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This segment is committed to exploring and educating the reading public to the trends and issues affecting American culture. The Specific hope is that the African American community will reflect more on these matters from God’s point of view. This segment will be dedicated to using Bible scripture as basis for most commentary.
Session Subject: Regaining God's Grace as a Nation and as African American People
Have you ever wondered why the United States, the most industrialized, technologically advanced society and envied nation on earth has the levels of corruption, crime, disease, social, and political upheaval that it does? The answer, simply put, is easy to understand and will require comprehensive solutions. The bottom line is that the people of the United States have largely forgotten God. Perhaps I should say that we practice selective Christianity or situational ethics. The amazing thing to me is that even though the Bible is essentially at the fingertips of most Americans, it is generally the last place we look for any real answers about the issues that affect our lives. Left wing liberals have worked very hard through litigation and intimidation to remove every vestige of our country's religious heritage from the public domain. This is particularly true as it pertains to the Christian faith. Americans who spiritually understand this current age know that we are in a post Christian culture. Our disregard of God is now and will in the future, cost our society dearly.
Ecclesiastes 9:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Americans, black and otherwise, tend not fear God and are apathetic about who he is and his will concerning us. Solomon is purported by scripture to be the wisest man who ever lived. He stated at the end of a compelling and thought provoking discourse in the book of Ecclesiastes that any person who fears God demonstrates the beginnings of wisdom. We're Americans, of course, and because of our Constitution, we have "rights." This is so much so that we believe that these rights supercede all other things that require accountability from us. We have little wisdom because we've lost our fear of our awesome God. Now the very document forged in the fire of the need for freedom and that guarantees us rights as citizens, in essence has become an unwitting god. This precious document, that was never intended to promote unrighteousness, has been finessed into a tool that has been manipulated by liberal courts and slick lawyers to promote special interest agendas.
In my comment earlier about Americans not fearing God, we will emphatically conduct ourselves in ways that are clearly contradictory to what God says is wrong and sinful. We do these things with full and clear knowledge of what we are doing. The problem is more complicated when we have no shame or remorse for our actions and they become standard practice and conduct.
Romans 1:2 because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither where they thankful (see verses 23-32 for further reference and understanding of the context)
In this first chapter of Romans, Paul greets them with a warm and positive salutation with an admonishment that the just shall live by faith. His greeting then turns rather ominous as he begins to show how a climate of disengagement from God's presence causes men to slip into darkness and self-destruction. Why? Because we begin to act like we know more than the eternal God does. All of us are guilty of this in one way or another. We turn the truth of God around to fit our personal agendas and preferences. We then say he is pleased with what we are doing. Also, we make self-declarations that what we are doing is right because as Americans, we have a right to our own opinions. This makes us feel that whatever we think about something makes it O.K. Since we have largely pushed God aside in our daily lives, God gives many of us up to the darkness of our hearts. We then begin to see the sin in our hearts manifest itself in actions like abortion, lying, cheating, fornication,
abusive drug and alcohol use, homosexuality, adultery, slander, gossip, covetousness, profanity, and self-centeredness. Now many of us see these behaviors as normal and acceptable practices. We will explore the power of many of these problem areas in more detail in future issues. Recently in the news, homosexuals continued their aggressive coast-to-coast agenda of promoting their life style as normal and acceptable. This is not a new effort but has been ongoing for decades in America. Now we are on the cusp of a major cultural shift. The attack on marriage strikes at the heart of one of the few remaining institutions that is steeped in the heart of civilization since time and memoriam. The constitution has been used as a living, evolving document that has been altered from its original philosophical construct and the precepts of the founding fathers. It has become an excuse to justify any behavior, no matter how abhorrent.
The Supreme Court has recently legitimized the homosexual life style by striking down a state law that criminalizes homosexual practices. Though I am not sure that the acts should have ever been criminalized, the repercussions of this sin are apparent. Now, the natural progression that many "gays" are pressing for is marriage between same sex people as being equal to natural marriage between men and women. They cite the fact that federal law prohibits discrimination based upon sexual preference as a basis for recognizing these marriages as legitimate. This issue is one in many that threatens to destroy the strength and resilience of our society. I know that many will want to debate or understand better why this particular sin is so egregious and has such immense affects on our society. Realize though, that this area of sin is one of many. There is hope against the power of all sin.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.
God's promise to bless his people is predicated upon them understanding that they must turn away from actions, attitudes, and motivations that are sinful and cause corruption amongst us. One of the major problems among African-American people with what God says is that our culture overrides much of our understanding of a need for change. This paralyzes our ability to grow and excel. In effect, we reject the truths of God and pursue our own paths. When people do well, the benefits and effects are felt throughout the community. The ripple effect of righteousness causes a community to grow and to prosper and people and families to experience blessing and growth in God.
Important Political Ranting:
Politics in the African American community has always been a main stay of daily life. I am amazed at how I, for many years, have struggled with the values of the Democratic Party and find myself at odds with many people, some even close to me concerning my politics.
I have generally voted Republican, but am by no mean one who agrees with all of what the party or the President says or does. The challenge that I have with the Democratic Party is its insistence on consistently promoting values that completely and totally defy the tenants of God's moral code as given in scripture. I am not taking a self-righteous approach saying that people, including myself, don't have problems with sin. I am saying that we, as a society, have reached a whole new level of defiance against God when we totally embrace and declare things that are clearly wrong as being O.K. It can never be acceptable, for example, to approve of abortion (infanticide, murder of a child) as O.K. Nor can homosexuality and promotion of sex outside of marriage be considered as right. As a people, we seem to have no real concept of the problems that we have brought on ourselves by adopting sinful behaviors and attitudes and treating our culture as a god. Yes, I said our culture as a god.
