January 20, 2017 @ 5:00 AM
If you believe America can succeed and become “great again,” while waving a defiant fist in the face of the Almighty and with our back clearly turned on Christ, then, today is a cartwheel turning day for you in our country. If, on the other hand, you, like me, don’t subscribe to such wishful thinking, believing, as the Bible clearly teaches, that it is nothing more than a pipe dream, you see through all the hoopla of this Inauguration Day to the harsh reality of our country’s dire and desperate spiritual straits.
Contrary to the pie in the sky prognostications of Trump touting pipe dreamers, we’ve not turned the corner in America, but our still painted into one by our stiff-necked refusal to repent of our sins and to return to God. Although the cast of characters in our nation’s capital may be changing, as well as the prevalent political ideology on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, our country’s critical spiritual condition remains unaltered. Furthermore, until we acknowledge our transgressions and become aware of the impending judgment of God upon our land, we will never fall to our knees to desperately cry out to God for His mercy, which alone can avert His approaching retribution.
It is a lonely road God has called me to plod, but such has been the case for all of God’s prophets (preachers) throughout time. The message one is divinely duty-bound to preach is never popular with profane populaces and always offensive to offenders of God who stand in opposition to the truth of the Gospel. Therefore, the cost the preacher must pay is more than mere unpopularity; it is often severe persecution. Mine is not a calling for the fainthearted, but demands a wholehearted commitment to the truth of Christ, regardless of cost and consequence to oneself.
You will, I hope, forgive me for busting your bubble on this Inauguration Day with the sharp tip of God’s two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). Wielding it is what I’m called to do, and it alone can clearly sever today’s national pageantry and wishful thinking from the immutable truths of God’s infallible Word.