A Book and a Psalm

This past weekend I completed reading the newest book by Todd Starnes titled, "God Less America."  Todd is the host of "Fox News & Commentary" heard daily on the Fox News Radio network.  He writes for FoxNews.com and TownHall.com.  His passion is helping Christians in the United States understand how their freedoms are being eroded. 

The book, "God Less America," is a collection of some of the columns Todd has written the past six years or so.  If you have read this blog over the years you know that I have often made reference to the writings of Todd Starnes and have come to rely upon him to help me to understand exactly what is happening in our country - events that the mainstream media will never report and often Christian media is afraid to report.  As I read the book, even though I knew many of the stories being reported therein, I became very angry in my spirit and heart.  Friends, America today is certainly not the America that I remember as a child growing up in Iowa - America's Heartland.  I remember beginning every school day with the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and our teacher leading us either in a moment of silent prayer or, even at times, audible prayer.  Every month the entire elementary school met in the gym for a time known as "Character Education" when one of the pastors of the community came and shared with us principles for life.  It seemed the goal of education then was to create within students an awareness of life and how it should be lived based upon values communicated through the Bible.  We could truly say, "God Bless America!" 

And, in those days, when a person turned on television, there were programs that strengthened the foundation of family, of right versus wrong, of consequences for wrong choices but of the freedom that came from confession of wrong.  Fathers were respected.  Mothers were honored.  Children were valued.  Right was right, wrong was wrong; there was no gray area.  We laughed at ourselves through the eyes of a Barney Fife.  We cried with the Waltons.  We were amazed at the creations of Walt Disney.  There were those foundational moral underpinnings that kept our nation together through difficult times.

But, then something happened.  Along the way the Supreme Court decided that prayer and the Bible no longer had a place within the public schools.  No longer would those foundational moral values be taught to our boys and girls.  Instead, they would have to discover truth for themselves and the relativists soon championed that all truth was relative; there was no such thing as absolute foundational truth.  So now American society became driven by personal opinions.  Soon those who were once considered as being a minority began to assert their call - at first for an equal status, then, not being satisfied with equality, demanding that their rights superseded those of the majority.  Along the way, Todd Starnes has clearly described those scenes that have resulted:  schools without even the mention of God - winter, yes; Christmas, no.  We have a military that is becoming godless - chaplains being told what they can say and how they can pray.  We have businesses that are told how and with whom they need to conduct business.  "God Less America" is not an easy book to read, but it is one that I believe every believer needs to read.  How we need to have our eyes opened to what is really happening around us.  For every story of Chick-fil-A, or of the Robertsons and Duck Dynasty, or of a Hobby Lobby, there are hundreds of others that are just as poignant but never reported. 

I was reading recently from the Psalms.  David writes these words in Psalm 11: "In the LORD I take refuge.  How then can you say to me: 'Flee like a bird to your mountain.  For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.  When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:1-3).  What can we do when the moral and biblical foundations of America are being destroyed?  What can we do when godlessness and amorality are being flaunted in the public arena seemingly without much outcry?  What can we do when we are told to stop making others feel offended instead of being accepted?  I believe David gives us the answer in the following verses: "The LORD is in his holy temple: the LORD is on his heavenly throne.  He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them.  The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.  On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur: a scorching wind will be their lot.  For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice: upright men will see his face." (Psalm 11:4-7).  The answer is found in taking refuge in the Lord; in acknowledging that He is still on the throne controlling the affairs of His world; and in recognizing that there is coming a day when true justice was be meted out and that we will see His face, as David proclaims. And what a day that will be!