You see, up to and including World deemed to be right in God’s sight. Since then we have allowed politics to so completely dominate our na- tional decisions that many have lost sight of what is right or wrong and are living from day to day trying to - ent – and, of course, when that is the determining factor in our national decisions, it is only natural that such individual decisions. Well, that’s a convincing argument and sounds like a good excuse for the behavior of so many Americans. But the problem with such reason- America we boast of the fact that ours is a government “of the people, by the people and for the people” – and if that is still the case, then shouldn’t our analysis of today’s national situ- ation begin with a hard look, not so much at where our government stands as where our people stand and how we got to where we are?
Families
It has long been an established fact that the foundation of every suc- cessful society is its families; so let’s look at the American family structure. For centuries the standard American family structure has been the Biblical pattern – one husband, one wife, and children born to that union. Through the centuries other nations have ex- perimented with other patterns, and all have failed; but not so, America until about 65 years ago. We were founded on Biblical, Christian prin- ciples and for hundreds of years there was never any doubt about what a typical family is supposed to consist of. But following World War II, during that period of prosperity, despite laws to the contrary, every state began to look the other way where fornication and adultery were concerned.
The
frequency of “single mom” families began to increase; the stigma of ille- gitimate childbirth began to diminish;
26
been drifting away from what we have been taught; however the point is that we have been drifting, and continue to drift.
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
unmarried couples openly living together began to be more readily tolerated; and you can correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t know of a single case in which the laws on the books against adultery and fornication have been enforced dur- ing the last 40 or 50 years. Such behavior is sinful and illegal, but if society as a whole looks the other way, such behavior soon becomes the norm. Of course, the question is not whether such deterioration of the family struc-
ture has taken place; the question is “why?” Let me give you a list of some of the “Why’s”: • Daily Bible reading is no longer a priority among our people. • Scripture memorization used to be a common practice, but today is rare indeed.
• Daily devotions is almost unheard of in the schedules of our “busy” families. • Both parents working in order to afford the nice home and two new cars like “everybody else” has – in most cases leaves the children to be raised by others.
• Church attendance for many families and individuals has become a matter of choice and convenience – not spiritual obligation. As I have been told numerous times, “When I have nothing better to do, I always go to church.”
• Christian morals and ethics used to be the foundational teachings in most American homes – and that included obeying God’s commandments, obeying parents, and obeying the laws of the land. Today, for many, obeying the laws of the land is no longer a matter of right or wrong – it’s a matter of whether you get caught or get away with disobeying.
individual rights are more important than basic principles for healthy societal living; and history has proven over and over again that there must be certain rules that everyone must follow if there is to be any semblance of order in any society – and unfortunately this principle is neither taught nor practiced in many American homes today.
And let’s look at the Christian churches in America: • Many mainline Protestant churches no longer lay stress on the Bible or on obedience to God’s commandments; rather, the stress is on social programs, tolerance, being careful not to offend anyone even with the truth, and other rather mundane matters.
• It is not unusual for church members to realize that certain laws that have been passed are contrary to Biblical teachings, but rather than take a stand against such, in many – in fact, most – of America’s churches an attitude of complacency prevails and soon the non-Biblical law becomes the norm even for professing Christians who are church members. An example is the legal decision in Roe vs. Wade which has resulted in the “legal” murder of millions of unborn children – and so many churches have adopted the position that there is nothing that can be done about it, for it is the law of the land.
• Quite a few of our own ARP churches are providing a maintenance ministry to those who are already members, but have little or no outreach to those who are not Christians or not active members of any church. And unfortunately, there are similar local churches in just about every Chris- tian denomination in America.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
