We no longer have the option to sit on the sidelines as spectators. There’s a storm bearing down upon us that we’d best not ignore. The continual waves of ungodliness washing across this land are destroying everything sacred, holy and good. For those who cringe when politics and the church are mentioned in the same sentence, just let me say this...if you care about your family, your children, grandchildren, and the kind of country they’ll inherit after your gone, (if God forbid there’s still a country left) then you’d better get over the “separation of church and state”. You have a mandate from God to be a “salt & light company”. You have a responsibility to keep the United States of America “one nation under God”! Lose this battle and we lose our heritage, our birthright and all things holy. There is no other choice except captivity and/or death. Goliath has marched onto the battlefield. We must respond!

This is our country. It was built on a Godly foundation .The freedoms we’ve enjoyed have come at a tremendous price. From our founding fathers who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor, to our sons and daughters in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world. Blood has been the currency that has bought our liberty. It would be criminal, for those of us who still believe in the foundational principals of this great nation not to stand against those who would destroy our morality, our laws and our sacred heritage. Especially so, since so many have sacrificed so much for our political, social, and religious freedoms. I can think of nothing more gutless, disgusting and sinful than for the church to opt out of this battle. Our homes, our families, our churches, our religion, our future and our country is at stake. If those stakes aren’t high enough to motivate you, go on back to sleep. To the rest of you, I hope you’ll read on.

The Bible tells us to “work while it is yet day for the night cometh when no man can work”. (John 9:4) That‘s a fearful statement. It maintains that the opportunity to labor for our faith can, and will at some point come to an end. Throughout the centuries governments have prohibited public Christian witness and worship. There are countries at this moment, where if you would worship Jesus Christ, it must be done “underground” and at great risk. For example, try telling someone about Jesus in any Islamic country. You may say, what does that have to do with the United States of America…we’re a Christian nation. Are we? Most certainly we were. Bible morality and Judeo-Christian ethics were the bedrock of our constitution. Our founding fathers realized the necessity of Christian morality and character and so forged a constitution to govern a citizenry with those values.

Unfortunately, from elementary school to our colleges and universities, the courts, the congress, the media and entertainment industry, and basically every entity of our society, we are watching that attitude fade into oblivion before our very eyes. Political correctness is ripping away the spiritual fabric that has made the United States of America the greatest nation to ever grace the pages of history. We are watching freedom of religion (make that the Christian religion) erode every day. The trend is blatantly evident to any who will even casually look or listen. The “night” when we will be unable to work may be much closer than we realize. Can we push back the darkness? Yes! Will we do it? If our past performance is any indicator, probably not! However, it is my hope and my prayer that we will regain a semblance of Godly sanity and a passion for what is right and stand against those who are stealing the soul of this country right under our very noses.

I just turned seventy years-old so my perspective is neither shallow nor shortsighted. I’ve watched a lot of life go by. I’ve watched with dismay as the country I grew up in has not only changed, but disappeared. I’ve watched the character of this nation go from good to bad, from Godliness to utter Godlessness. I remember World War II. I remember when this nation, border to border, coast to coast, embraced the same moral values and language. I remember unashamed patriotism. I remember when the greatest blessing afforded to any human being was just to be an “American”! (Not an African-American, Asian-American, or some other such idiocy.) I remember when the “media” was on our side in international conflicts. I remember when Hollywood turned out patriotic films instead of immoral, left-wing, anti-God, anti-country junk. I remember when Christians were looked up to and respected even by the un-churched. I remember when God was not a “problem” for society, but was the bedrock of society. I remember scripture reading and saying the Lord’s Prayer in public school before beginning classes. That was then…this is now. A lot has changed in my lifetime. We’ve put men on the moon, built every conceivable entertainment and convenience gadget you can imagine, made medical advances that stagger the imagination…but we’ve lost our soul. And like many nations before us, if we continue on this course charted by the pleasure lovers and God haters, we will surely sink into oblivion just as many great civilizations have before us.

