As I sit here, reviewing the events of the past week, I have come to the conclusion that this noble experiment, which our Forefathers pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” to birth, is in serious trouble.

Being a Christian American Conservative, as the subtitle of my blog states, I invariably turn to the Living Word of the One Who Made Me, for answers.

This American Saturday Morning, I am going to relate the scriptures which have helped me to reflect upon the problems besetting this Shining City Upon a Hill and the conclusions I’ve reached after reading them.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.- 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV)

This past week, America witnessed a speech by an American President in which he promised to defeat evil by remote control, the National Football League covering up for a player who knocked his fiancé (now wife) out in an elevator, and 100 black youths attacking one shopper and two Kroger employees at a store which sits on Poplar Avenue, the most-traveled street in my hometown.

1. In Obama’s speech, he stated that ISIL was not a part of Islam. I guess them shouting “Allahu Akbar!” as they behead the infidels, means they’re Jehovah’s Witnesses?

2. Baltimore Ravens Player Ray Rice, has been fired for knocking out his fiancé (now wife) while they were arguing in an elevator, which just happened to have a camera in it. As the story continued to roll out this past week, it was learned that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had a hand in covering up the brutality. Thursday night, Ravens Fans showed up at this week’s game dressed in Ray Rice Jerseys in jaw-dropping support of the low-life.

3.  Last Saturday night, in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, one shopper and two Kroger Employees were attacked by a mob of over 100 black youths. The incident happened around 9:15 p.m. in the parking lot of the Kroger at Highland and Poplar. A store employee caught video of the attack. A 25-year-old man said he was attacked by the group as he walked to his car. Two Kroger employees, 17 and 18, ran to help the man. Both were repeatedly hit in the head and face. The teens told police pumpkins “in excess of 20 pounds” were thrown on their heads while they were on the ground. Police say both teens lost consciousness.  Eventually, a security guard stopped the attack.  The Kroger Employees were taken to the hospital and released to their parents. The video has spread via Facebook and other social media sites. So far, police have arrested 11 out of the 100 youths.

There seems to be an air of selfishness, immorality, and lawlessness, which has settled, like a dark cloud, over our country. Instead of caring for others and trying to accomplish something with their lives, we seem to be bearing witness to a generation which was perfectlydescribed in 2 Timothy.

But, what is the answer? Is there a chance to restore America?

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. – Galations 5:1 (ESV)

First off, in order for America to remain free, our military must be strong.

On the 8th of March, 1983, President Ronald Reagan spoke to the National Association of Evangelicals. This speech became widely known as “the Evil Empire Speech”, because, within the context of the speech, he detailed the evils of Marxism. Within that speech, President Reagan spoke of our duty to God and to our Country…and to PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH…

It was C.S. Lewis who, in his unforgettable “Screwtape Letters,” wrote: “The greatest evil is not done now…in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is…not even done in concentration camps and labor camps. In those we see its final result, but it is conceived and ordered; moved, seconded, carried and minuted in clear, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.”

Well, because these “quiet men” do not “raise their voices,” because they sometimes speak in soothing tones of brotherhood and peace, because, like other dictators before them, they’re always making “their final territorial demand,” some would have us accept them at their word and accommodate ourselves to their aggressive impulses. But if history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.

So, I urge you to speak out against those who would place the United States in a position of military and moral inferiority. You know, I’ve always believed that old Screwtape reserved his best efforts for those of you in the Church. So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride–the temptation of blithely..uh..declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.

 I ask you to resist the attempts of those who would have you withhold your support for our efforts, this administration’s efforts, to keep America strong and free, while we negotiate–real and verifiable reductions in the world’s nuclear arsenals and one day, with God’s help, their total elimination.

While America’s military strength is important, let me add here that I’ve always maintained that the struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. – 1 Peter 2:16 ( ESV)

A strong military will ensure our external defense against our enemies. How do we ensure the internal defense of our country?

Benjamin Franklin said,

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

What Dr. Franklin was talking about is the fact, as you’ve seen me state time and time again, that with Freedom comes Responsibility. Our actions have a direct effect on those around us.

Furthermore, man is a corrupt animal. Every child learns how to lie, at an early age. That is why we are told as parents to “raise a child in the way in which they should go”.

And, as those of us my age have observed, in the last couple of generations, there are less parents heeding that admonition from God’s Word.

Walk into any Walmart across America, and observe the behavior of children and their parents. It have become almost impossible to walk though a Walmart without almost running over a kid. And, please don’t stand there and wait for an apology from the mother of the “precious darling”, those come few and far between.

To be bold, a lot of these undisciplined children, grow up to be young adults, who seem to be allergic to responsibility. These are the ones, who, after college, refuse to leave home. Like the movie title, they experience a “Failure to Launch”.

Their every breathing moment is a quest for self-fulfillment, and an all-consuming involvement in a love affair…with themselves.

This selfishness guides their political ideology, as well. Usually these individuals become, either Liberals, or, they identify themselves as (l)ibertarians. Those who identify themselves as Liberals, believe that their intellect is innately higher than the rest of us, and, therefore, they should be able to be the Elite Class, political party in charge of our nation. Those who choose to identify themselves as (l)ibertarians, claim to believe in Fiscal Conservatism, and  Social Liberalism.

There is also a different sort of Libertarian in America….those who believe in the Constitution and the liberty of the individual. Those “Constitutionalists” are not the ones to whom I am referring.

Where the problem arises is the fact that Liberalism, (l)ibertarian, and Libertine all share the same root word “lib”, which means “free”. The word “Liberty” contains that word, also.

The problem is, “Freedom” or “Liberty” without conscience, is licentiousness. And, unrestricted  licentiousness will destroy an empire.

If man is left to his own devices, he usually builds his own Golden Calf.

And, I am afraid that is what has happened in this sacred land.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.- 2 Corinthians 3:17 (ESV)

America’s Progressives, who are presently in power, are relentless in their mission to remove the God of Our Fathers from “the Shining City on a Hill”.

Just as the Ancient Greeks and the Roman Empire, through their acceptance and acquiescence to the trappings of a morally bankrupt society, allowed their enemies, foreign and domestic to overrun them and destroy their civilizations, so is our nation, carved out of the blood and sacrifice of those who have gone before, in danger of allowing the Tyranny of the Minority to subjugate the 78% of us who claim Jesus Christ as our Personal Savior.

The thing about a slippery slope is: once you start down it, its hard to climb back up.

The Good News? 

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. – John 12:46 (ESV)

Jesus Christ is over all…and, He loves us.

Stay strong, Americans…and PRAY FOR OUR NATION.

Until He Comes,

KJ