USA

God Bless America

Barbara Kain Parker Biblical Insights, Inspirational, Standing In Faith , , , , , , , , ,

IMG_1914Just fifty years ago, John Wayne hosted a variety show celebrating America. The contributors were among the most prominent voices of Hollywood, a panoply of stars who loved this nation, joining together to sing God Bless America. Today, most of those patriots are gone, their names and their fame lost to the newer generations. Unfortunately, they have now been replaced by a Godless community of celebrity voices that, for the most part, hate and bring shame to our country. 

Go back another fifty-two years to 1918, toward the end of World War I when Irving Berlin initially wrote God Bless America; he was one of the greatest songwriters the USA has even known. Like so many others who became citizens of this great nation, he was an immigrant who entered via Ellis Island in New York Harbor. He was only five years old when his family fled the extreme poverty, discrimination and brutal pograms of Imperial Russia. Clearly, he understood the value of freedom! But like so many others of both his and the succeeding generation, his is a name that is unknown to many younger people today.

What will history have to say fifty or a hundred years from now about our current crop of the rich and famous? Probably not much; they will become a pretty-much-forgotten footnote in history. We would all be wise to remember the absolute truth of the words of King Solomon:  

For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten. (Ecclesiastes 2:16 NLT)

God Bless America should be more than a song that is commonly sung at the opening of sporting events; it should be a prayer expressed from the heart of every American. That said, I still have to wonder if it will be one of the aspects of major league sports that will be eliminated when those games resume because it is considered too dangerous for the emotional health of the nation; it is just too divisive for it speaks of God. As the ‘powers that be’ determine what ‘truth’ we can or cannot engage in, we would do well to remember that the ultimate authority is God. Political correctness means nothing to Him, and the only Truth that really counts is His:

Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
    and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
    on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
    and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
    lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2)

If there was ever a time for our nation to heed the words of the Lord, this certainly seems to be it!

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT)

Die, So We Can Live

Barbara Kain Parker Inspirational , , , , , , , , ,

IMG_1914The United States of America.  This is my county, the land that I love, and I’m forever grateful to have been born here.

Historically, our country has been well known as one nation under God, with the majority of our population professing a belief in Him.  But oops!  We have now become a largely godless society in which God’s righteousness has been trashed in favor of  the selfish standards of man’s ever-expanding quest for personal ‘rights’ and happiness.

We have been known for our freedom, for the famous liberty and justice that is available to all, and we have become a gigantic melting pot in which people from all over the would could come to live and thrive in freedom.  But oops!  Our freedoms are quickly eroding, especially for Christians, as those who govern us continually pile one unjust regulation on top of another.

For years we have been the world’s greatest superpower, enjoying unparalleled military might and economic strength.  But oops!  Our military has been downsized from majestic to pathetic, and our economy is in free fall as the national debt increases and our personal wealth decreases.

We have been especially known for religious freedom, and have been a place where people of all faiths could worship without governmental interference. But oops!  Now, if you stand by God’s truth, you are judged as an extremist hater.

We have such a proud heritage!  But oops!  We forgot something very important along the way as we began to trust in ourselves instead of God, sliding bit by bit down the slippery slope of moral depravity.  Our descent has been punctuated by such unrighteous decisions of our Supreme Court as allowing the murder of our children disguised as women’s rights over forty years ago and, more recently, endorsing gay marriage disquised as equality.

So what happened?  The answer is simple.  Along the way, Americans began to forget the God who has protected us and given us strength.  The nation, like many of us as individuals, has come to think of itself as self-sufficient and immune to the consequences of evil.  Much has already been written and spoken in terms of coming judgement, and it will most likely be sooner than later because God will not allow such apostasy indefinitely, but that is not my point so I won’t belabor it.

Can we see our nation’s problem for what it is?  Can we name our national sins as we name our personal ones?  Rebellion.  Pride.  Inflated ego.  Self-sufficiency.  Idolatry.  What?  Idolatry?  Yes, because most of us now look to government for solutions instead of to God.

So what can we do?  Many have been repenting and praying for revival; encouraging one another to follow the very good advice of scripture, hoping for the fulfillment of God’s promise:

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. 1 Chronicles 7:14

But is that enough?  The Lord has been speaking to me for a couple of days about our need to die.  As we repent for trusting in government instead of God, for gauging our well-being on whether or not the economy is good, for looking within ourselves for solutions; perhaps what we really need is to agree to pray for our nation to die to itself.  Every mature Christian who has been refined in the Lord’s furnace understands that concept on a personal basis.  We understand the truth of such scriptures as:

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.  Galatians 2:20

I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.  Philippians 3:8

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”  Luke 9:23-24

Let’s stop counting on the possibility of electing of righteous leaders. Let’s stop counting on our military.  Let’s stop counting on a better economic forecast.  Let’s stop counting on governmental programs and benefits to make our lives easier.

Instead, let’s start counting on our God!  Let’s stand in for our nation and allow it to die to itself; to cast away national pride and self-sufficiency.  Let’s allow God to be our strength and our shield, having no other gods before Him, and seeking Him first in all things.

Come on America!  Let us die, so we can live in Him!!!