Sunday, November 29, 2009

America the Beautiful

I love Brad Stine. If you have never listened to him, I encourage you to check him out. He depicts himself as a comedian for the other half of America. He prides himself on several things. One is that he does not use swear words during his act. Another is that he is a conservative Christian. Thirdly, and most importantly for this post, is that he is as about as patriotic as they come. He loves America. He believes in its foundation, given that it was formed on Christian morals and values by our Founding Fathers who were Christians and who used the Bible as their instruction manual. He is not afraid to get on his soap box and tell it like it is. He is also not willing to let our great country go to 'hell in a handbasket', if you will.

I admire Brad as much as I enjoy his comedy. First off, my kids love him too. He is funny! Second, he shares my values. And third, he inspires me to become a better person. I have lots of Christan friends and we often talk about how bad things are getting. We empathize and dream of a day when a conservative will once again lead this country and then we move on. But there are a few people who, like Brad, are not afraid to stand up and fight. Their soapboxes may not be as prominent or big as Brad's but nevertheless they do what they can with whatever position God has given them in the world. And I admire them!

Many years ago I heard a song with these words; "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything". That has been my mantra for a long time. I even use it on my kids and the get it! There are a lot of Christians in America. Over 90% of the population at least believes in God. And if that many people believe in God, it would stand to reason that they would want to see our country find her roots again. God is an absolute God and morals and values should come from Him. The devil has done his best over time to gray the absolutes. Today you will hear more about tolerance than you will about absolute right and wrong. Before long even Christians are telling others to do whatever floats their boats rather than try to lovingly encourage them to do the right thing. And worse than that, we feel like we have no recourse. How can we fight a government that demands tolerance? How can we fight an administration that has no absolute morals and values?

Here is how; we need to unite! We need to stand together for the same thing. We need to become informed. I admit that I do not know nearly enough about what is going on in this great country. I tend to shut out the bad news; your know, ignorance is bliss!

God placed us here in this time and place for such a time as this. We are blessed to be living in what I (and many others) truly believe are the last days. It's easy to give up trying to make a difference because Christians know that things must continue to get worse before the great and awesome day in which the Lord Jesus returns, but we need to take our stance from Jesus Himself. He knows who will come to Him and be saved because He is omniscient. But He never gives up. He continues to give people time and opportunity to change their minds. Even now, we are waiting on a great and merciful God because He desires that NONE should perish. He is staying His hand for the sake of those who are yet lost. So who am I to give up on America? I am a voice and I can make a difference in the sphere of influence the God has given me. It may be my neighborhood. It may be amongst my Facebook friends. It may only be within my own home. But whoever will listen, I need to spread the word. America is GREAT! She deserves to have us fighting for her. God blessed us to live her in this time for a purpose. By His grace I can do all things. As long as I have a voice, I will share His great love and faithfulness with all who will listen. It is because of His great love that America exists and is prosperous. How long she is prosperous is completely up to us. We can stand together and fight. Are you up to the challenge?