A Special Message For America, Part 1

[0:00] You have promised to more than compensate for as we call upon you, and that's what we're doing now. So we ask that as this content is engaged, you will give wisdom and understanding that is beyond our own and allow us to see issues as they truly are and not as perhaps we think they are.

[0:19] We recognize that you are the God of truth and reality, and these are desperate needs that we want to appreciate. So we ask that as we continue with what you have laid upon our hearts, you will use it to enlighten and stimulate and encourage, and where necessary, even rebuke.

[0:41] Thank you for being the God that you are and for calling us to Christ as you have and for all that we possess in him. We commit this time to you with thanksgiving in his name. Amen.

[0:52] Amen. The United States of America is currently in this 21st century at its lowest point in spiritual and moral degradation and declension.

[1:08] It is freely admitted that there were many among the founding generation of our 13 colonies who were not professing Christians, but it must be equally admitted that many were and made their faith undeniably evident in their speeches and correspondence that remain available to the present.

[1:27] Clergymen available in abundance were regularly called upon to invoke the presence and wisdom of the Almighty at every official meeting convened by our founding fathers.

[1:40] That America is far from a perfect nation is a given. No one disputes that. We are a multi-flawed nation, and even the most fervent patriot should be willing to admit that.

[1:57] As such, the nation needs to be called out on each and every one of those flaws with an attempt to correct them and make America less flawed than it is.

[2:09] At the same time, America needs to be applauded for her several virtues, virtues that have more consistently characterized her than have her flaws over the 200 plus years of her existence.

[2:24] America's virtues, particularly in her exceeding generosity to other nations, has done the world far more good than her flaws have done harm.

[2:37] This is a balance we must strive to maintain. But this balance is now in jeopardy. It is being jeopardized because our ability to extend the good we can do for the world must begin with the good and virtuous things we are able to do here at home.

[2:56] We cannot export America's benefits and blessings abroad if we cannot maintain them here in the homeland. It is here that our historic values and virtues are not only in danger of not being maintained, but are actually seen by some as needing to be overthrown and replaced by a whole new order and value system.

[3:22] This effort is presently underway and has made great progress toward its goals. In a pronounced fashion, it has done so, and it began with the election of Barack Obama to the office of president, who, upon being elected, publicly stated his goal was to fundamentally change America.

[3:49] I challenge anyone to dispute this by calling it merely my opinion. This is not opinion. But even if it were, I have a right to express it. If you are one who would deny me that right, then you are clearly part of the problem and threat of which I speak.

[4:07] If you are one who views honest disagreement as hate speech and insists that opposition to this president or to any other president, Democrat or Republican, be silenced, then you should know your stance is completely contrary to everything this nation is about from its very founding.

[4:29] Clergypersons, in my opinion, and this is clearly my opinion, should not seek to engage in purely political discourse publicly. Yet one cannot divorce issues of morality from the political spectrum.

[4:47] All of politics is inseparably linked to someone's view and conviction of morality. What is moral and what is not involves issues of right and wrong.

[5:03] These opposites cannot even be identified if there are no moral absolutes. But there are. And they loom very large in all issues of legislation and governance.

[5:18] There is no justification for any pastor who refuses to identify moral issues for what they clearly are because he chooses to hide behind a cloak of not sounding political.

[5:33] Morality, a principal issue to which all Christians are called, cannot be separated from things political. If any politician, be he Republican, Democrat, Independent, Conservative, Liberal, or whatever else, takes pure politics into clearly defined areas of immoral policies, he should expect scathing denunciation from all who are in any capacity of spiritual leadership.

[6:05] This is called speaking truth to power. Clergy not only have the right to do so, but bear a solemn responsibility to do so before him who called us by his grace.

[6:24] The United States of America continues at a speedy pace in a period of moral and spiritual declension.

[6:37] And we need to address the reality of what is happening. And I think that will become clear as a diagnosis. And then there is a biblical corrective for it all.

[6:51] And that will come later. Everything. Everything that is everything that occurs in this world, construed as negative to humanity, issues forth from the base of the original fallenness of the planet.

[7:10] Such was willfully produced by our first parents in their disobedience to the God who made them. These negatives inflicted upon humanity include, but are not limited to, what Galatians 5 lists as deeds of the flesh, namely immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, which is modern day usage of narcotics, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and things like this.

[7:51] This list of negatives is extended in 2 Timothy 3, with more to be anticipated as part of what we are told will characterize the last days.

[8:01] They include men who are lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.

