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Thomas B. Warren (Deceased)

A nation is a lot like a person. It is born. It lives. It grows old. It dies. Many great nations have arisen during the history of the world. Some of them experienced a pattern somewhat like this: They began with strong spiritual and moral conviction, followed by the growth and eventual dominance of materialism, eventually to be destroyed by moral decay, apathy, and anarchy. Sounds all too familiar, doesn't it?

America began with spiritual conviction, and at least a great many people who meant it when "In God We Trust" was stamped on its money. Then came the industrial revolution, the agricultural revolution, the glorification of materialism in general, and a people who began to trust more in money than God. Now we see signs of decadence and apathy, the next-to-last stage. As one of the Nobel Peace Prize winners pointed out several years ago, not just in America, but in the rest of the world, our moral fiber is unraveling rapidly.

Is it all over? Is it the end? Is America about to die? Well, that depends upon America. It depends on what we Americans decide. God gives us the choice, both as individuals and nations to follow our way or His way.  "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13,14). It's up to us. He wants us as willing followers, not as robots with no freedom of choice. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:28-30).

Centuries before Christ, Nineveh, much like America today, was faced with a choice. Nineveh could pursue either its own self-centered course or turn back to God. In what must have been one of the greatest spiritual revivals in history, Nineveh heard God's warning. Its citizens believed God, proclaimed a fast, turned around from wrong doing, and were saved from destruction (Jonah 3:5-10).

The same thing can happen in America today. America has been great. It can be even greater. Our permissiveness, violence, and overindulgence can be either the beginning of the end or the crisis experience that gives us rebirth in God's will. It's up to use which of the two it will be.