INTRODUCTION:
It is with great joy and sadness that I generate this newsletter this month. For many years I have observed the nation that I love spiral downwards into nation that once was free and a home that once was brave.
God's judgment is not a popular topic among most people, even among most Christians. The Church in America today shares in the responsibility for the decline in this once great land. Americans have become fat, dumb, lazy, apathetic, and complacent, in part due to being spoiled by 50 years of nearly uninterrupted prosperity since the end of World War II. Many can no longer discern the difference between good and evil, nor do they in any way take a stand against evil. Jesus said in Matthew 5:13: Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men.
The Late Great United States of America
The decline of America as a world super power should not come as a surprise many Americans today. The explosion of both white (Enron) & Blue collar crime, (there are more inmates in our over populated prisons, than all the combined prisons all over the world), proliferating gang warfare and drive-by shootings in our cities; the disintegration of the American family, with divorces (one of every two marriages end up in a divorce today), child abuse has become an epidemic through the inter- net , single parent families is at a all time high, and teenage rebellion: the explosion of drug usage (the highest in the world) the killing of over 30 million babies in their mother's wombs over two decades; the rampant spread of promiscuity, pornography, homosexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases; the dumbing down of American children in the public school system.
On June 17, 1963, the United States Supreme Court issued the final decision that forbade Bible reading and prayer in the public schools. Bible reading and prayer had been a part of America's schools since the beginning of the country. The prayer the Court objected to follows: Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country.
God had honored prayer by giving America, up to 1963, the finest educational system in the world. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores were the highest ever. America prior to 1963 had a violent crime rate below the national population growth rate. The divorce rate was dropping steadily from the 1940s and the teenage premarital sex rate was unchanged. By the 1990s, the bogus separation of church and state was fully established and everything to do with God had been removed from the public schools and most governmental institutions.
When the Supreme Court rejected God and His Word, immediate judgment did not appear to fall. It appeared nothing happened and the country continued on. At first the consequences of rejecting God were not felt or seen, but 36 years later it is clear that in 1963 the blessings of God were removed from America. Looking back to 1963, it is clear that awesome judgment began to fall on America. The year 1963 literally became the transition year between God's blessings and judgment. For the nation that honors God the Bible states: Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people He hath chosen for His own inheritance. Psalm 33:12. For the nation that rejects God the Bible States: The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. Psalm 9:7.
Many great nations and empires have risen and fallen throughout history (i.e., the Roman Empire; Israel before the Babylonian invasion and captivity in about 600 BC; the British Empire; Czarist Russia; Pre-World War I Germany; South Africa, more recently the former Soviet Union) America has been for years following their foot steps as wicked men had risen to power.
In studying the reason for America's present decline, the first and most obvious is the ascendancy of socialism, ( when politics and the wealthy marry ) secular humanism and liberalism to power in America over the past 40 years - collective ideologies which have helped to destroy our traditions, values, heritage and the character and freedom of our people. These ideologies now dominate virtually all the levels of power and influence in America (i.e., the government, the courts, the media, the entertainment industry, the school system and most of the mainline religious denominations).
Another reason is that we have forgotten our history and our heritage and the lessons and warnings passed down to us by our founding fathers and generations who have gone before us. This history has been systematically removed (or re-written) from our books, from our educational system, and from our culture by socialists who scorn our past greatness and leaders, and want to see America transformed into a super-socialist state. If a country forgets its history, and its heroes, then it doesn't know what is has lost, nor will it fight to regain it. Very few Americans under the age of 30 years of age today have experienced America when it was free, and understand what freedoms we have lost.
When Alexander Solzhenitsyn the Great Russian historian was asked on BBC television almost two decades ago, why Russia had lost its freedom under Communism, he said, "It was because we forgot God." As America continues to remove God from its holidays, history, currency, etc. it appears to this writer that God has been for several years removing His hand of blessing and protection from this nation.
America for several years has been experiencing God’s Judgment like never before, as evil continue to proliferate with no restraint. The majority of the American people live in gross immorality and corruption even in the highest levels of the U.S. government are all irrefutable evidence of a country whose culture, morality, traditions, and spiritual life are in a free fall. One can not watch a television show today without some form of seductive gesture or provocative scene.