[8:27] All of the above, from both Galatians 5, and 2 Timothy 3, are things people engage in, as enabled by their morally fallen nature, induced into humanity by the fall in Genesis 3.

[8:42] And because all of us are humans, we are morally infected with this terminal disease called sin, and we all experience the same negative consequence in our unredeemed physical bodies, with the disease of sin bringing death.

[9:00] Out of all this fallen humanity, to which every human being belongs, Jesus Christ being the lone exception, those whose spirit has been redeemed and regenerated via the new birth, are given eternal life by virtue of their faith, and the substitutionary death of Christ on behalf of their sin.

[9:23] Upon physical death, our redeemed spirit departs our body to be joined to Christ. Our unredeemed body awaits the resurrection to be reunited with our formerly redeemed spirit, in accord with Romans 8, 18-25.

[9:38] Thus, it is this moral spiritual fallenness, that has impacted and dominated every human spirit. One's spirit, then dictates to one's body, as the instrument of outward actions.

[9:56] Even Christian believers continue, as Christians, to possess this fallenness in our old nature, should they submit to their fallen human fleshly nature, as opposed to submitting to the spirit described in Galatians 5.

[10:14] Non-Christians, without the ability provided by spiritual regeneration, are limited to functioning via their inborn sinful nature exclusively. Even seemingly good things they may do outwardly, are nonetheless tainted by the corrupted nature, inherited via the fall, and are thus unacceptable to God, even though recognized and applauded by men.

[10:40] It is because of this moral and spiritual death cycle, systemic to all humanity, that accounts for the world being as it is. It also accounts for this nation, being as it is.

[10:54] All of the vices in the lists mentioned earlier, are attitudes and actions used by humans, to inflict great pain, misery, and violence, upon other humans.

[11:09] All conflicts, from those of marriage and family, to those involving multiple nations at war, stem directly from the aforesaid corruption and fallenness.

[11:23] Sin in attitude and actions, is the vehicle people use to injure and kill one another. Nothing any sociologist, anthropologist, or psychiatrist can offer, even comes close to explaining why the world is as it is, apart from this biblically explicit explanation.

[11:47] It is, of course, denied by man, only to his great peril and detriment. It is to his peril in rejecting this, because he effectively cuts himself off from the only factual diagnosis of the human condition.

[12:04] This, in turn, makes his treatment and remedy impossible. Mankind suffers from a moral and spiritual malady to be addressed only via a changed heart, available via regeneration.

[12:21] Efforts to treat this spiritual disease with a political, social, educational, or economic solution is tantamount to administering a placebo, as opposed to the powerful curative ability the spiritual generation of the human heart brings.

[12:43] Nothing less than this, on a massive scale, can salvage this ship of state called America, and turn it around before it sails over the edge and is added to the graveyard of nations that rose and fell before us.

[13:00] Bottom line, simply this. Our nation's problems and the world's problems are essentially spiritual in nature. That being the case, the only possible solution is a spiritual solution.

[13:15] solution. But man, in his fallenness, doesn't want a spiritual solution. He would rather have a political solution, an economic solution, an employment, full employment solution, better education solution.

[13:34] has it ever occurred to you if any of those things would really work, they would have worked a long time ago, but they never have, and they never will.

[13:46] Because if you cannot diagnose a condition, you cannot effectively treat it. I look upon what is happening in our nation almost on a weekly basis, and just lately with this same-sex ruling of the Supreme Court, as one more withdrawal of the spiritual or from the spiritual and moral base of the United States.

[14:17] Think of this nation, if you will, as a depository of virtue and honor and truth, honesty, and justice.

[14:33] And think of all of those things being deposited, if you will, in an imaginary bank. Call it a bank of morality, a bank of decency, a bank of honesty.

[14:45] And when these virtues are ignored or plundered as they are in our day, it constitutes a withdrawal from our account.

[15:02] And the balance that is in there is descending, rapidly descending. Perhaps we've already hit bottom and are in the moral red right now and don't even realize it.

[15:21] There is no doubt the greatest spiritual withdrawal the United States has ever undergone in our thoroughly legal but thoroughly abhorrent disregard for the sanctity of life itself.

[15:40] That has to be number one. It doesn't get any more basic and human than that. No nation wantonly and legally depriving life to its unborn deserves to continue existing as a viable nation.

[16:00] Yet, we do continue to exist although the degree of our viability can be seriously challenged. we are not nearly the nation we once were but only those of sufficient age can recall the way we were.

[16:21] Legalized abortion a disheartening and disgusting term a concept difficult to even repeat. It is unthinkable and yet it is cleverly disguised under the appealing sounding names of pro-choice.