Our ideologies, triumphs, dignitaries, movie stars, rappers, lingo, walk, talk, clothing, politicians, symbols, families, and preachers have become gods. We have a culture that has preached to our kids that men aren't men until they have two or three "ho's" and women are not women until they are giving it up and are sexually provocative to the hilt. Much of our popular music says this and the videos declare this in living color.
The Sin of Abortion - Abortion and infanticide are not recent practices. They are ancient in their roots. Many of you will remember the story of baby Jesus and how for political expediency, Herod ordered that all baby boys under the age of two years to be killed because he perceived them to be a threat to his throne. Why in the world would any of us think that killing an innocent baby for our personal expediency is O.K. now when it was not O.K. then? The modern abortion movement in America had proponents long before the 1973 Roe Vs. Wade decision legalized abortion rights in America. Margaret Sanger, for example, was a nurse with many tragic personal issues plaguing her. She was a leading proponent of women's rights in the early part of the 20th century. She has been referred to as a eugenicist and has been accused of encouraging forced sterilization and abortion among black and poor women on the lower East side of Manhattan during that time. My personal opinion is that she was not a racist nor was her intent to wrongly attack a particular group of people for that kind of reasoning. Her problem was same as that of many of us now. I believe it is the very same problem that existed in Herod's day. A spirit of murder was unleashed in her mind and spirit that came from her acceptance of a worldview. She obviously did not have God's view pertaining to the shedding of innocent blood and what God said about those who did this in mind. She thought she was doing black and poor women a favor, but this mandate from her and others was an absolute contradiction to the sovereign will of God. The view she had and many of us have today appeals to us through what appears to make sense, seem practical, convenient, and does not disrupt our personal agendas (There is a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof are the ways of death). We have, as a people, capitulated and embraced many of the terrible cultural shifts and attitudes that occur around us without question. Our children watch us as we show ongoing irresponsible behavior and then we sit around and act like we don't know what is wrong with them.
People simply ignore or have nominal views in their Christian beliefs and do what they want to in spite of how God views it. Scripture makes it clear that God knew us and had a purpose for us before we were ever born if we had the chance to be born before being killed. It appears that we would largely, as a race, support men of the likes of John Kerry and John Edwards. These men do have abilities and ideas. If you are a Christian; however, you can not possibly vote for these men without considering their positions on the issues like abortion and "gay rights."
Regaining God's Grace - As a group of people, African Americans must rise to the challenges of this current age. We have become experts at fronting and pretending that we have no problems as we stand behind our color and culture. We are too busy blaming the president and everyone else but ourselves for the incredible problems that permeate our community and destroy our people. I am not suggesting government has no responsibility towards black people. I am saying that many of our issues are fundamentally attitude failures dealing with areas such as honestly, integrity, truth, self-examination, and responsibility. Percentage wise, African Americans have the highest incidents of new cases of HIV/AIDS, murder, incarceration, teenage pregnancy, and children without a father in the home than virtually every other racial group in America. Oh, but of course, that's the system or the president's fault. That's strange because we have pretty much been in that position since these matters became noteworthy even during and before the Clinton presidency. We have been so brain washed by things such as our traditional, cult like leaning toward the Democratic Party that we remain defiantly blind to its extreme liberal views. We have accepted and would support men whose point of view philosophically handicaps and undermines Black Americans by persuading us that it's O.K. to murder our unborn children, but we do promise you a few jobs and besides, isn't that what you need?? We must become a people of prayer and a willingness to change old viewpoints and habits. This starts at home and is much needed in both sexes of the black race. It is particularly important though that our men change and be the catalyst for change. Without black men standing up and taking their rightful place, Black women and children are imperiled and cannot flourish in the kingdom of God. Many black men have completely abdicated their responsibility to their families without a fight and often just becau se they want to.
They relinquish responsibility toward their wives, children, and others in the community to pursue a life of minimum responsibility, personal ambition, and pleasure. We, black men and women, need the Lord in our lives in a very real way. It is the power of God through his son Jesus Christ that is the thing that strengthens our lives and gives us hope. If you do not have a personal relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ, you are facing your battles in life without any real hope. Do you want peace in your heart, and soul today?
Are you really interested in seeing the lives of your friends, family, and community raised to new levels of possibilities? Ask Jesus to come into your heart today with a simple prayer like this:
"Lord Jesus, I realize that I am a sinner and have fallen very short in my life before God and man. I know that you died for my sins and that you rose from the dead that I might have fellowship with God. I confess my sin before you now and ask you to wash my spirit clean with the blood you shed for me. Save me today. Thank you for hearing my prayer. Amen"
I believe that once African Americans cross the threshold of salvation, we can begin to seek God in earnest and that he will hear us. He will begin to give us wisdom and answers to the situations that we face as a people and as a nation. We can never presume that because we have power at the ballot box, that that in itself is the real and only agent of change. The key is to establish what God's will and purpose for us as a people and a nation is and how it fits into these end times. My prayer is that Holy Spirit gives us grace to understand our part in regaining God's grace towards us as a nation, and as a people.
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