JOY CHICKONOSKI America has a chance to return to God's way

I know there are some Christians who believe that God is judging the nation for turning her back on him.
It is true since the 1960s, America has been on a steady decline, morally and spiritually. Since we removed prayer and the Ten Commandments from schools, we have seen grades drop and pregnancy rise among our teen-agers.
We have unofficially adopted humanism as our national religion. Humanism puts man in charge of his beliefs about God and morality. The Bible says, "a fool is wise in his own eyes." (Proverbs 12:15).
The nation has abandoned the absolute truths of the Bible. We have said it is not murder to take a life as long as the mother does not want her unborn child. Instead of upholding God's word, we have diluted it in the sea of human opinion. Humanism makes man the creator of God. We think we have the right to choose who God is and how we will honor him.
We're protected: In spite of our rejection of truth and rebellion toward the true God, he is not judging us. The Bible says, "His mercy endures forever" (Psalm 106:1).
Jesus' hand of blessing has been upon this nation since her inception. He is protecting her still. America is the greatest nation in the world is because her foundation was built on the one true God and his word, the Bible.
If Americans were to read the Constitution and the Bible, instead of relying on others to define them for us, we would not be fooled. We must not allow this nation to abandon the Christian principles it was founded on.
We can allow others the choice not to serve Jesus, without making this nation void of any religious structure. Our forefathers did not have a smorgasbord religion in mind. We have become what our forefathers fought against.
We must repent for our arrogance, recognizing that Jesus Christ and his principles made this nation what she is (Col. 1:15 - 17). We must have his blessing for our efforts to succeed.
God cannot defend unrighteousness, for He is holy. I believe his hand is raised against the evil of terrorism. He certainly is not the author of terrorism. However, if our sin should cause God to step aside and allow our enemies to have their way with us, we will not remain the victor!
In the Bible, God used Israel's enemies to turn his nation back to him. Once Israel repented for her sin, God destroyed her enemies. I believe that is exactly what can happen to America.
"God causes all things to work together for our good, to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28).
An opportunity: I am excited about the times we live in, because finally America has the chance to know the truth she has been blinded to because of pride. We are vulnerable to attack. We are not immune to the tragedies the rest of the world faces. We need to ask ourselves could it be that Jesus has kept us because we have said "in God we trust."
What will happen if we become more "tolerant", more "progressive" in our thinking? Romans 1:21 says, "When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened." The word "darkened" here means blind to the truth. This Scripture describes what has happened in our nation. We must allow this terrible tragedy to result in the greater good. We, as a nation, need to open our eyes and return to God. Then we will have the confidence that God will continue to bless us and protect us from our enemies.
President Bush said it best, "Freedom and fear are at war and God is not neutral between them."
America, we must not allow God to become neutral in this war. We must stand up and declare:
"God Bless America, land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night, with the light from above."
XThe Rev. Joy Chickonoski is associate pastor at Harvest Life Center in Struthers.