[16:46] What could be wrong with that? Who isn't in favor of choice? and a woman's right to choose.

[17:01] Do you have a problem with that? Doesn't that have a compelling ring to it? Or a woman's health care prerogative.

[17:15] Yes! How could you deny that? Or reproductive rights and options should be between a woman and her doctor.

[17:29] Who could find fault with that? All of these and other perfectly logical sounding reasonable mantras contrived by the Fifth Avenue public relation gurus have successfully influenced a gullible public.

[17:50] and a Supreme Court as well. These are good at what they do.

[18:02] There are in excess of 50 million and counting innocent unborns who can testify to the effectiveness of these merchants of death.

[18:15] sexuality is at the very core of our humanity because it is the medium through which our very existence as humans is perpetuated.

[18:30] Physically speaking, nothing is more essential to any species of biological life than that of reproduction. right after air, water, and food, the drive for mating and reproduction looms very large.

[18:51] This is a direct result of God telling our first parents they were to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth in Genesis 128 even before he told them what he had provided for their food in verse 29.

[19:07] It appears clear that sexuality along with the food provided was a gift, a provision of God he had made for these first earthly inhabitants.

[19:21] It also appears there was no concern for these gifts of God to suffer abuse by man so long as they remained in their original status with their creator and the rest of creation.

[19:35] But as we know this would change. Their ability to abuse God's gifts became a reality following their rejection of God's authority.

[19:47] This would include the abuse of their sexuality as well as every other provision God had made for their benefit. Corruption of the original good would follow every generation of humanity from the first onward.

[20:05] following subsequent generations of human reproduction corruption would become so pervasive it was depicted in Genesis 6 verses 11 and 12 saying now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God and the earth was filled with violence and God looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

[20:32] the phrase all flesh had corrupted their way strongly suggests that every aspect of their being was incorporated in the term their way had corrupted their way very essence lifestyle of their being and there is no reason to exclude from this scene the corruption of their sexuality and its practices as well however one chooses to interpret the daughters of men and the sons of God whether the sons of God as evil men or evil angelic beings cohabiting with humans the sexual aspect of either is obvious and undeniable so whichever the males were the result was in the abnormal Nephilim being produced as offspring the context demands corruption evil wickedness and violence all be part of this same package of what humanity had become as all these terms are utilized to depict the pre-flood existence it also appears that sexual perversion or abnormality constituted the centerpiece of their corruption this would constitute another direct attack upon the core and essence of humanity namely

[21:54] God's gift of sexuality and when we fast forward to Genesis 19 hundreds of years after the destruction of the flood sexual corruption and perversion surfaces again with the horrific behavior of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah followed by God's dispatching two angels to destroy the cities attempts to deny the plain and obvious interpretation of the passage by those defending the homosexual agenda have not to my knowledge been accepted by any serious Bible scholar few passages speak as clearly with equally clear consequences as that of the vice and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah while this example of sodomy or homosexuality recounts the sexual corruption of these inhabitants those who are heterosexual need to be aware of their potential for sexual corruption as well

[23:03] Christ himself declares that what lies in the heart of man waiting to be acted out includes fornication and adulteries among other listed vices in Mark chapter 7 the only difference between fornication and adulteries refers to illicit sexual activity and we may presume of any kind between those who are unmarried that's fornication and adultery of course involves those who are already in a marital union in wondering why if God dealt so severely with sexual corruption in the past as with the great flood and later with Sodom and Gomorrah why he seemingly is giving a pass to rampant sexual corruption today perhaps he is doing no such thing depending on how one interprets

[24:05] Romans chapter 1 God may not be giving anyone a pass this is another of those straightforward passages that detractors namely those of the homosexual agenda wish were not included in the Bible but it is the passage is referencing those guilty of suppressing the truth and they do so from a base and a sphere of unrighteousness the text the text says they suppress or hold down the truth in unrighteousness this means that they know that there is truth but they willingly refuse to allow it to come out out of these engaging in unrighteousness verse 24 says that God gave them over three times the phrase is repeated we can only assume it is for the sake of emphasis God gave them over in verse 24 that their bodies might be dishonored among them verse 26 says