As this nation has prospered, God has been pushed farther and farther out of the picture. Now it is evident that not only is He not wanted, He is an affront to the politicians, educational institutions and entertainment gurus who make our laws, teach our kids and feed their filthy entertainment into our living rooms. If that were not bad enough, then along comes the computer which takes immorality to a whole new level. Before you call me a fanatic or some crazy old right-wing zealot, please hear me out. Then if you think the title still fits, I’ll wear it as a badge of honor.

From my seventy year perspective, it is my personal opinion that the Christian Church is currently living in the Twilight Zone. It’s already sundown, the night is upon us and many card-carrying Christians continue to live as though it’s a beautiful warm spring morning and all is well.

Since those good-old days of my youth, the government has passed a passel of laws aimed at revoking the right to exercise our freedom of religion. One of the most notable was the law taking prayer out of public schools back in 1963. One atheistic woman, Madelaine Murray O’Haire got the job done while thousands of churches across this nation did nothing. In the late 60’s President Lyndon Johnson got a law passed denying a pastor’s freedom of speech. Under that law, since the church was granted tax-exempt status, pastors could not stand up for or against anything political or even offer his opinions on candidates running for public office or proposed legislation. Because of taking advantage of the tax exempt status, the voice of the church was muzzled when it came to public policy. The big lie of separation between church and state made its grand entrance and look what one generation has bought us. Rather than challenge the freedom of speech issue, the church hushed their mouth. Then the Supreme Court okayed abortion, and the Church did nothing. The slide into apostasy continued through the last half of the 20^th century. Fast forward to today. They’ve taken Christ out of Christmas, Nativity scenes off the city square and Christmas songs out of our public school’s Christmas programs. Even Christmas trees are now “Holiday trees” and Christmas itself is under fire. Still, the church does nothing. Some national retail stores demand that their employees say “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas” for fear of offending someone. Well, just for the record, they have offend someone…me! And I hope you!

The religion of Islam (that “peaceful” religion that believes in exterminating infidels), is now being afforded more rights than Christianity, and the meek and lowly church is silent. Homosexuality runs rampant in the land, even demanding the right to be joined in “holy matrimony“. Some states and judges have agreed and bowed to their lewd ungodly demands. A few may gripe and complain, but the church does nothing. There will come a time when it will be illegal to preach against gays, adultery or any other moral sin. Political correctness demands that no one be offended…unless of course it’s a Christian! Some of our politicians just recently attempted to pass “hate speech” legislation making it illegal to address these subjects from the pulpit. They failed…but don’t think for one minute the bill will not resurface. The die is cast. The trend toward ungodliness continues at warp-speed. And what is the church doing to counter this godless revolution? You guessed it…nothing. Don’t think for a moment these trends will reverse. Sin is progressive. It’s never content with territory conquered. It is always on the offence. The enemy (sin) cometh to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) The most predominate “gift” that operates in the 21^st century church is the gift of “ignoring”. Sitcoms on our TV spew filth and immorality, but we just watch the show and ignore it. (I wonder if our kids are ignoring it…?)

Our industry and businesses are being purchased at an alarming rate by foreigners. As you travel, I’m sure you’ve noticed that practically every motel is owned and/or operated by people of middle-eastern descent. You’ve probably also notice that Gideon Bibles which used to be in every motel room are getting scarce. While I’m on that subject, the Gideons are also prohibited from passing out their New Testaments to students at our public schools.

On another sickening note, while our service men are fighting the radical Islamic terrorist in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the city fathers of San Francisco, who’ve never met a pervert they didn’t love and who despise all things noble and holy, recently passed a city ordinance expelling all United States Armed Forces Recruiting Stations from their fair city. The weather usually moves across the nation from west to east. Unfortunately, so does the screwed-up, demented, left-wing liberal crap espoused by air-headed idiots who have not one clue what this country is about.

