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The Soon Coming Judgment Of God Upon America and How To Escape It 94
It is a sobering experience to look closely at our history and see just how
highly God regarded what can only be called “a right heart attitude.” One finds
long droughts broken by a settlement's deliberately fasting and humbling itself,
turning back to the God whom they once trusted and had imperceptibly begun to
take for granted. One also finds instances of one settlement being spared from
Indian attack, while another is decimated, when the only apparent difference
seemed to be in their heart attitude towards God and one another.
Whenever we began to wonder if we might not be “shoehorning” history
to fit our presuppositions, we had the recorded beliefs of the settlers themselves as
a guide. And in page after page of private diary or public proclamation, the
immediate response to any disaster, human or natural, was “Where do we need to
repent?” In fact, there seemed to be a continuing, almost predictable cycle: in
great need and humility a small body of Christians would put themselves into the
hands of their Lord and commit their lives to one another. They would do their
best to live together as He had called them to live. And He, in turn, would begin
to pour out His blessing on them with health, peace, and bounteous harvests. But
as they grew affluent, they would also become proud or complacent or self-
righteous.
Nonetheless, the blessing would continue unabated, sometimes for
generations, as God continued to honor the obedience of their fathers and
grandfathers (Deuteronomy 7:9). But inevitably, because he loved them (and
because even God' patience has an end), He would be forced to lift the grace
which lay upon their land, just enough to cause them to turn back to Him. A
drought, or an epidemic of smallpox, or an Indian uprising would come, and the
wisest among them would remember.... Like the prophets of old, they would call
the people to repentance. And if there was a true and lasting change in their heart
attitudes, God would forgive their sins, and His grace would be returned.
That a drought could be broken, or an Indian attack averted, by corporate
repentance is an idea which sounds alien to many Christians today. Yet it was
central to the faith which built this country, and is one of the most prominent,
recurring themes in the Bible....
The key, of course, was that His people—three thousand years ago, three
hundred years ago, or today—had to first see that they were sinners. Without
accepting that truth, there could be no repentance, for they would not see any need
for humbling themselves. This was the linchpin to God's plan for America:
that we see ourselves, individually and corporately, in a state of continuing
need of God's forgiveness, mercy and support.
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(Emphasis added)
Early Americans Recognized America as a Christian Nation
The faith and intentions of our founding fathers for this nation are irrefutable. The faith of
our founding fathers is a matter of record; 52 of the 55 men who wrote and signed the
Constitution were members of Christian churches.
160
Christian delegates were sent to the
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