Posts Tagged ‘God’s judgment’

Good News, Bad News This Thanksgiving

Posted: November 21, 2018 by David Fiorazo in American History, Christianity in America, David's Blog, Faith and Life, moral decline, religious freedom, the gospel
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This Thanksgiving season, there’s good news and there’s bad news and it may depend on your perspective. As you know, most of our founders came to this bountiful land to live in freedom from religious persecution, and their standards were based on the principles in the Holy Bible. And yet, here we are in 2018 – hanging on by a thread to the religious freedoms this nation has enjoyed – and has taken for granted. 

Though we’re seeing a toxic increase of hatred, we can be still thankful for our history – and especially for hope.

The very first Thanksgiving took place almost 400 years ago—long before the nation was even born. But prior to arriving on these shores, William Bradford, the founder of Plymouth colony settlement wrote:

“…Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honor of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony.”

God is a big part of our history and always has been. The United States Congress once issued an official Proclamation of Thanksgiving and Prayer on October 18, 1780, calling on Americans “to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread all over the Earth.”

Sadly, true American history has been edited or even deleted from public school text books. We have forgotten that the good news of Jesus Christ was once foundational to our liberties as well as our lives and as a result of our forgetting, the nation has gone from spiritual to secular. Proverbs 14:34 states:

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.

We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

Lincoln was right. He implored the people to confess their sins, and to pray for forgiveness and God’s mercy on America.

Today, we are plagued by political correctness and moral relativism, lawlessness, people calling good evil and evil good, a loss of values, and the breakdown of social order. Moreover, Hollywood and the culture have a far greater influence on the church than the church has in and on our culture.

Signs of the times indicate this nation is in rapid decline, but how long do we really have? This is up for debate and speculation. But let’s consider some of the cultural, social, and spiritual symptoms common to nations that have fallen or have been destroyed:

  • Increasing rebellion against God
  • A loss of economic discipline
  • Greed; increased materialism
  • Rising government bureaucracy and taxes
  • Declining education in quality, morality, and in measurable results
  • Lack of respect for authority
  • Policies based on feelings over facts
  • The acceptance of foreign gods and empty religious practices
  • The promotion of sin and perversion
  • A decline in value of human life leading to abortion and euthanasia

Perhaps instead of asking God to bless America we should be asking Him to save us! Repentance must come first, and Christians must lead by example. If your heart is heavy reading some of this, know there is a God who loves you and wants you to turn back to Him.

If you tend to be on social media or look at the news a little too much, at government, public schools, the corporate world, the entertainment industry or culture in general, it can be quite discouraging. But if we look at all the things we each have personally and at this country in which we’re blessed to live, we can be thankful and we can take heart.

First, there’s always hope in the promises of God which the Bible describes as an anchor to our souls during storms in life. Second, if Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of your faith, your foundation won’t be shaken as it is built upon the Rock and you know all this is temporary.

Third, as imperfect as it is, we still live in one of the most amazing countries on earth. We have countless blessings, conveniences, and advantages as citizens of this beacon of freedom. Why do you think millions of less fortunate people dream about living in America? Many still risk their lives to come here.

And fourth, if you woke up today, opened your eyes and got out of bed; if you generally have your health, family in Christ, food on the table or in a refrigerator; if you have clean, running water, electricity, a house to live in, a car to drive, a job to go to and even some bills that are paid, you are abundantly blessed more than 75% of people in countries around the world.

I am particularly grateful for each day because by the grace of God, I had a successful heart operation in April of this year.

Every day we have so much to be thankful for, so let’s –

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever.Psalm 136:1

O God, restore us and cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. Psalm 80:3

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The American People Have Spoken… Again

Posted: November 6, 2014 by David Fiorazo in David's Blog
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House Midterm elections map

Now what? A tidal wave of victories by Republicans in the 2014 Midterm elections only matter if those in power will stop the radical transformation of the United States of America. Voters are overwhelmingly unhappy with the direction of the country.

