by Steve Hale
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" ( Proverbs 14:34, NKJV) .
America's leadership must exalt God, and be. submissive to His leadership. We .will give an account for godless, immoral leaders just as Israel was called into account for David's folly!
We need an American revival! Liberal educationalists, now for nearly 30 years, have omitted George Washington's farewell address from our history texts in our schools. Why? Because the last half of this address stressed our nation's need for God and his guidance in order to survive.
This fabulous speech ought to be required reading in all our schools. Washington was a valiant man, the dashing young officer in the French and Indian War, the commanding general during the revolutionary war, the president of the constitutional convention, overseer of the bill of rights, and our nation's first president. He refused to be appointed king, and held the republic together through two terms until succeeded by the very able John Adams. Among other things, Washington said:
"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle" (George Washington in his Farewell Address, Sept. 17, 1796).
Washington's statement could not have been truer. His insights could not have been keener. For over 30 years, our nation has tried to levy moral values without biblical basis, and the result have. been a disaster, Up untIl 1962, our nation upheld Christiamty and the Bible as essential to its welfare, morality, and governance.
In 1892, the government was sued to divorce biblical principles from it. In a short sixteen page decision, the U.S. Supreme court sighted 87 historical and legal precedents for maintaining biblical principles in government. They quoted the founding fathers, constitutional conventions, etc. A similar lawsuit in 1844 called Vidal vs. Girard, the court said: "Why may not the Bible and, especially the New Testament, be read and taught as a divine revelation in the schools? Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?"
In the People vs. Ruggles in 1811, a man was taken to court for a profanity fit. He took the Lord and the Scriptures, and derided them in the midst of the profanity fit, published his statements, and even spread them through the town.
The court said that this was tantamount to blasphemy. The attack on Jesus Christ was an attack on Christianity. An attack on Christianity was an attack on the Christian values upon which the nation was founded. Therefore, the court surmised, this attack on Jesus Christ was then an attack on the nation. The man was sentenced to three months in jail and a $500 fine! How things have changed! More next week...
The above article appeared in the Mt. Juliet Messenger on October 6, 1996.
by Steve Hale
"I have overthrown cities among you; as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet have ye not returned to me, saith Jehovah. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel" ( Amos 4:11-12, ASV).
In addition to the court cases noted in last week's article, yet another one emphasized Christian values in government. In Reynolds vs. the U.S., 1878, the court was asked to remove Christian principles from government. The court gave legal and historical precedents and said that the church must be protected from government interference, but Christian principles must remain in the government!
But, all of this changed on June 25, 1962 in Engel vs. Vitale. This was the first separation of religious principles from public education as school prayer was banned. This was a brand new doctrine and the court sighted no precedents, no legal cases, and no previous incidents. A year later, June 17, 1963, in Abington vs. Schempf, the court. banned the reading from the public schools. Again, no legal or historical precedents were given.
The court, in trying to explain this decision, said that the reading and study of the Bible could give psychological damage to the child. At the time of these decisions, the court admitted that 97% of the population believed in God and the Bible, and only 3% did not. That too, was unique, as the 97(% had to conduct their business as the 3%, wished.
Remember Washington's statement, that we cannot expect t at natlonat mora ny can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." He was right! Since
1962:
1. Divorce had been on a fifteen year decline in the years prior to 1962. After this time, it has been tripling yearly, and is now over 50%.
2. Unwed birth rates climbed 553%.
3. V.D. went up 225%.
4. 46,000,000 American have an incurable, sexually transmitted disease.
5. Unmarried couples, up 353%.
6. S.A T. scores, since 1963, declined for eighteen consecutive years! This same test has been used since 1941.
7. Three years ago, an estimated 700,000 H.S. students graduated who could not even read their own diploma.
8. Violent crime climbed 544%.
More than tax policies, educational policies, or anything else, America needs to return to God!
The above article appeared in the Mt. Juliet Messenger on October 13, 1996.
by Steve Hale
"if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray,! and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" ( 2 Chronicles 7:14, ASV).
America must exalt God, and be submissive to His leadership. America currently leads the world in:
1. Teenage Pregnancy
2. Voluntary Abortions
3. Illegal Drugs
4. Violent Crime
5. Divorce
6. Illiteracy (among the industrialized world)
We need an American Revival! We need to have elected officials who are moral and biblical in outlook!
Thomas Jefferson said that our nation needs Christianity because it is the only religion that deals with the heart. John Adams said: "We have no government
armed power capable of contenaing with human passions bridled by morality and religion--Our government is made for a moral and religious people."
We need our country to repent! We need leaders who have a strong sense of Providence and faith! Far from this, the court heard a Kentucky case, Stone vs. Graham in 1980. The case had to do with passive displays of the Ten Commandments in Kentucky schools. In demanding their removal, the court said:
"If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments have any effect at all, ...it will, induce the school children to read, meditate upon, perhaps...to venerate and obey the commandments; this is not a permissible objective."
How can "thou shalt not steal," or "thou shalt not covet" not be permissible? Incredible! We have to get involved! We have to begin running people of high quality for elective office Solomon said: "A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment" ( Proverbs 18:1),
As God held Israel accountable for the sins of David, Ahab and Jezebel, so will He for our leaders!
The Declaration of Independence ends with the signers saying: "And for the support of this Declaration with a finn reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."
This Declaration would have been nonsensical without God. Among other things, the signers said: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." To this end, let us: 1. Pray n Pray for our country's leadership and its! selection process ( 1 Peter 2:17).
2. Be Informed - Examine policy and issues, Make decisions based on the Bible's high moral and ethical values ( Hebrews 5:1-4).
3. Actions - "What you are speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying" (Thomas Paine). Jesus said we were known by the fruit bring forth ( Matthew 7:15). Politicians should judged more by their actions than by their words,