September 2021
Message from Pastor Tom:
I was sitting out back looking into our forest to see if the leaves were starting to lose their brilliant green color, as it is getting close to the time when they start turning their brilliant colors. But even though I began thinking I then also will have the chore of raking them, I started praising God for the beautiful view, and loving Grace He has bestowed upon my wife and I. In doing so, I started to pray for our country, our leaders, my prayers turned to Afghanistan and the problems there, then to all who have suffered the wrath of hurricane Ida, and the damage continuing as it travels north. I asked God how we could change the tide on all this destruction going on in the world. Then it became clear to me when I remembered watching an interview with a police officer the day after the hurricane hit Louisiana.
When asked by a man who had ignored the evacuation orders why no one responded to his numerous calls for help at the storms worst, the officer replied he had to save himself before he could save anyone else. This holds true for each of us. We need to save ourselves before we can help others. We must start here at home by healing our own country before we can go anywhere else, for it is God who will heal the land. We as children of God need to put God first as 2 Chronicles 7:14 explains, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
I was pondering on ways to expound on this passage when I read this from Greg Laurie. I could not have explained any clearer, so I have included his vision in its entirety.
On the wall of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, are these words from President Thomas Jefferson: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”
Someone conducted a study of the world’s great civilizations and noted that every nation has an average cycle of 200 years. They looked at various nations that came into prominence and then disappeared into obscurity. Interestingly, each one of these nations went through the same sequence. They went from spiritual faith to great courage, from great courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, and from dependency into bondage again.
Where do you think America is today? I think the problem is that many Americans don’t know, and many don’t care. Any civilization that ultimately collapsed, or was overcome by a foreign power, first fell apart on the inside. For example, as the Roman Empire rose to greatness, they no doubt assumed they would be around for centuries to come, but they were crumbling on the inside.
I believe the same is happening in America today. There is moral decay on the inside. We need to get back to the true God, not just spirituality. We need to get back to the God that our founding fathers believed in when they established this nation: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Yes, we need to get back to the God who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sin. We need to get back to the true and living God who can save America.
To this, I simply say Amen!
Heidi and I ask you to join us in praying for peace for our country, our leaders and those racially and spiritually persecuted worldwide. Until next month, may God richly bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you.
Blessings from a pastor and his wife.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. Psalm 27:8