Unless I miss my guess, everyone reading this has heard the story about the boiling frog. He was thrown into a pot of cold water and the heat was turned up little by little until, before he realized what was going on, he was cooked. Another similar story has this little honey bee sitting on a clover out in the pasture. He noticed a big horse grazing toward him. But the sun was warm, the clover smelled so good, so he just relaxed and dozed off for a moment. He awoke to see the horse grazing ever closer. The little bee realized that unless he moved, there was a very real possibility that he would become part of the horses’ meal. But thinking he still had a little more time to relax, he dozed off again. While he was asleep, the horse gobbled him down. He awoke in the horse’s stomach and thought, “I could probably sting my way out of here, but what’s the rush…think I’ll catch me another nap.” When he woke up again the horse was gone….and he was in a mess. To be honest, I don’t know if we’re still on the clover or in the horse’s belly. I do know for the most part we are asleep, and unless we wake up and do something quickly, we’re all going to be left in a mess.

A reporter asked a man on the street…”Do you know what the two greatest problems in America are?” The man responded, “I don’t know and I don’t care”. “Congratulations”, the reporter said, “you got both answers correct.” Apathy will kill a nation just as sure as the terrorists took down the World Trade Centers. Apathy and complicity in the church will hasten that demise.

You see, The church is the moral compass of our culture. Bible truths are not the problem, as the politically correct crowd would have you believe, they are the solution. Our founding fathers knew this. In fact Herbert Hoover said, “Our constitution was designed to govern a Christian nation. It will not work otherwise”.

Paul’s comment in 1 Tim. 3:14 & 15 is both powerful and revealing. He said that the church is the pillar and ground of the TRUTH. (KJV). Other translations help to bring this statement into sharper focus. The Church is the pillar and foundation of the TRUTH. (NIV) and in the (NLT) the Church is the pillar and support of the TRUTH. Jesus said, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life”. It drives me crazy that we, the church, Almighty God’s representative institution here on earth, have the truth, yet we cower around scared to say or do anything for fear of being embarrassed in the courts of public opinion. Well I have an opinion and here it is! The CHURCH’S proclamation of the holy scriptures is the entity God has chosen to proclaim what is right and what is wrong. Not Hollywood, not the entertainment industry, not politicians and the politically-correct crowd, not liberal judges, not the institutions of higher learning, nor the local school system, nor is it the attitudes of the elite. (Oprah Winfrey may be an icon, but she is a Pied Piper leading multiplied tens of thousands to Hell with her New Age message that “the individual is God“, the Bible is a farce and Jesus is/was a phony.)

In the beginning our founding fathers used the truths of the Holy Bible to lay the moral foundation of this country. Despite the history revisionists best efforts, they will never change this truth. A healthy church will be the influence that determines right and wrong, good and bad, morality and immorality. Someone has said, “As the church goes, so goes the nation”. A quick glimpse of the society we live in shows us what happens when the message of the church is perverted, watered down, or worse yet, non-existent outside the walls of our houses of worship. Someone also said, “America is great because America is good. When she ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” That cessation process is well underway.

Where is our Christian influence in this new millennium? Even the most casual observer will have to admit it is pretty much null and void. No, it’s not non-existent…yet. But for all the effect it’s having on the political, social, moral, cultural, and educational landscape, it might as well be. We had a great beginning but unless immediate changes are made, we’ll have a chaotic demise. This is not just a goofy opinion from a senile old man, it’s a law etched by the finger of God.

Is there anyone who has trouble interpreting these scriptural truths: To whom much is given, much is required. (Luke 12:48) Because of our spiritual birth, we have been given much. Or Whatsoever you sow, you reap. (Gal. 6:7) Or how about, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all nations that forget God!” (Psalm. 9:17) God said much more on this subject, but I think you get the picture. (For an enlightening read, I encourage you to check out Deuteronomy, Chapter 28, then draw your own conclusions.)

Now, the big lie that has rendered us spayed and neutered and basically useless in shaping the destiny of this country is, as I mentioned earlier, the idea of “separation of church and state.” This misnomer is a hellish lie. There is no such statement in the Constitution of the United States of America. What our founding fathers had to say about religion in the first amendment of the Constitution should be etched in the mind of every Christian right along with John 3:16. In case you need a refresher, here’s what it says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Please note, the politically-correct only quote the first half of that sentence. Taken in it’s entirety, it is blatantly obvious our founding fathers had no intention of suppressing freedom of religion!

