We must emulate the Ninivites and make atonement for the grave sins committed against God

"Anyone in the United States that thinks you are being persecuted for your faith needs to read about the REAL persecution the early Christians had to endure. Having people say bad things about you is NOT persecution. Being fed to a lion is persecution!"

    The United States is no longer a Christian nation. If the recent events in Montgomery over the rock with the Ten Commandments, and the current legal challenge to "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance tell us anything, it is that the United States is no longer a Christian nation. One of the biggest misconceptions Christians have today, is that this is still a Christian nation.

    Only the foolish try to argue the fact that this nation was not founded by men and women that believed in the God of the Bible and had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. There is no way to deny that the largest percentage of the first several generations of people in this country were Christians. It was clearly a nation that honored God, followed His Son Jesus, and accepted the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God, representing absolute truth, and our final authority in all matters. However, that is no longer the case, and has not been for many years now.

    How can I make such a definitive statement? How can you call this a Christian nation when the Federal Government legally protects the murder of approximately 2 million babies every year? How can you call this a Christian nation when people that have chosen lifestyles that God calls an abomination are now accepted and promoted as normal? How can you call this a Christian nation when God's gift of sex has been perverted and is now marketed and accessible to anyone, of any age, at any time?

    How can you call this a Christian nation when God's Holy Institution of Marriage has been mocked and turned into little more than a legal date? How can you call this a Christian nation when God's definition of a family is being rewritten daily by those who reject God in their life? The answer is, you can no longer call this a Christian nation for these and numerous other reasons.

    The logical question has to be, how did we go from being what was without argument a Christian nation, to the spiritual state that we find ourselves in today. There are two key elements involved. The first is the incredible numbers of people that immigrated to the United States since 1900. People from all over the world that brought to this nation their own religious beliefs and false gods. People that did not believe in the God of the Bible and rejected His Son Jesus.

    The second is a topic I have discussed often, and that is a weak and ineffective church since the 1960's and a void of real spiritual leadership. Churches that lost their evangelistic zeal and became institutionalized. Men and women God called who found it much more comfortable to ignore the lost world they were living in, and hide behind the four walls of the church and in the Christian media where they can preach to the choir where it is safe and profitable.

    So what is the answer. I will continue to support in prayer issues like the Ten Commandments, the taking out of "under God" in the Pledge, and similar efforts to take God out of our nation. But let me be frank with you. Having a rock with the Ten Commandments on it in a courthouse in Montgomery, Alabama, having children recite the Pledge and saying "under God," is NOT going to make this a Christian nation again. WHAT WILL MAKE THIS A CHRISTIAN NATION AGAIN IS GETTING PEOPLE SAVED!!!

    The reality of the year 2004 is that there are two full generations of people, the largest percentage of which have never been to church. These people are NOT coming to church on Sunday morning, they are NOT watching the Christian media, and if you want to reach these people you need to take the message of Christ to them. Why are cults like Mormonism, Scientology, false religions like Islam and various New Age movements the fastest growing in our nation today? BECAUSE THEY ARE TAKING THEIR MESSAGE, THAT IS STRAIGHT FROM THE PITS OF HELL, DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE!!!

    How does the world get its message to the masses? Commercial television and radio, newspapers and magazines, music, film, the Internet, and advertising are all ways the world forces its messages into people lives literally 24/7. This is how the cults and false religions of the world are doing it. THIS IS HOW THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR BETTER START DOING IT!!! WE NEED TO BE USING THE SAME VEHICLES THE WORLD, THE CULTS AND FALSE RELIGIONS ARE USING TO TAKE THEIR MESSAGE TO THE MASSES!!!

    I love you and care about you so much. I get no joy out of sharing a message like this, but it is my responsiblity to tell you the truth. While the United States is no longer a Christian nation, it is still a nation of great freedoms. We must take advantage of those freedoms, while we still have them I might add, to take the message of the hope and love of Jesus Christ to this lost, hurting, and dying nation and world. We know that Jesus is the only true answer for this world, for the United States, and for each person.