This newsletter will analyze God's warnings to America in the larger context of an America which is in massive decline (or free fall); which has forgotten God and His rules as laid out in the Bible; and which could be coming under God's judgment as evil now begins to proliferate almost completely unrestrained.
God spoke to the prophet Isaiah as he penned these words concerning the decline of his nation “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil...Who justify the wicked...and take justice away from the righteous...Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people.” Isaiah 5:20, 23-25
The prophet Jeremiah also sheds some light on God’s attitude towards a Godless nation: I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me. Jeremiah 1:16a
Solomon the wisest man that ever lived writes: For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14
The Palmist proclaims: “He turns rivers into a wilderness and the water springs into dry ground, a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.” Psalm 107:33-34
Though many readers of this article will be Christians, with some Jewish, some agnostic and a few even Buddhist, Muslim or atheist, the implications of the unfolding events which are destabilizing America (and the entire world) will affect us all. God has set up principles of life and conduct which work for believers and nonbelievers alike. But when they are ignored or violated, nations, families, and individuals go into decline and suffer for it.
These judgments appear to be coming in the form of massive earthquakes, storms, floods, and fires (i.e., accelerating physical disasters); the removal of our financial prosperity; the proliferation of deadly diseases and plagues (i.e., consider the recent Super Bug, AIDS, Hanta Virus, the flesh-eating virus or bacteria, or the Gulf War Syndrome); the increasing oppression of the people and their freedoms by an all-powerful, collectivist government; the ascendancy of wicked, evil leaders who reject our traditional values, morality, history and culture; and eventually via attack by foreign powers (whether a New World [UN] Army, a reborn Russian and world Communist movement (including China), by radical Islam, or some combination of these groups).
Since the mid-1980s, America has suffered one awesome disaster after another. There have always been disasters, but now they are happening regularly and with increasing intensity. Consider what has happened to America since the mid-1980s. The Midwest and especially California suffered the worst drought in history, destroying huge amounts of crops. The drought was then followed by record rains in both sections, followed by severe flooding. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo struck Charleston, SC with fierce winds causing great damage. Soon after Hugo hit, a powerful earthquake rocked San Francisco causing great damage.
In the year 1992, a number of incredible events occurred. Four powerful earthquakes hit California. Those quakes were all in remote areas so the damage was not severe. In fact, 10 of the most powerful quakes in the world in 1992 were centered in California including the most powerful earthquake in the world that year at 7.6 magnitude. That quake was centered near the major faults of Southern California. Hurricane Andrew, one of the most powerful and destructive ever, hit southern Florida. That hurricane was one of the most expensive natural disasters in American history. The worst rioting since the Civil War took place in Los Angeles. A record number of tornadoes swept across America. Record forest fires raged throughout the West, but especially in California.
The year 1993 saw record storms slam the East Coast causing severe damage and flooding. The worst terrorist attack in American history struck New York City. This was soon followed by the worst fiasco in federal law enforcement history as four agents were killed and 16 were wounded at Waco, Texas during an unprecedented, unconstitutional government attack (an attack that eventually led to the deaths of 86 men, women, children and babies). The worst flooding ever ravaged the Midwest. California was again hit with record wildfires. Mass killings and serial killings which were rare in America 30 years ago now seem to be a regular occurrence in the 1990s.
These incredible disasters continued into 1994. The coldest temperatures ever recorded since records have been kept in the 1890s covered the Midwest and East. The cold was so intense that the wind chill hit near 90 below in some states. Record cold temperatures were set in hundreds of locations. The cold and snow paralyzed entire states. Pennsylvania was hit by the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the state. The quake was mild by California standards, registering only 4.6, but Pennsylvania is not an earthquake zone. The quake was centered in Reading, PA. It buckled roads, and was felt as far as Philadelphia and New York City. Two days later a powerful earthquake measuring 6.6 struck Los Angeles causing tremendous damage. This earthquake, maybe America's most costly natural disaster, even surpassed the destruction of Hurricane Andrew. First the East Coast was rocked by an earthquake, then the West Coast two days later.
