You see, I am also not blind to the flaws, failings, and faults of our nation, either. While I believe in the concept of America as "the great melting pot"; a beacon of freedom and tolerance for all peoples, I acknowledge that "tolerance" has not always been forthcoming or countenanced or condoned. Our treatment of early immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Palestine, and China, are examples of our national prejudice. In 1845, newspaper columnist, John O'Sullivan, coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny" to describe the cultural belief that American settlers were destined [some say by God] to expand across the North American continent, defeating and displacing the Native Americans and anyone else who got in our way. And then, in 1860 we fought a Civil War over the un-Godly right of one man to own another, and it cost the lives of 618,222 men. All that is part of our American history, too.
I'm not naive enough to believe that our nation is perfect, or that some of our history hasn't been "photoshopped" or romanticized. Did George Washington really chop down that cherry tree and "could not tell a lie"? While I could be accused of being an idealist, I'm also a realist. I'm unwilling to gloss over our national mistakes and sins, but I also will not declare that this nation is inherently evil and vile. I believe that, culturally, we have been a Christian nation -- from the landing of the Pilgrims on our shores to our present day worship of Jesus Christ, in all its various forms and denominations, that has been the predominant faith of this nation. That does not mean that our Founding Fathers were all dedicated Christians or that their faith resembled modern-day evangelicalism.
I am not a religious or historical scholar, so let me just state my understanding of how the Founding Fathers were influenced. I think one of the most instrumental developments that influenced the American colonies (and eventually our form of government) was the intellectual movement called "The Enlightenment". This movement emphasized reason, individualism, and skepticism. Enlightenment thinkers generally denounced supernatural occurrences as superstition or implausible. That does not mean that they were atheists. Therefore, Founding Fathers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and political activist Thomas Paine were all believers in the principles and morals of Christianity, but considered themselves Deists. Deism is the belief that God exists, but does not involve Himself in our daily lives; preferring to let the universe proceed according to natural law. They insist that God is knowable through reason and nature, not divine revelation. That's why the language of the Declaration of Independence includes phrases like "the Laws of Nature and Nature's God", while referring to God, Himself, as "divine Providence". However, do not interpret this distinction as meaning that our Founding Fathers were not Believers. They all adhered to Christian principles and God as "Judge of the World".
So, how does that understanding have any significance for us today? Anyone who is paying attention should be aware that the Anti-Christ spirit is the same as the Enemy in Matthew 13 who sowed (weeds) among the field of wheat the Lord planted here in America. Throughout our short 244 years as a nation, this wicked spirit has influenced people to change the recording of our history. Psalm 33:12 tells us, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!" I believe we are such a nation!
BUT, from the beginning, the Enemy has tried to destroy this nation and its allegiance to Jehovah God. And if he could not accomplish that, then he would try to distort and corrupt our history so that God would nullify His covenant with us. And he has a perfect instrument in the anti-God philosophical, social, political, and economical ideology called Communism. All you have to do is read come of the Communist goals that I referred to in a previous article, to see what he is executing and accomplishing .... Goal #27: Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch.... Goal #28: Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state".... Goal #30: Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man".... Goal #31: Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture" .... and finally, Goal #42: Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use "united force" to solve economic, political or social problems.
Interestingly enough, the concept of the degeneracy of our youth, both socially and spiritually, was one of the reasons given by William Bradford (signatory to the Mayflower Compact, and Governor of the Plymouth colony) as to why the Puritans left the Netherlands after fleeing religious persecution by the Church of England. Here, in his own words, he writes of this concern: But that which was more lamentable, and of all sorowes most heavie to be
borne, was that many of their children, by these occasions, and ye
great licentiousnes of youth in yt countrie, and ye manifold temptations
of the place, were drawne away by evill examples into extravagante
& dangerous courses, getting ye raines off their neks, &
departing from their parents. Some became souldiers, others tooke upon
them farr viages by sea, and other some worse courses, tending to
dissolutnes & the danger of their soules, to ye great greefe of
their parents and dishonour of God. So that they saw their posteritie
would be in danger to degenerate & be corrupted.
We can certainly sympathize with him, can't we? Just in my lifetime, this nation has suffered the rebellion of its youth in the streets. I remember being in high school and watching the riots in the streets of Chicago during the Viet Nam War, and the violence of groups like the Weather Underground and the Black Panthers. Leaders of those groups infiltrated our universities and changed the way our history was taught and how our youth envision the legacy of this nation. Birth control made licentiousness acceptable, and abortion expunged its consequences. What God thought of this defiance of His moral laws became irrelevant. Respect for law and order, or authority became despised, and one injustice gave permission to commit another. We are seeing that in our streets today. I sympathize with William Bradford's assessment that the souls of our youth are in danger, as well as their posterity.
Our flag is dishonored and disrepected; it burns along with Bibles in the streets of Portland. But why should that surprise us? We have allowed God to be removed from our classrooms, our public square, and our history. He is our Banner (Jehovah Nissi), our flag that goes before us into battle. But some in our culture don't want to go to war alongside Him. Yet, I declare this day that He still wants to be the God of America. As Psalm 33 states, "The Lord looks down from heaven; He sees all the children of man; from where He sits enthroned He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds".
He sees the hearts of millions of Believers who stand on the walls of their communities and cities to pray against the Enemy who comes to burn and destroy. He sees us as we pray, repenting and asking for forgiveness for all the ways this nation has sinned against Him. He sees us joining together, battling in the spirit against the Anti-Christ spirit that has joined forces with agitators and rebellious youth. You see, we know the eye of the Lord is on those of us who truly fear Him; whose hope is in Him; and who trust in Him to deliver us from those in alignment with the Evil One. We will not be moved! We will occupy until He returns! And we will continue to walk in the glorious promise of this nation!
I'd like to leave you with the final words of William Bradford and his hope for this New Land. It is the same as it was when he wrote this in 1620: "Lastly, and which is not least, [we have] a great hope & inward zeall of laying some good foundation, or at least to make some way
therunto, for ye propagating & advancing ye gospell of ye kingdom of
Christ in those remote parts of ye world; yea, though they should be
but even as stepping-stones unto others for ye performing of so great a
work." God, please don't abandon us! Behold Your children who have re-discovered a great hope and zeal for the Gospel of the Kingdom! Use this nation as a stepping stone for the spread of this Gospel around the world! Transform us into a nation You are proud to call Your own! We are willing, Father! We humble ourselves and seek Your face. Heal our land!
Psalm 33:20-22 Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His Holy Name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You.
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