple languages & communication problems (Deut.
28:28)
• Other "gods" or foreign religions growing (Deut.
28:36)
• Difficulty clearly winning foreign wars (Deut.
28:25)
• Strong buildings toppling at home (Deut.
28:52)
• Natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes,
& local drought (Deut.
28:22-24)
This sounds to me like the evening news in America! So are we
doomed? We are never doomed, but it is a serious situation which
requires proper response by every Christian. There is always hope
with God. If we follow God's instructions, He can lead us out
of disaster. God even spared the wicked city of Ninevah
when they repented at the preaching of Jonah.
God spared the children of Israel when Moses interceded. God would
have even spared Sodom
& Gomorrah
if He would have found enough righteous people there. But the
question is not just will God eventually spare us from total destruction
as a nation, but how much longer do we have to live with the above
list of problems? Do we want "one more night with the frogs"
as the carnal Pharaoh responded to Moses? And how can we be personally
spared?There are two keys for national spiritual renewal, recovery,
and revival. The first key is well known but not often practiced.
"If My people who are called by My name will
humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their
wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their
sin, and heal their land." (2nd
Chronicles 7:14). This does not require much explanation,
just more practice. Churches need to have special services to
officially do this, and each Christian household needs to have
a special devotional time to specifically practice this. Simple
human obedience produces supernatural responses from God.The second
key is for God's people to give financially to support God's ministers
who are working to address the issues. In the Old Testament, there
were specific priests, prophets, and Kings who heard the voice
of God, spoke out, and acted to change the course of their nation,
and brought about the deliverance of their society in various
ways. We have experienced this in America at various times (dates
approximate):
• Jonathan
Edwards and the first great awakening (1734-1740's)
• The second great awakening (Francis Asbury, etc.) (1794-1820)
• Charles
Finney's revivals (1825-1830's)
• The revival in New York City (1857-1858)
• D.L.
Moody's evangelism (1880's)
• John
Alexander Dowie's healing revival (late 1800's)
• Pentecostal/Azusa
Street revival (1900-1908)
• National repentance & return to fundamentals (1930's)
• Healing & charismatic revival (1947-1960's)
• The word of faith revival (1980's)
• The Toronto/Pensacola/Smithton revivals (1994-2000)
It does not take long to either decline quickly into the abyss
of sin & destruction, or to experience God and His resurrection
& revival. But perhaps the most important issue from a personal
point of view is how do you survive and prosper during difficult
times? The primary answer is to be part of the solution. God honors
those who honor Him. God preserved and even prospered people like
Daniel,
Joseph,
and Noah
during times of great tribulation. This requires faith. It takes
faith to be part of the answer. It takes faith to obey God. Will
you be part of the answer? Will you obey God? As for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord!
Doing our part,
Dale
& Judi Leander |