America

I don’t know about you, but the past three weeks have been some of the worst I have seen in my lifetime.

Does watching the news cause you stress? If so, you’re in the majority, according to the American Psychological Association.

The biggest reaction Eric Metaxas got from students this week at Judson University in suburban Elgin was when Judson President Gene Crume introduced him as one of the writers and voices on “VeggieTales,” a popular Christian animated series many millennials grew up watching.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Last night, Judiciary Committee Republicans revealed that they have interviewed a man “who believes he, not Dr. Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982.”

Many have warned us since the beginning of our republic that our system of government depends on things like freedom of speech, civil dialogue, rule of law, virtue, and ethical behavior. Without these, we’re told, America as we know it can’t survive.

Franklin Graham pointed to news of skyrocketing STD rates in the United States as evidence of our collective “moral and spiritual crisis.”

America is broken and in deep need of a spiritual breakthrough. Division and hatefulness are abounding as none of us would ever imagine. Our greatest hope is a spiritual breakthrough in America.

Please join us in prayer daily, weekly, or regularly for these three priorities in August of 2018.

I’m an extremely patriotic person. I love the United States of America. I am forever deeply grateful for the countless blessings that I’ve enjoyed because of the freedom that is part of the foundation of this great country. Had I been asked to do so, I would have fought in any war to defend our country. And yes, I celebrated the 4th of July with fireworks and hotdogs and a profound expression of thanksgiving to God for all that he has enabled this country to do for its citizens as well as people from around the world.

But I’m deeply concerned about those who would turn patriotism into nationalism, as if to suggest that Jesus is himself an American, or that America is itself in some sort of covenant with God. Let’s never forget that the only “nation” with which God has established a covenant is the Church of Jesus Christ. This is one of the glorious truths of the New Covenant under whose blessings we live.

Photo Courtesy: Unsplash/Relentless Church

The mass shooting on June 28 in Annapolis, Maryland, has renewed familiar concerns about America’s gun culture and gun policies.