“Our only hope is to return to the God of the Scriptures and the truth that the center of all meaning in life is not ourselves but God. God is the center of the universe and the essence of all wisdom and all truth. The purpose of life derives from God’s desire to see His own glory and behold His own beauty. Thus it is time for Christians to be called back to the truth that the meaning of life is to be found in ‘the glory of God alone.’”

John Hannah

Wishing you a blessed Independence Day!

America the Beautiful is a hymn that we all enjoy hearing. It expresses our love and appreciation for America. When I have heard this song being sung it has caused bumps of gratitude down my spine. It was written by Katherine Bates and the music was composed by an organist, Samuel Ward. It was first published on the 4^th of July in 1895. The lyrics of the song, “O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee” are rich and testify to the realized presence and blessing of the Lord. Later in the second stanza it reads, “May God thy gold refine, till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine.” This speaks of the heart of America being centered on God’s purposes. And the third stanza is, “And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.” This addresses the pursuit of good as that which fosters God’s providential care. These are noble words displaying an attitude of relationship with and dependence on God. Just as our money reads, “In God we trust.” No nation on earth in the history of mankind has been so blessed of God to become great in so many different ways. The blessing of God on America has also served to bless many of the people of the world. I am not speaking naively. I am speaking in a general sense. No other nation has been the catalyst of so many benevolent endeavors and benefits to others. It could be argued that Israel has given us the most because of the Bible and our Savior, but it has been the United States that in the most recent past that has been the chief source of the Gospel to world, and a reflection of what it means to embrace a Christian culture. This is because the country was largely founded under great hardship by Christians who desired foremost to worship the Lord in freedom. Our heritage made us the blessing described in the song not only to those blessed to live in America, but also indirectly for many other countries and peoples of the world.

We have been in the past the envy of the nations. Our country has stood out as a beacon of integrity. The United States did not seek to conquer other nations, but instead has served as a source of intervening to keep tyrant’s from taking others by violence. In saying this, I want to again reiterate that America has historically not performed in perfect righteousness, but it has characteristically held noble intentions. We, as a people, have had our internal issues and battles. We have suffered together through wars. These challenges have filled churches with those who were praying, and by the grace of God we continue to exist. However, you will notice I have written what I have said from the standpoint of looking back at past history. Our national history is a picture of God’s grace to us. We continue to exist today in the wave of physical blessings that have come through many sacrifices and hardships by a significant number of faithful forefathers.

But, what about America the beautiful today? Sadly, our country today is far different at its core. It is now hard to link the song, America the beautiful, with the reality of what we have become. This change has been radical in my lifetime. Things which my parents and their parents before them would consider incomprehensibly evil are now our common way of life. The Bible has not changed, we have! Isaiah 5:20 states the judgment of God, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness.” This describes our condition today. How did we get here? There are many components to the change, but the bottom-line explanation is found in Scripture. Romans 1:18-to-32 is the perfect description and warning given by God. When a people turn their back on God by suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, God who holds all the well-being of any nation in His sovereign hand, gives that nation over. This has been true throughout history and continues true today. The idea of giving over is withdrawing His common grace so that the people plummet deeper and deeper into evil. The wages of sin continue to be death. God as the righteous judge is enduring but will not allow wickedness indefinitely. In Genesis 15:16 God explained to Abraham why certain of His actions were delayed. The movement of Abraham’s offspring into the promise land would be delayed because, “The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” God has a long-suffering gauge, but when the gauge reaches its end, His wrath will be poured out on that nation that continues in sin. The nation who mocks God and makes laws to protect wickedness is under His judgment. We, America the beautiful, are under His judgment.

As a senior citizen this particularly stresses me in relation to our grandchildren. In writing this I was reminded of how Abraham went before the Lord on behalf of Sodom. God told Abraham (Gen. 18) He would destroy Sodom because of their sin. God has told us in His Word that America cannot continue as it is steeped in its sin. On this 4^th of July, please remember to seriously pray for our nation. We are commanded to do so in 1 Timothy 2:1-4. The wicked city of Ninevah was spared by God because the people repented (Jonah 3). Our God is a gracious God. The only remedy for sparing America the beautiful is to turn to God in true repentance. I continue to be thankful for so many blessings growing up and living in this land, but also recognize its current sad condition. As we thank God for His blessings, also pray fervently that God may yet cause a repentance to take place and have mercy on America.