Hopefully, Christians know how this nation was birthed. Those of us who have attained senior citizen status were actually taught American History in school. For those reading this who, for whatever reason, have not been properly enlightened to our religious heritage, I encourage you to pay close attention to the following statements.:

James Madison, the 4^th President of the United States, also known as the “Father of our Constitution” said: “We have staked the whole of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves, according to the Ten Commandments of God”.

Patrick Henry, one of our founding fathers who made the powerful patriotic statement, “Give me liberty or give me death”, said: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Woodrow Wilson: “The Bible is the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life, the nature of God and spiritual nature and need of men.”

Fifty-two of the fifty-five drafters of our constitution were members of Christian churches.

The archives of this nation contain volumes of statements just like these. It is a blatant lie for anyone to suggest that the United States of America was not founded on Biblical principles and the Christian religion. To deny our Godly heritage and history is equivalent to the president of Iran recently denying the Holocaust. How is it then that we have gotten to the point where everything the Founding Fathers stood for has in one generation became wrong and unconstitutional?

The mentality of the “great unwashed,” (meaning all who oppose God, the Bible, and most certainly any form of righteousness), is that the Church has no right to make any proposals, claims, or confession outside the confines of their house of worship. If the truth were told, they look at Christians as uneducated, unenlightened, and unintelligent Bible thumpers. To them, our ideas of right and wrong are outdated and dangerous. We are hate mongers… although I don’t see us doing much mongering of any kind. We’re accused of imposing our archaic (primitive) values on others…somehow I don’t feel we’re “guilty as charged” on this one either. Since we don’t subscribe to their new age value system, we are deemed to be second-class citizens still floundering around in the dark ages and as such, have no right to a voice in the public arena. And we certainly have no right to question their superior intellect.

Here is the great hypocrisy of the great unwashed: They are all for freedom. Gays, lesbians, illegals and perverts are all free to pursue their lifestyle. Yes sir, they’re all for freedom, unless of course you are a Christian, then they‘ll take you to court to deny you that freedom. They’re all for diversity, that is, except for Christians. Certainly they’re for free speech, and they spout their foul gutter language on your TV every day to prove it; this is their really big deal, they love free speech, no one, and I mean no one can get in the way of free speech. Unless of course, you are a Christian. Then they demand you keep your mouth shut. If you happen to be a Christian they have only one commandment for you. “Zip your lip”. They believe everyone is created equal, black, white, red, yellow, homosexual, pervert, Islam, Buddha, Hindu, everyone of course except , you guessed it, Christians. In short, you can have any gutter philosophy known to man, regardless how lewd, demeaning and putrid it may be, it definitely ranks much higher on the politically correct scale than “Christianity”.

So where do we go from here…I say if we are to survive, we must get out of the church and into the fray. We’re going to have to take the battle to the streets, to our city and state governments and to Washington D.C. It’s going to take more than Sunday School contest and bench-jumping church services to stop this runaway train of godlessness. We must put our “boots on the ground” and not only sing that old song, “Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war…“ but live it! If this nation is to be resurrected to it’s former greatness, it‘s absolutely mandatory that we leave the safety of the trenches and storm the beachhead.

It’s going to take a full-scale assault against the powers and principalities of darkness. We have the generals. They are the great Godly men who head our great denominations and fellowships. Southern Baptist, Assemblies of God, Methodist, Church of God, Freewill Baptist, Churches of Christ, and the list goes on and on. There’s also radio evangelist and TV preachers. I call on you, pastors and laity alike, to call on them, demand that they join with other denominations and fellowships to save this country. The only thing that prohibits us from amassing this majestic army is our petty doctrinal differences. This critical hour in which we live demands that we unite. There is something greater than our creeds at stake here. When our churches are padlocked or razed, or turned into entertainment venues, etc., those little piddling disagreements you had with the church down the street will no longer matter. (And if you think that can’t happen, then you’re not paying attention to the anti-God sentiment among the politically- powerful and the Christian-crushing attorneys of the ACLU.) For crying out loud, we all shop at Wal-Mart together without fighting. Can we not embrace each other as heirs and joint heirs of Jesus Christ, and rise up together and take our country back for God? If not for us, for the sake of our children and grandchildren!