September 11, 2001- the day that changed our nation for ever. On that morning nineteen men affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked commercial passenger jet airliners. Each team of hijackers included a trained pilot. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners (United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11) into the World Trade Center in New York City, they flew one plane into each tower (1 WTC and 2 WTC), resulting in the collapse of both buildings soon afterward and extensive damage to nearby buildings.
The hijackers crashed a third airliner (American Airlines Flight 77) into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. Passengers and members of the crew on the fourth airliner (United Airlines Flight 93) attempted to retake control of their plane from the hijackers; that plane crashed into a field near the town of Shanksville in the rural Somerset County, of Pennsylvania. In addition to the 19 hijackers, 2,974 people died as an immediate result of the attacks. Another 24 people are missing and presumed dead.
Hurricane Katrina, the great catastrophic hurricane of August 28th 2005, which devastated New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States. Hurricane Katrina cost 1,836 people to lose their lives, making it deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States. The most severe loss of life and property occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed; in many cases hours after the storm had moved inland. The hurricane caused severe destruction across the entire Mississippi coast and into Alabama, as far as 100 miles from the storm’s center.
These disasters have cost tens of billions of dollars and have weakened many institutions like the insurance industry. Tens of thousands of people have been left homeless, and thousands of businesses have been destroyed. By 1994 entire states were being affected by these disasters. In the 1980s, America went from being the world's largest creditor nation to the world's largest debtor nation in the 1990s. The years 1991-1992 saw the most severe recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and California, for the first time since the Great Depression, went bankrupt. Many other states are today in their worst financial condition since the Great Depression. From 1990 through '98, nine million Americans went bankrupt, with 1.44 million personal bankruptcies in 1998 alone a record since the peak of the Great Depression.
Is it possible that these events are not just happening by coincidence, but are warnings from God? Americans are now either practicing or tolerating lifestyles which the Bible clearly states will remove God's blessings and bring the wrath of God. God has warned in the Bible that He will destroy any nation which openly practices fornication, adultery, homosexuality, sexual perversion and the shedding of the blood of innocent children including abortion and partial birth abortion. Concerning abortion, the Bible makes no difference between children in the womb and a newly born child.
The following Bible verses show God's attitude toward a nation that practices open disobedience to His standards: Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, to defile yourself with her. And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech (this is child sacrifice)...You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any beast to defile yourself with it... Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants... Leviticus 18:20-25
America has been severely warned by God that as a nation we are on a collision course with Him. The Bible records the total destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of what happens to a nation that practices open sexual immorality, but especially homosexuality. They [Sodom and Gomorrah] are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 7. God is extremely merciful and long suffering. He will warn and warn before judgment, but if a nation will not turn from open homosexuality and the shedding of the blood of innocent children; He promises that He will judge that nation.
A careful study of the events surrounding many of these disasters reveals that they occurred in connection with abortion and/or homosexual-related events. It appears to this writer that the Lord has given us a number of clear warnings. The following examples strongly suggest that America has already been clearly warned by God about shedding the blood of innocent children in the womb and practicing open homosexuality. These warnings would seem to indicate that America is on a collision course with the God of the Bible and awesome judgment may be immediately ahead.
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God... I Peter 4:17a
In 1963, the three greatest problems in school were talking, gum chewing and noise. By the 1990s the three greatest problems in the public schools were rape, robbery and assault. The SAT scores have literally plummeted since the very year of 1963. Prior to 1963, serial killers and mass murders were almost unheard of. Today they both occur with frightening regularity and America is becoming an increasingly violent nation. America's cities have become like those of a third world nation. Sexual diseases have skyrocketed, along with pre-marital sexual relations among our teenagers.
Since 1963 every statistic showing a social problem has risen dramatically while the statistics for things that are good have dropped. America is literally being turned into hell as the Bible states would happen to all the nations that reject God. More police will not prevent crime. More money will not improve the school system. More taxes will not solve the nation's problems. America needs national repentance for rejecting God and allowing such acts as abortion, adultery, drugs, promiscuity, homosexuality and pornography to become the order of the day. The nation needs to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, and repent and be healed.
