"Break our hearts, O God, break our hearts;
Break our hearts, O God, break our hearts.
For the sin in our lives, break our hearts.
For the sin in our land, break our hearts.
We cry out, need your hand;
Come back to our land.
We confess: we've lived in sin.
Show your power once again.
(-Billy James Foote)
Are you paying attention to the news these days? Do you follow current events at all? Or do you just go on about your life blissfully unaware of what's going on outside your little circle of family and friends? The last scenario is unfortunately true for far too many people, I'm afraid.
I confess that it's more and more difficult for me to watch newscasts and read news reports these days. I am more and more disillusioned and disgusted by what's going on in my country and around the world. But is it not the wise thing to be aware of what's going on around us? Else we might wake up one morning and find ourselves living in quite a different society than we thought.
Much like the frog in the frying pan. Or maybe it's a kettle. In any event, you've probably heard that story. The boiling frog story is a story that describes a frog being boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. I have no idea if that is accurate biologically, but it is perhaps a good metaphor for many in our society who are clueless as to what's going on, and will not realize how much our society has changed until it is too late.
It has never been my intent for this blog to be political. But I think these issues transcend politics. The very fabric of our nation - morally, spiritually, as well as politically - is in jeopardy. And that breaks my heart.
I look around and wonder whatever happened to public service. We no longer have public servants.....statesmen (and women) who seek the public good, whose motive is serving the people of this great nation. Instead we have self-serving politicians who are more interested in being reelected and keeping the perks of their office than they are in doing what is good and right for the country.
We have a President who is more interested in his golf score than in the rising debt and deficit our nation faces. Who proposed the sequester in an attempt to pressure Republicans into doing things his way, and who now refuses to own it as his idea and proceeds to use scare tactics to try to threaten politicians so he gets his own way. Who takes no responsibility for any of his decisions. Who threatens journalists who dare to disagree with him.
We have a media who no longer reports news as it happens, but who force their agendas and ideologies down our throats and call it journalism. A media who, for the most part, is only the mouthpiece of the current administration.
We have Americans dying in an Embassy, and no one seems willing to ask the tough questions. How could this have happened? What did this President know and when did he know it? We've heard those questions asked before. Remember Watergate? A President was impeached over that. And nobody died then. But these days, no one seems to care.
What is going on in this country? How can we be so blissfully ignorant that the very rights we hold dear as Americans are being slowly taken away. Why are we so concerned about being "politically correct"? Why do we care so much what a celebrity wears to an event, and why do we care so little about things that really matter? About babies being murdered by the millions in the name of "choice" and convenience. About being told by some government official what size our soda should be or by another government official how many bullets can be in our gun (while we are still allowed to own guns) or having our free speech defined by yet another government official. That's a lot of government intrustion into our so-called freedom, isn't it?
We're living in very troublesome times indeed. History would be a great teacher for us, if we were willing to pay attention. But alas, "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." (George Santayana).
These days we aren't very interested in history, are we? We're more concerned with celebrity sightings and sports scores. But if we were to look to history, we might learn a thing or two. Certainly those who lived in Germany under Hitler....or in Cuba under Castro......or in the former Soviet Union......might be able to teach us a thing or two. But unfortunately no one seems willing to listen. To learn from the past. "That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." (Aldous Huxley)
Biblical history would teach us even more, if only we as a society were willing to learn.
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." (Proverbs 9:10 ESV)
"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes." (Proverbs 12:15a ESV)
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD." (Psalm 33:12a ESV
We've come a long way from the nation our forefathers founded, a nation built on a foundation of God's word, on religious liberty, with a Constitution and Bill of Rights that protected our individual liberties. Men and women gave their lives to protect these liberties, liberties most Americans seem to assume will be ours forever, but which are little by little being eroded away.
As easy as it might be to place all blame inside the Washington Beltway, with selfish politicians, with a President whose primary agenda seems to be the destruction of this country (watch the movie 2016 if you have any doubts about that), the root of our problem is deeper than that. The root of our problem is that we as a nation have turned our collective backs on God. We are much like the city of Ninevah. Remember the book of Jonah? God sent Jonah to prophesy against Ninevah because "their sin was very great." Could not the same be said of the United States of America? Oh that we would do as the people of Ninevah did and "call out mightily to God....turn from (his) evil way.....God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger." (Jonah 3:8-9 ESV).
My heart breaks for my country. I am saddened and frustrated and angered by the selfishness I see in my government. I am sickened by the greed and dishonesty I see in government and in society. I am heartbroken at what this country might be, if it survives, for my sons and my grandsons.
But as I think about all that is going on in the world around me, I really shouldn't be surprised, should I? After all, Scripture clearly says that "in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV).