Jesus prayed that we’d all be one, even as he and the Father were one. (Read the entire chapter of John:17 paying close attention to verse 20.) Can we not finally, 2000 years after that prayer was prayed, be the answer? God have mercy on us if we can’t! God help us if we continue to go our fragmented ways, using all our energy to build our own little “spiritual empires“, while continuing to malign and take spiritual pot-shots at one another. God forgive us for thinking we’re so spiritually smart that our church and only our church, has absolute perfect scriptural revelation - to the exclusion of everyone else. If our spiritual ego is that big, then maybe we deserve the fate awaiting us in a Godless society.

May I now call your attention again to a very direct command. “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them”. (Eph. 5:11) I suppose we do okay on the “no fellowship” part, but there’s been a major disconnect on the “reprove” part. Since the church seems to have a problem following through on “reprove”, let’s do a little “grammar 101” and look at a few other definitions of the word “reprove“. We’re commanded to “admonish”, “rebuke”, “criticize”, “blame”, and “censure”. Now I know this seems to fly in the face of being “meek and lowly”. But Solomon said, “There is a time for everything.” (Ecc. 3:1-8) We’re in the pot about to be boiled…here comes the horse… .do you not think this might be a real bad time to be meek and lowly? Is this rather not the time to put on the armor of God, sharpen the sword, or at least pick up a few rocks for your sling? Our voice must be heard whether the heathen want to hear it or not.

There is a point of no return. There’s a point where this sin-sational, corrupt and Godless society will not be turned around. If we have not already passed that point, we are incredibly close which is why the hour in which we live is so critical. Again I ask this all important question, what are we going to leave our kids and grandkids? With the speed we are plunging into the abyss of Godless decadence, I don’t think we have the ability to perceive what it will be like one generation from now.

If you have one ounce of optimism left, allow me to dispel even that. Society is corrupt. The God of the Bible, for all practical purposes, has been banished from our institutions. There will be legislation which will prevent pastors from preaching on homosexual sins and anything else that might possibly offend anyone. You can cut your finger off and write it down in blood. This will happen. We face a “holy war” with the religion of Islam. This religion has already taken over much of Europe and has a much bigger foothold in America than most of us realize. They do not, will not co-exist with other religions. They either enslave or kill them. Our borders are being overrun with illegal aliens. Two or three years ago they were saying we had from twelve to twenty million illegal Mexicans here. Does it not seem strange to you that, with nothing being done to secure our border with Mexico, that three years later we still have only twelve to twenty million? I think I saw half that many in Wal-Mart the other night. You see what’s happening to our language…press one for English and two for Spanish. (When God decided to confuse the folks building the tower of Babel, do you recall how he did it? Language. Just a thought.) We’re losing our culture. The great “Melting Pot” is no longer melting. Many, and I venture most, who come here today are not coming to be “Americans”. They’re coming to rape and pillage our country financially. If you have stock in Western Union you know the money is going out of the USA and back to Mexico by the tons. Along with this invading hoard you have the gangs that are wrecking havoc in cities large and small across the nation. The medical profession is facing new challenges with new diseases thought to be brought in by these illegals.

We have a dictator in Iran who is building a nuclear bomb. He continues to furnish weaponry and manpower to the terrorists we are fighting in Iraq. He has vowed to wipe Israel of the face of the earth and has said that once he accomplishes that, we’re next! He - along with most of the middle-eastern countries - hates our guts. Makes you wonder what he’ll do when he gets the bomb, doesn’t it? Closer to home we also have a dictator down in South America who hates our guts. Hugo Chavez, (don’t know if I spelled his name right or not…kind of hope I didn’t) recently called our president a devil in the United Nations and would like nothing better than to have a part in bringing the United States to it’s knees.

