Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul was writing to a wayward congregation of Christian believers in Corinth, inquisitively enough, his words still capture the epochal change that may await us just over history’s horizon. “For now, we see in a glass, darkly,” he wrote. “Now I know in part, but then shall I know fully.” Indeed, mesmerized by a present filled with spellbinding events ranging from elections to wars, we too gaze into a darkened glass unable to see how the future might soon unfold before our eyes.
The end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025 is a reasonable
and natural time to contemplate what happened in the recent past and could very
well happen sooner than later. I think
back over the year that was. Like the seismic activity of an earthquake
fault that too often opens itself and cuts loose with repellent force, a deep deposit
of hate, anarchy, antagonism, one-upmanship toward a targeted political party’s
leadership, ethnic group, religious faction... The result of which was and remains absolute
chaos manifested in the arise or emergence of the following: crushing inflation and spiking
energy costs; facilitating the breakdown of law and order resulting in
skyrocketing crime, to include an influx of foreign gangs and adversaries;
facilitating the chaos of unchecked illegal immigration; empowering our enemies
and alienating our allies; threats of terrorism on the Homefront, antisemitism protests,
traditional and
social media censorship, lawfare being used to achieve political objectives, racist
hucksters peddling
reparations for past wrongs, warfare in Europe and the Middle East, and
multiple assassination attempts of prominent public figures... pushing gender
ideology on children; sapping our military services and corroding our institutions
with Divisive, Extreme, and Intolerant
(DEI) initiatives and Critical Race Theory; making LGBTQ evangelization a
central aim of our foreign policy; deconstruction of our institutions; parents
detained for speaking out for parental rights at school board meetings; Christians
arrested for peacefully demonstrating and praying outside abortion clinics
while the abortion clinicians dispatch the innocent unborn at the rate of nearly
“one million” babies annually. And
smearing political opponents as Nazis, book burners, and garbage doesn’t
resonate with most Americans of any color, creed or gender. Who would have
known?
Question! Is not America a nation, founded by Christians? Question! Has today’s America and much of its leadership somewhere along the line lost its way? Question! Is today’s America presently grappling with increasing polarization and a worrisome decline in trust in our governing institutions? Along with these issues, our nation’s global leadership is facing challenges from authoritarian regimes and terror organizations striving to shape a world that serves their interests.
God willing, we as a nation will let this year be an opportunity to recommit to one of the central principles that America’s Future stands for: to renew, revitalize, regenerate the role of faith in our lives, our communities and our country. More than ever, America needs all Judeo-Christian churches and their congregants to speak up and stand-up for the Biblical Judeo-Christian values that America was founded upon. If America’s future is to survive as one nation under God, it begins with faith and donning the Armor of God: the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit, and the belt of truth. Lest we forget, each piece of armor is designed to protect believers from the “wiles” of the devil and the spiritual forces of evil that threaten their faith and purpose.
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