Where Do We Go From Here?

   I saw this picture in a Christian magazine and read the related article. I think it's a question that needs to asked, and given some serious consideration. Is time running out for us in this country? I can't speak to the rest of the world, I don't live in Greece or Spain or Australia, but from what I've seen in this country, I get the feeling that time is indeed running out for the United States. What other nation in the history of the world has enjoyed such prosperity and freedom? Why have so many people from around the world  clamored to come to this country? We had the best system in the world for advancing prosperity. A person could come to this country, open a business and within a generation prosper beyond their wildest dreams. We offered freedom. Freedom to speak your mind, to worship as you wished, to move about freely, to start a business and raise a family, to be represented in government by people you elected, to be judged fairly in a court by your peers. It sounds very different than what America is looking like right now. One only has to tune in to the news, if you can still call it that, to see our cities being destroyed. Both by anarchists, who apparently have more rights than the average tax paying citizen, and by the homeless whose have turned the down town areas of San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles and others into filthy slums. I read an article recently that Minneapolis, the place that started the defund the police movement, that the city council voted to hire hundreds of new police to deal with the rising crime there. Defunding the police was a brilliant idea. With all the push to make sure we're safe from the boogie man called Covid 19, it would seem like the wrong time to open the border to thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people whom we have no idea of who they are or what their health status is. But in order to fulfill a promise to his radical base, the president, in all of his wisdom wants to make it a priority. Is Covid real or is it something that could be conveniently used to shut down the entire country and throw millions of people out of work and into a panic, begging the government to come to our aid? Congress is going to be voting next week on the Equality Act, hoping to insure at least in part that boys who identify as girls can play sports with the girls they identify with. Are you kidding me? This is the priority of congress, now that the impeachment of President Trump failed? Can you imagine ten years ago that we would have fallen so far so fast? In some of the more leftist cities, schools are being re-named because presidents like Lincoln, and Washington apparently don't deserve the honor and respect that has been afforded to them. Will the people who are changing the names of the schools ever be honored for their accomplishments? I could go on and on, abortion, religious persecution, voter fraud, and a host of other things, but what good would it do? As I mentioned in my last blog post, I'm scared of what's happening here. Are we without hope? The answer to that is no. As the article above asks, is time running out for America? I believe it is, but it's not too late yet. God is still in control. Nothing that happens is a surprise to Him. Did He cause all of this? No, but He will certainly allow it. If we as a people refuse to acknowledge the Lord, well, you can see the end result.  I would like to point out the biblical story of two cities. Do you remember the story of the prophet Jonah- the guy who ran from the Lord and was tossed overboard and swallowed by the whale?  God sent him to warn the city of Nineveh that in three days they would be destroyed. Jonah hated the people of the city and ran away, not wanting them to repent and be saved. Anyway, after a divine intervention, Jonah did as God demanded, and the city did repent and was spared. Unfortunately they returned to their ways and eventually were destroyed by the Medes. I suspect that most people have heard of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were cities in the time the Jewish patriarch Abraham. His nephew Lot was living there at the time. God visited Abraham and shared that He was going to check out Sodom and Gomorrah to see if it was truly as wicked as it appeared. Abraham pleaded with God asking first if there were only fifty righteous men if He would spare the city. Then he asked if God only found forty, then  thirty, then twenty, and eventually in fear and trembling, Abraham asked God if He would spare the city for the sake of ten righteous men, and God agreed that he wouldn't destroy it if he found ten righteous there. While the angels of God were visiting Lot, the men of the city surrounded his house, wanting to rape his visitors. They were struck blind and Lot and his daughters were sent away before the city was destroyed by what was described as brimstone, presumably a volcano. God doesn't mess around. We don't have to suffer the same fate of those two cities. We can return to the Lord and enjoy the prosperity and blessing we once had. It should be a pretty simple choice given the state of the nation right now. John 3:11 says- "and this is the verdict. Light was come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil." It's all about choices, but our choices have consequences, as is evident. Lets choose wisely.