[25:13] God gave them over to degrading passions and in verse 28 it says God gave them over to a depraved mind one must reasonably conclude that God is not in fact giving them a pass for their aberrant behavior at all instead he is giving them over or giving them up but over and up to what over and up to their own devices this giving over is in point of fact what their present judgment consists of it is their being left to their own desires and while that may sound like God is withholding his judgment he is actually allowing their sexually perverted behavior to be their judgment additionally it appears that those who approvingly align themselves in sympathy with the offenders share in their guilt also efforts to excuse aberrant sexual behavior on the grounds of being non-judgmental compassionate and caring does not nearly negate the clear biblical prohibitions against it and no we aren't being judgmental because we have not the right and we do not have the right to sit in judgment of others while we all have our own sins faults and failures but we do have an obligation to warn them that while we are not judging them

[26:59] God already has and we are responsible to tell them his verdict about their behavior that is the truly loving thing to do and our whole motivation behind that ought not to be to hate anyone or to present ourselves as superior or holier to anyone our sole motivation ought to be for the purpose of rescue because these people as I have so often said are not the enemy they are captives of the enemy and we owe them the information they desperately need in order to come to faith that's the truly loving thing to do this of course is completely contrary to what today's public opinion polls and our own Supreme Court tells us our attitude should be so bottom line for these issues particularly that of abortion abortion on demand is more than anything else simply a demand for sex on demand without the inconvenient consequences of birthing and being responsible for another human being babies are inconvenient and they constitute a major change in lifestyle especially if the pair who made the baby has any sense of responsibility disguise the so-called need for access to abortion however the public relations pro-abortion industry can phrase it the real reason behind it no one wants to admit is to maintain unrestricted sexual activity without the bothersome consequences of a baby that's in the main what abortion is really all about we ought to recognize that this abortion on demand is

[29:09] America's number one spiritual and moral withdrawal from America's assets for survival it is a rapidly dwindling spiritual balance already overdrawn operating in the spiritual red ranking second only surpassed by the value of all human life as taken in legalized abortion is the devaluation of the lives of some as opposed to the lives of others Mr.

[29:46] Jefferson might well relish the opportunity to rewrite his opening line we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal well not quite did he mean that African men were not really men or did he mean that African men who were slaves were equal to free men of course we can appreciate Sir Thomas was a man of his day and culture with an entirely different perspective than what he would have had had he been around a hundred years after he wrote that in our declaration of 1776 and we need to give him the benefit of that doubt in that situation but still there it stands in all its infamy right there in the first line of one of our most cherished documents birthing the

[30:52] U.S. of A as much as patriotic Americans including myself revere this document as being the next thing to inspire of God the best and brightest among us including our Jeffersons can produce our flawed offerings this was a grave and inexcusable injustice that condones slavery or as in the case of the declaration ignoring it the whole sordid affair was exacerbated with the U.S.

[31:33] Supreme Court irretrievably embarrassing itself with the dreadful Dred Scott decision of 1857 in writing the majority opinion Chief Justice Roger Taney found that Dred Scott an American slave was in fact legal property rather than a bona fide person and being property he was subject to being owned and he was owned as a slave in the same way as a horse or wagon could be owned bought and sold by its owner so it was with Dred Scott whose suit to be freed as a slave was denied by the Supreme Court and what we have here is one more ultra costly withdrawal from the spiritual account of the U.S.

[32:32] of A. And were it not for the likes of William Wilberforce Harriet Beecher Stowe Abraham Lincoln we might be no better off in race relations than we were in 1860 and were it not for the likes of Dr.

[32:50] Martin Luther King Jr. we might be no better off in race relations than we were in 19 60 the whole basis of racial inequality lies in a profound ignorance coupled with an arrogance that sees one's particular race as superior to others Adolf Hitler's illusion of the superiority of the Aryan race continues to live on in a minority of miniature Hitler sycopants around the globe it ought to be profoundly embarrassing to any white American who knows even a little of what African Americans have been subjected to even after the Emancipation Proclamation declared them free legally they were free practically they remained in a kind of subjugation for the next 100 years in the 1960s they were provided additional legal relief with civil rights legislation and this resulted in giving

[34:02] African Americans opportunities not previously realized even though they had been legally free for 17 years for 100 years affirmative action the legislation that commanded compliance under penalty of law it can provide opportunities for blacks that they did not have otherwise and it has done so but affirmative action laws cannot command the change of the human heart and mind and therein lies the rub problem is not bad legislation or good legislation the problem is bad hearts hearts that need to be changed African Americans demonstrated their full-fledged humanness when they sensed that many still looked upon them and treated them as inferiors by so many whites and institutions they quickly sensed that while they were yes equal in a sense they were still not as equal as their white counterparts and this persisted for decades and remains live and well in too many circles even today the affirmative action congressional effort that sought to further impose a forced equality worked to a point but while it succeeded in mandating opportunities previously not available to