Oil, the precious commodity that fuels the economy of this nation, we sadly get from the people who hate us. The middle-east, (Iran) remember that name, Mexico, and South America. Believe it or not, our largest supplier of crude oil is Mexico. Unfortunately, some oil annalists tell us that those reserves will be used up within the next few years, possibly even in the next two or three years. Will that have an effect of the price of gas at the pump? (Or more Mexicans fleeing across our borders?) Go figure. Yes we have oil reserves, but the politically correct crowd won’t allow us to drill for it! China can drill off the coast of Florida cause they don’t give a rip about our environmental lobbyist.

And then there’s Russia….again. So much for the fall of communism. They are back, and just like the good ole days, everything we’re for, they’re against. If we have a problem or situation with another country like North Korea, China or Iran, whose side do you think they’ll come down on? I’ll bet you guessed right.

And of course, there’s China. I claim no degree in high finance. But I’ve heard it from those who have, that China is buying up this country like a kid buys lolly-pops in a candy store. They own so many treasury bills, if they called for payment, that alone would completely bankrupt this nation. Here’s a little exercise. Everything you buy other than food…check it out and see if there’s not a little sticker on it that says, “Made in China”. Now, if that doesn’t give you a hint into who just might already be the economic powerhouse of the world, let me add this little tidbit. As I write this, congress just passed a tax rebate. It’s called an economic stimulus package. If you made under a certain amount in 2007, you are going to get a check from the government. Guess where the money to send that check to you is coming from. We’ve heard they borrowed it from China…(probably more treasury bills). How neat is that? Like I said, I’m no economist. All I do is “grocery store figuring”, but something about this, for some dumb reason, makes me feel quite uncomfortable. One more thing about China that bothers me is this… While we chase Osama and his terrorists around Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, spar with North Korea and Iran over nuclear proliferation, and try to make peace between Israel and Palestine, China is pouring zillions of dollars into their already monster-sized military! With technology we sold them, they are now capable of shooting down satellites in orbit. The very satellites we rely on to guide our defense weaponry. The seriousness of the hour in which we live is totally incomprehendable There has never been a time such as this. I believe with all my heart that the situation around the world and here at home demands that we must “stand, speak and fight now,” or forever hold our peace.

Our only hope is God.

This country is sliding head-long into hell because the fragmented church failed to take a stand. As the great Godly principles this country was founded on were stripped away, where was the church? Truth is, for the most part we were not even on the radar scope. Dr. Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority made some inroads a couple of decades ago, Dr. James Kennedy was always on the front lines but he‘s gone on to his eternal reward, Pat Robinson , Dr. James Dobson and others have lifted their voice, but we have never fielded a Christian army made up of the total church standing shoulder to shoulder. In my opinion this, and nothing less, is what it’s going to take to pull this country back onto the right track. Can we do it? Yes! Will we do it? The church alone has that answer .

A recent poll showed over 86% of the population of this country still believe in God. That means only 14% or less are the ones griping about the Ten Commandments being on display, “One Nation Under God” being in our pledge of allegiance, and “In God We Trust” on our money. Has it ever occurred to us that it’s time to just tell that 14% to just shut up and get over it. (Sorry, sometimes in thinking about this stuff I get carnal.) Seriously, if the church, (or at least folks that say they believe in God) are still in the majority, why are we allowing our country to go to hell??? This spiritual Godless decline must stop! And it must stop now. The church has been missing from the battle for far too long. It’s time to report for duty.

As I bring these thoughts to a close, I invite you to download this message along with the following song, “Missing In Action” at no charge. I only ask that you play it for your pastor, your Sunday school class, your neighbor, or for anyone else who’ll listen. Time is of the essence. We are in a battle for our faith, our culture, our nation and our way of life. It’s a battle that must be won…at all costs. God bless you as you put on the whole armor of God and take your place on the field of battle! FORWARD MARCH!!!!!!!

Ray Lewis