Posted on by Angela

Time to Examine

On July 4th, America celebrated her 250th anniversary of her declared independence from the rule of King George III of England in 1776. Our independence was hard fought and won over a war with Great Britan. In the decades and centuries that followed America fought growing pains as she expanded from thirteen original colonies westward into the unknown regions of the Midwest, Great Plains, Rockies, Southwest, the frozen wonder of Alaska and the paradise of Hawaii.  

We fought Indians, the name given to the Native Americans by Christopher Columbus who mistakenly thought he had reached the East Indies in Asia. We fought France and Spain. We fought England again. And we fought ourselves in the ugly scar of slavery and the rights of the states. Every skirmish, battle, and war, taught us to fight a little harder, to stand a little taller. We fought for our freedom, and we weren’t about to lose it. We fought for our land, and we weren’t going to give an inch back. And we didn’t.  

We tried to stay out of world conflict and fights that weren’t ours. George Washington was adamant that these United States stay out of world affairs. Yet we found ourselves drawn into two World Wars. Then it was a slippery slope into Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and others. America was a dominating world power, and we had great leaders who meant what they said and had a country who backed them up. We had a military who went in and got the job done whatever, whenever and wherever it was.  

Something changed somewhere along the way. We lost our focus. We let the minority affect the majority. Somehow right became wrong and wrong became right. We became divided. The last thirty years have brought a change in this great nation. And it is not good.   

I can’t say with certainty where it began. Maybe when we removed the Ten Commandments from our schools. Or told our children we could not pray before lunch. We have the freedom to practice religion or no religion at all. Many early settlers came here with the hope to worship God as they wished, but they all worshipped God. Those early settlers wanted to worship the way they believed without the fear of state persecution from the Catholic Church or Church of England. So, they came. Puritan, Anabaptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic and others. The one thing they had in common was that they worshipped God. The difference was in the method of their worship.  

Now here we are two hundred and fifty years later and while we have not lost any physical ground, much of our moral and spiritual ground has been lost. The morality of our country has been lost to ideals our founding fathers never considered. While it is true they were not saints, what has been done in the name of freedom would have no doubt sickened them. As it should us today. We have groups showing pride for things that are shameful. Children are targets for another’s perversion. And we mock God for His creating us male and female by creating genders that do not exist.  

Spiritually, it isn’t much better. Some of the same individuals I mentioned are leaders in our churches. We use God’s love as an escape for our sin and forget his love is balanced by His judgment. In the name of freedom of religion, we allow religions to enter our country who hate our way of life and would destroy us. We preach grace and forgiveness and neglect repentance and holiness.  

It is time for change, and it is time for it to begin with us. I have examined my country, but if you are reading this from a distant shore, is your heritage much different?  What is your moral and spiritual heritage? I am not talking about politics. I am talking about right and wrong. Not philosophy. What does the Bible say about these things? I am not here to offend, but to call us all to consider our ways. To bring our hearts back to God. We may not be in a position to change the course of our nation, but we might be able to affect our church, our community. Consider Psalm 33:12 

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen for His own inheritance. (NASB) 

Of course, He has chosen Israel as His inheritance. But I do believe there is a blessing for any nation who makes God LORD. The nation who as one honors the Lord and seeks His blessing from its leader to the poorest person on the street. When we decide to take an honest look at ourselves and put our sin away from us, we change and we begin to affect others around us. We change the way we dress and the way we talk. We begin to honor God in the little ways and in the big ways. And it matters.  

So, let’s celebrate our freedom and our liberty. Let’s begin by turning to God in repentance and surrender. While we have celebrated America’s Independence Day, it can be anyone’s day to celebrate what God has done in their life and what God might have prepared for their nation. Celebrate, pray, and seek the God who judges the nations and tell others of His wonderful deeds.  

Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. Psalm 96: 3 NASB 

 All for One  

Angela 

Posted on by Angela

My “To Be Read” List

I am a list maker. I can’t help it. I think in lists. I make a to do list, content list, book list, reading list, a list on lists. I probably should see someone about it, but I would need to make a list first. Oh well, the truth is that to some extent my lists help keep me on track.

This is especially true when it comes to my reading list.  I have a list of books I want to read, my TBR list.

I set up All for One into themes. The theme for August is Back to Basics. So, I wanted to include this theme into my reading. My reading list for August needed to reflect this. I haven’t chosen doctrinal books, but rather classical Christian literature. We are already into mid-August so even I realize I probably will not be able to read all of these before we get to September. But a goal is something to strive toward.

I wanted to share my August list with you. If you are looking for something to read this August, grab one of these classics and dive in.

  • Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
  • The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
  • The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer
  • Crazy Love by Francis Chan
  • The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
  • Miracles by C. S. Lewis
  • Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan

So, you see the only modern book is by Francis Chan and even it is not that recent. It came out a few years ago. My husband loved the book, and I never read it, so now is a good time to get into it. If you have never read C. S. Lewis apart from the Chronicles of Narnia, his nonfiction reminds me a lot of the writing of the apostle Paul. Very intellectual, very deep, but worth the read. The Screwtape Letters is another of Lewis’s fiction. I have actually read this book, but many years ago and it is time for a new read. I remember reading some of The Pilgrim’s Progress when I was much younger so with this one also it is time for a fresh look. Tozer is a short book that shouldn’t take long to read. So, here they are the August book challenge for me and you if you don’t already have something on your TBR list for August.

I have a much longer list of books I would like to read but let’s not get into that craziness. What about you? What is on your TBR list for this month? Have you selected one or do you just read as the mood hits you?

Be sure to let me know in the comments what you are reading and if you are taking the August challenge or have one of your own. I would love to hear from you.

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Angela