IS GOD ON AMERICA'S SIDE?

This photo of Trinidad is courtesy of TripAdvisor

PART 1: 


NO!


God is on God's Side!

Because of the blessed nature of this country - our freedoms, mobility, generosity and prosperity, everyone of us think God is always on our side! 


When you look at the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. 
When you look at the plains shimmering with golden wheat.
When you look at the blue oceans teaming with fish for the table.
When you look at the little league baseball games with minivans parked around the small ballfields.
When you look at the tall white steeples over historic country churches or aging greystone cathedrals in the cities.
When you look at the rows of fancy hotels and homes on the southern coasts and inlets with million dollar yachts......when....when....when...and more.....one cannot help but sit back in wonder and then thank God  for all of this, when all is said and done and you are done look at it!


There is no doubt that this is the most generous country in the world. When there is a natural or man-made disaster ANYWHERE in the world, including enemies, we give until it hurts. America has the most missionaries digging wells for poverty- and thirst-stricken peoples in the Third World. We have the most preachers going on missions trips spreading the gospel and planting churches, and I know of several doctors, right here in our own small area, who donate their two week vacations to go to places like Mexico City to donate their time and service to the poor.


So why is there a feeling of despair, hopelessness and no true joy in our lives?
The reason - we have lost our first love!


We can debate when the slide into Sodom and Gomorrah began - whether it began when Hollywood became the center of the universe 100 years ago or when the so-called "Greatest Generation" got fat and lazy after World War II brought the most wealth and arrogance to our people. Whenever it began, it began. Some will argue it began when former Ku Klux Klan turned liberal supreme court justice Hugo Black began his assault on Christianity or the liberal Warren Court. Whenever it began, it began.


Where it actually started was in the hearts of a people who did not guard their hearts.
Proverbs 14:34 says "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people". 

We let the culture define who are are. Then we let the culture, increasingly perverse, sexual and amoral...we let it creep into the church. We let that evil mission-creep happen gradually so it was not noticeable, except to the god of this world who rubbed his hands in glee.

As the evil one rejoiced that his kingdom of darkness gained more converts, the King of Kings shed a tear at all of this as He listened on Sunday mornings and on high patriotic days to a people singing "God shed His Grace on thee....and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea"!

Listen to the charge which the Lord Jesus had, right off the bat, against the Ephesian church “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 

To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ (Revelation 2:2-7 ESV)

Now think about this charge, in light of the Christian church in America. Why is this important? Because, unlike any other country in the world, where the American church goes, thus goeth the nation. This is not a christian nation, but one which was founded by Christians and based 100% on Christian principles and Biblical Truth. 

Tomorrow, we will examine this indictment by Jesus against us, because we have fallen more than this church at Ephesus and cause some real damage to His Name!