The Obama agenda must be thwarted; reckless spending must be stopped, the Constitution must be upheld, Planned Parenthood must be de-funded, families must be strengthened, marriage must be protected, ObamaCare must be repealed and replaced, Common Core must be eliminated, the borders must be secured and laws enforced.

There is much work to do and to whom much is given, much will be required. A great responsibility comes with this historic victory. Republicans have been given marching orders from fed-up citizens demanding to be heard. Stop compromising and return to conservative principles! The country must be given back to the people who sent a clear message to both political parties: liberalism, Marxism, and socialism won’t cut it in America!

The national debt is now over $17.9 trillion. Government must be reduced, cuts must be made, and taxes must be lowered to help struggling small businesses and middle-income Americans. The Obama administration must be held accountable and recent history proves the media sure won’t do it. Administration appointees, government agencies such as the IRS, and Leftist judges must be kept in check. Why have laws if lawlessness goes unpunished?

The job outlook is not good and more people are relying on welfare than ever before in our history. There are more broken families, people are hurting, the spiritual state of the country is stagnant, and the church has become less effective in culture as morality declines.

To be sure, there were some outstanding developments from the 2014 Midterms. The Republicans increased the number of seats in the House of Representatives by a net of 12, expanding their majority beyond 246, a record set in the 1946 election. They easily took control of the Senate while holding onto or winning a record number of Governor’s races in blue states like Massachusetts, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Maryland.

• Eighteen-year-old Saira Blair will become the youngest state lawmaker in West Virginia history. The pro-life, pro-gun Republican won a seat in the state House of Delegates to become the youngest state lawmaker in the U.S.
• Mia Love celebrated her surprise victory in Utah as the first black Republican woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.
• South Carolina officially elected Senator Tim Scott, making him the first black candidate to win a statewide race since just after the Civil War.
• Also elected to the Senate was Joni Ernst, the first woman elected who served in combat (Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait) and is a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard.
• In Texas, Will Hurd, a black Republican and former undercover CIA officer was elected to the House.
• Former White House aide to George W. Bush, Elise Stefanik (30) is now the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, winning voters in a blue New York district.

The Democrat’s fake war on women and attempts at playing the race card failed miserably. Enjoy this moment because it is time for action.

We still need to encourage more Christians and religious citizens to vote or the 2016 Presidential election could be a big disappointment. The church could learn a lesson here. It appears conservatives worked to get their candidates elected across the country and the Republican ground game was much better organized which resulted in an annihilation of President Obama’s policies, many of which directly oppose the Bible’s teachings.

Why is this so important? Politics affect every one of us! All these gains could amount to little if we the people don’t fight the foundational moral and spiritual battle upon which all else is based, and demand our representatives do the same.

Some might argue “but you can’t legislate morality.” If that were the case, why do we even have laws then? The truth is someone’s morality gets legislated and is enforced every day in America. No government, no law, and no man is neutral. Individually and as a society we are either moving toward God or away from Him. We can sum up the battle in three words: God or man.

Every law and regulation that is proposed and passed enforces one worldview or the other. It is impossible not to legislate morality. The Law is a moral teacher. The question is, which vision of law and morality will be enacted?

America once enjoyed a limited government by the people for the people; a constitutional republic our parents and grandparents took for granted. You and I have done the same and we are less free today; government is more godless, culture is darker, sin is rampant, and Christians are less vocal outside of church. As the church goes, so goes America.

John Quincy Adams once said, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”

When you vote for today’s Democrat party, you are supporting abortion, homosexuality, government expansion, Christ-less public education, and socialism for starters. Neither party is perfect, but a stark, glaring contrast exists in terms of biblical values.

We desperately need change, but political change alone without a return to Christian principles might only last until the next election. This victory will not bring restoration and a much-needed revival to our land unless Christians repent and return to Jesus Christ, our only hope. Some good might be done short term, but God will not bless a nation whose leaders have turned their backs on Him. Our founders believed this and deep down, you and I know it as well.

“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” Abraham Lincoln