On January 22, 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned all state laws that protected children in the womb and then legalized the killing of children throughout the entire pregnancy. The aborting of babies was actually made a constitutional right by the Court. Today in America, there are doctors who specialize in killing full-term babies in the womb. America aborts a reported 1.6 million babies a year which means after 26 years over 40 million children have been killed in the womb.
Although America has turned its back on defending children in the womb, each child killed was special to God Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Psalm 127:3. God sends children as a blessing, but Americans literally throw His children by the millions in the garbage (or, like the Nazis, use the bodies of these innocent victims for medical experimentation). The Lord has clearly warned in the Bible that His judgment will fall on any nation that kills its children.
The Bible says that the killing of babies angers the Lord, who in turn judges (or punishes) such a nation. Therefore, I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it. Leviticus 18:25.Therefore I poured My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land. Ezekiel 36:18. God literally hates the shedding of innocent blood This does the Lord hate...hands that shed innocent blood. Proverbs 6:16-17. The shed blood of the innocent cries out to God The blood crieth unto Me from the ground. Genesis 4:10.
On January 22, 1973 when killing babies in the womb was legalized, judgment from God did not appear immediately. There was no apparent reaction from the Lord. Just as after the decision to ban prayer in schools, the country continued on. However, looking back to 1973, things began to deteriorate rapidly in America. The judgment that began in 1963 for rejecting God was intensified in 1973 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. Psalm 9:7.
The blessings of God that began to be removed in 1963 were fully removed in 1973. From 1960 until 1973 the people in poverty in America dramatically fell from 40 million to 22 million. The year with the lowest number of people in poverty was 1973. After 1973 the poverty rate has increased to the point that now over 34 million Americans are in poverty. The year 1973 was literally the dividing line between decreasing poverty and increasing poverty. It is clear that something happened in 1973.
The Index of Social Health uses 16 criteria for tracing the social condition of America. These criteria include: child abuse, teen suicide, health insurance coverage, weekly earnings, high school dropout rate, drug abuse, homicides, infant mortality (not including abortion) and others. The highest rating which indicates a healthy social condition was 79.4 in 1972. The rating started dropping in 1973 and continued to drop every year until 1990 when it fell to 42. The very year that America legalized killing of babies in the womb was when the terrible social deterioration started that is now at crisis levels in the 1990s.
The current social condition of America can be traced directly back to 1973 when the Lord's anger fell on America. The nation was immediately judged in 1973. It just took some years for the judgment to become apparent. Federal government statistics disclose that since 1973, almost 40 million Americans have been injured by acts of crime.
Since 1982 violent crime has increased 24%. America is being consumed by violence. The violence against the innocent unborn in the womb has now spread throughout the entire society. As a society we have a preoccupation with violence and death. The popular movies of our day certainly reflect it. Any form of bloodshed always leads to more bloodshed. Note how we are now moving from abortion to euthanasia. Germany, in the 1930s, saw a similar escalation in its culture of death, until life became so cheap that the horror of the death camps became a reality.
The Bible refers to this as bloodshed touching bloodshed. It almost seems every aborted baby (i.e., over 40 million) is matched by one American falling victim to a violent crime. The current violence level in America may well be judgment from God on the nation for the violence in the womb.
The Bible very clearly states that for killing children God will give that nation what it deserves Therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity on it. Leviticus 18:25. The violence in the womb appears to be matched by violence in the streets and cities. America is getting what it deserves.
The violence in America is the just reward for the violence in the womb. How can Americans expect God to bless the nation with peace, when legally His children are slaughtered in the womb with the sanction of the government and the people? An attitude of disrespect and violence against all life has now gripped America, just as it did in the 1930s in Nazi Germany. The violence in Germany first started in the womb via abortion.
Conclusion
God has always been a God of mercy and rich in grace, not willing that none should perish. His love towards us was demonstrated on Calvary: For God so loved that world that He gave His only begotten Son that who so ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 The solution to this nations woes is quite simple and it could be found in God’s Word: 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 heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 The decision is ours to make personally and as a nation.
Notes:
Special thanks to Don McAlvany, and his book “Storm Warning”, Hearthstone Publishing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I highly recommend this book to everyone.