America ... Who Have We Become?

     I wake up each morning wondering if I will still recognize my country.  It is sometimes overwhelming to read and hear what has happened overnight.  One day it is that Pastors in Houston, Texas are being threatened with subpoenas to turn over their sermons; auspiciously to probe for political content -- which by the way, is a clear violation of Freedom of Speech.
     The next morning, I read that Jerusalem Online is reporting that during a TV interview in France, our President remarked that since 1.5% of the entire U.S. population is Muslim (and which accounts for only 0.3% of the world's Muslim population), we should now be considered "one of the biggest Muslim nations."  Other than a smattering of alternative media sites, this surprising declaration is all but ignored.
     On other days, I try to wrap my head around why we would quarantine whole families, and shut down schools, because someone took a flight on a plane that an Ebola patient had previously flown on -- yet do nothing to stop flights from Ground Zero in West Africa, where the disease is originating and raging.
     Here in Texas, we hear daily of the mounting kidnappings, deaths, and cartel invasions along our southern border with Mexico; yet, we are excoriated for calling for border closures.  We Americans used to feel safe and secure in this country; that we could trust our elected representatives to put America first.  Now, we are more worried about protecting "fledgling democracies in West Africa"; illegal immigrants who are "only seeking political asylum"; and everything and everybody who opposes Judeo-Christian values.
     I just wonder how heart-broken Billy Graham must have been to say that, "America is just as wicked as Sodom and Gomorrah."  At 95 years of age, Reverend Graham has seen the ebb and flow of America's fortunes. He knows, better than most, that this nation is being swept along on a flood of immorality, greed, and pride.  He would be justified, at his age, in giving up on us -- we used to be the light of the world; now that beacon is covered in the filth of corruption and depravity.

The right of freedom being a gift
from God, it is not in the power
of man to alienate this gift and 
voluntarily become a slave.

--Samuel Adams

    Yet, Dr. Graham reminds us that this nation was founded by men who believed in prayer, and the Power that established this nation can resurrect it, if we will return to Him and pray for forgiveness.  He firmly believes that this downward tide of history can be "turned by prayer".  Where are the other leaders of this nation, like him?  "Leader" doesn't have to mean powerful men in government, or famous televangelists; it can be anyone who is willing to step up and show the way towards a better future for this country.  Each one of us can play that part!  Have we become a nation so lazy and disconnected that we've lost our way?  We are on the verge of letting our inheritance slip away, and no one is aware of it!
     Will future generations wonder why we were ever called "Sweet Land of Liberty"?  Will your grandchildren and great-grandchildren ever experience the individual freedoms that we were born with?  Lest we forget, no other nation in the history of the world allowed their citizens to make choices independent of a ruler/governing class.  We Americans have enjoyed rights not held by citizens down through the ages.  We have the right to say what we want (as long as it doesn't harm another), to worship as we choose, to assemble in peaceful protest, to live where we want, and to work at whatever craft we desire -- all privileges that we take for granted.  And, because of our complacency, these rights and individual freedoms are eroding.  Our descendants may scarcely recognize them.
     Our Founders believed that our freedom as a Sovereign Nation rested on our Individual Freedoms as citizens.  They are wholly dependent on each other.  The soul purpose of the "fundamental changes" that, we as a nation have accepted, were to revise and revamp who we are as a country and a people.  And that goal has almost been reached.  All of our political posturing and social arguments will not turn this ship; the tide is too strong.
     So, the question becomes ... will we follow Dr. Graham's advice and turn to prayer?  Because, I can promise you that this is the only hope we have.  It is too late to return to our origins by the ballot box, social protest, or democratic overhaul; it is incontrovertible that we have wasted the legacy of our forefathers.  But there is one thing we need to understand ... God established this nation, and through His Sovereignty, He can allow it to be destroyed.  However, that judgment can be stayed -- if we will humble ourselves, seek His Face ... and pray!  

Psalm 33:12   "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!"