    The encouraging fact is that we already know how this story ends. We should take great comfort in knowing that even though this nation has turned its back on God, in the end He still wins. We also need to realize that there are tremendous opportunities to bring many people into the Kingdom in these last days. We need to quit worrying about what used to be, and start focusing on what is. While we were fighting over a rock, the cults and false religions were busy leading good people into everlasting damnation. While we will expend lots of time and energy trying to keep "under God" in the Pledge, the cults and false religions of the world will be busy leading people straight to Hell.

    Please, don't misunderstand me. We need to pray for these efforts to keep God in our culture. But the fact these are even issues simply point out that there is a majority in this nation that do not care about God, do not know His Son, and reaching these people with the hope and love of Christ is what God has called us to do. The time is short. His return is imminent. The United States is no longer a Christian nation, but He still has a people and a church that He will use to take His message to this lost and dying world.

    We live in a nation that allows people the freedom to worship whatever gods they choose to. While early on in our nation's history, the majority of the people did believe in the God of the Bible and had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that simply is not true today. But that is OK! It simply means that those who know Christ as their Savior have got to get serious about sharing their faith. We have incredible freedoms to share our faith with those in this nation and around the world. WE ARE ONLY LIMITED BY OUR OWN LACK OF VISION!

    NEVER FORGET, WITH GOD, YOU ARE NEVER A MINORITY!!!

    One of the biggest problems we have had in this nation over the last 40 years, is the isolationist mentality too many believers have. CHRISTIANS, NOT THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST, ARE LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKING GOD OUT OF OUR CULTURE! A vast majority of churches, especially mainline denominations, went into maintenance mode and quit evangelizing. Instead of reaching out to the lost world, the church shut out the lost world.

    We have also seen the start of the Christian television, radio, and publication businesses. Now, instead of having to use secular television, radio, book and magazine publishers, Christians have their own TV stations, their own radio stations, their own books and magazines. We created our own media and took the message of Christ and the truth of God's Word out of the mainstream media that the people in the world tune into daily. WE ABANDONED THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND LEFT IT FOR THE WORLD TO USE.

    What this means is that Christians need to get busy and use our freedoms to start putting God back into our culture. God needs His people in every walk of life to quit being so passive, and start having the same boldness as those who reject God, His Son, and the truth of His Word. Those who are in Hollywood need to use their influence to get Christian messages into the films that are being produced. Not just films that are Christian in nature, but regular every day films as well. Those in secular TV and radio need to find ways to inject God's truth into the programming. Believers in the print media need to use their influence and clout to get the Christian message back into magazines and newspapers.

    EVERY CHILD OF GOD HAS A ROLE TO PLAY. When you accept Christ as your Savior, you become part of God's army. Everyone can do their part in the course of their daily life. At work, at school, where you shop, work-out, the hobbies you are involved in, we must let our light shine bright and not hide it under a bushel. God has called us to be the salt of this earth. Living a life pleasing and acceptable to God is still the greatest witness that you will ever have to this lost and hurting world. What Jesus has done in your life is still your greatest message to the lost.

    I love you and care about you so much. We should not be saddened by the fact the United States is no longer a Christian nation, but challenged by it. Look at the world Christ's disciples and Paul lived in, the early church was born into. It was literally void of the message of Christ, and those who were Christians came under incredible persecution. Anyone in the United States that thinks you are being persecuted for your faith needs to read about the REAL persecution the early Christians had to endure. Having people say bad things about you is NOT persecution. Being fed to a lion is persecution!

    But those first Christians persevered and took the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ to the lost world that they lived in. They didn't hide in their homes and isolate themselves from their culture, but boldly took their faith in Christ directly to the world of their day.

    I am praying for you today. Could the United States once again be a Christian nation, with a majority of people who know Christ as their Savior? ABSOLUTELY! But it will take bold and courageous men and women of God who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Gospel. It will take men and women of God who have great vision to take the truth of His Word out of our churches, out of the Christian media, and directly to the people of this world that we live in.

    My friend, this nation, this world is looking for hope. It is looking for answers. Jesus Christ is the ONYL hope, and Jesus Christ is the ONLY answer. Those faithful saints that have gone on to their rewards in glory, have passed the baton to us. It is OUR JOB to carry the message of Christ to this nation we live in, and to the world we are part of. The Great Commission has not expired. It is a commandment from our Lord and Savior to all those who have accepted Him into their hearts and lives to "go and make disciples of all nations." Let us work together and once again make the United States a Christian nation!!!

In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,