Now, as it has always been, the hope for our country.....for our world....is not politicians or governments. The hope of the world is Jesus. So as I pray for our nation, for those in positions of authority, I pray that we might all turn our hearts more fully toward Him. I pray that I might see the world as He sees it. I pray that I might have a heart to love and serve others as He did. I pray that I might love Him more. Trust Him more. Be all that He desires me to be. And that, in being all He desires me to be, I might somehow make a difference.
And even as I pray all that, I pray as Daniel did....."How long?" (Daniel 12:6 ESV).
It has never been my intent for this blog to be political. But I think these issues transcend politics. The very fabric of our nation - morally, spiritually, as well as politically - is in jeopardy. And that breaks my heart.
I look around and wonder whatever happened to public service. We no longer have public servants.....statesmen (and women) who seek the public good, whose motive is serving the people of this great nation. Instead we have self-serving politicians who are more interested in being reelected and keeping the perks of their office than they are in doing what is good and right for the country.
We have a President who is more interested in his golf score than in the rising debt and deficit our nation faces. Who proposed the sequester in an attempt to pressure Republicans into doing things his way, and who now refuses to own it as his idea and proceeds to use scare tactics to try to threaten politicians so he gets his own way. Who takes no responsibility for any of his decisions. Who threatens journalists who dare to disagree with him.
We have a media who no longer reports news as it happens, but who force their agendas and ideologies down our throats and call it journalism. A media who, for the most part, is only the mouthpiece of the current administration.
We have Americans dying in an Embassy, and no one seems willing to ask the tough questions. How could this have happened? What did this President know and when did he know it? We've heard those questions asked before. Remember Watergate? A President was impeached over that. And nobody died then. But these days, no one seems to care.
What is going on in this country? How can we be so blissfully ignorant that the very rights we hold dear as Americans are being slowly taken away. Why are we so concerned about being "politically correct"? Why do we care so much what a celebrity wears to an event, and why do we care so little about things that really matter? About babies being murdered by the millions in the name of "choice" and convenience. About being told by some government official what size our soda should be or by another government official how many bullets can be in our gun (while we are still allowed to own guns) or having our free speech defined by yet another government official. That's a lot of government intrustion into our so-called freedom, isn't it?
We're living in very troublesome times indeed. History would be a great teacher for us, if we were willing to pay attention. But alas, "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." (George Santayana).
These days we aren't very interested in history, are we? We're more concerned with celebrity sightings and sports scores. But if we were to look to history, we might learn a thing or two. Certainly those who lived in Germany under Hitler....or in Cuba under Castro......or in the former Soviet Union......might be able to teach us a thing or two. But unfortunately no one seems willing to listen. To learn from the past. "That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." (Aldous Huxley)
Biblical history would teach us even more, if only we as a society were willing to learn.
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." (Proverbs 9:10 ESV)
"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes." (Proverbs 12:15a ESV)
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD." (Psalm 33:12a ESV
We've come a long way from the nation our forefathers founded, a nation built on a foundation of God's word, on religious liberty, with a Constitution and Bill of Rights that protected our individual liberties. Men and women gave their lives to protect these liberties, liberties most Americans seem to assume will be ours forever, but which are little by little being eroded away.
As easy as it might be to place all blame inside the Washington Beltway, with selfish politicians, with a President whose primary agenda seems to be the destruction of this country (watch the movie 2016 if you have any doubts about that), the root of our problem is deeper than that. The root of our problem is that we as a nation have turned our collective backs on God. We are much like the city of Ninevah. Remember the book of Jonah? God sent Jonah to prophesy against Ninevah because "their sin was very great." Could not the same be said of the United States of America? Oh that we would do as the people of Ninevah did and "call out mightily to God....turn from (his) evil way.....God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger." (Jonah 3:8-9 ESV).
My heart breaks for my country. I am saddened and frustrated and angered by the selfishness I see in my government. I am sickened by the greed and dishonesty I see in government and in society. I am heartbroken at what this country might be, if it survives, for my sons and my grandsons.
But as I think about all that is going on in the world around me, I really shouldn't be surprised, should I? After all, Scripture clearly says that "in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV).
Now, as it has always been, the hope for our country.....for our world....is not politicians or governments. The hope of the world is Jesus. So as I pray for our nation, for those in positions of authority, I pray that we might all turn our hearts more fully toward Him. I pray that I might see the world as He sees it. I pray that I might have a heart to love and serve others as He did. I pray that I might love Him more. Trust Him more. Be all that He desires me to be. And that, in being all He desires me to be, I might somehow make a difference.
And even as I pray all that, I pray as Daniel did....."How long?" (Daniel 12:6 ESV).
O Lord Jesus, how long, how long
Ere we shout the glad song,
Christ returneth! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! Amen.
Ere we shout the glad song,
Christ returneth! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! Amen.
(- H. L. Turner)
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