[35:29] African Americans it also generated considerable resentment in the white population which often spilled over in their attitude and treatment of the newly privileged African Americans who were now being assigned jobs and positions earlier garnered by whites and in a very real sense they were right in their complaint calling this reverse discrimination because it was and the argument was do two wrongs make a right so that debate still rages on and affirmative action remains in place even though it has been somewhat weakened and speaking of resentments no American white person certainly including myself has any idea what it means to live and function daily in a minority position where you are regarded as less than the majority solely because of your skin color or ethnic heritage how could these avoid a seething resentment toward the so called superior segment of society for the most part they couldn't they couldn't avoid being resentful any more than whites would have avoided it had the roles been reversed we would have behaved in the same way the problem is not skin the problem is sin resentment for injustice and the bitterness that comes therefrom is not an

[37:16] African American thing it's a human thing and it is fostered by ill will and shabby treatment from many in the majority incidents and experiences of being treated like second class citizens or worse is of course bandied about and understandably talked about by blacks among themselves and this naturally of course fuels each other into even more resentment people know regardless of their skin color when they are treated unjustly and are disrespected by those in the majority like every normal human being they want to be treated like everyone else as a genuine equal just one of the folks no better no worse just like everyone else young blacks characteristic of youthfulness tend to be less tolerant less patient and less overlooking of a lot of negative treatment as are their older folks those older blacks have a history and they know how far they have come from the 1800s and how far they have come from 1960 yet the young bucks with little personal history they don't see much progress at all from their perspective they easily develop a chip on their shoulder against the white establishment and its authority and this leads to acting out sometimes in rebellious or criminal activity often in ways that lead to their prosecution and incarceration and while some believe they are this way simply because they are young black men it is patently obvious they are this way because they are humans and young whites would be reacting in the very same way were they in this situation there are no doubt many things about the white majority that truly irritate and anger

[39:23] African Americans and myself not being of course African American I can't speak with their voice but I can register for you a suspicion that I have it's a hunch I did some really serious soul searching and I asked myself try to imagine Marv that you are a black American you've lived long enough to know how blacks have been generally treated and discriminated against sometimes officially but more often unofficially discriminated against sometimes early on discriminated against even by the government as in the 1800s and then later discriminated against by huge numbers of whites even though they were supposed to be equals we know that they weren't really equals and as you contemplate this and think about it try to imagine what it would be like to be a black and be subjected to all of the things they have is there anything that would particularly send you over the edge that a white person could do that would really rank you know

[40:49] I thought about it for quite a while and this is the conclusion I came to what do I think whites could do or say that would more quickly send me over the edge than anything else what would produce an anger I might really struggle to control more than anything else right or wrong here's what I conclude it would be for someone white to tell me they know and understand how I feel as a recipient of racial discrimination I might bite my tongue smile outwardly and say thank you but inwardly I would be silently administering a tongue lashing a tongue lashing that if I were expressing it outwardly loudly and verbally it would be this oh no you don't you don't have a clue no idea whatever so just shut up and don't patronize me by telling me you understand how

[41:54] I feel because you don't and you never will that really settled down on me and I think I'm right but of course as an African American I wouldn't dare verbalize that out loud because if I did they would say well that's just how rude those ungrateful African Americans are after all we've done for them wouldn't say in the African American community there are numerous negatives that contribute to a disproportionate number of their youth with criminal records and incarceration lack of marriage commitment disintegration of the family absence of a father figure poverty and joblessness lack of education drugs and alcohol and don't forget that chip on the shoulder which creates an inner attitude often expressed then in outward actions toward authority in general and law enforcement authority in particular and the prison cells clank shut on a disproportionate number of young black men one of the most remarkable things about the african american community here in the united states is in my opinion the fact that so many of them have managed to salvage a genuine sense of humor don't you know that to be true black humor is really an extraordinary thing after all they've been subjected to and perhaps their laughter is due in part to their laughing to keep from crying and in many ways very similar to our historic ill treatment of african americans has been our subjugation of the native american indian they too were and many times still are accorded a status of inferiority to whites repeated lies and broken agreements by the white government in power were all somehow justified because of the lesser importance and inequality assigned to native americans primary concern was land acquisition and expansion and after all the indians were merely roaming over the land moving on as the hunting grounds moved but the white man would settle that land and develop it and that clearly made it okay especially when the indian was compensated with a wonderful reservation where they would be taken care of by the white government's generosity the resulting resentment a loss of self determination deep depression rampant alcoholism and suicides particularly among males remains rampant to this day in the american indian community at the base of all this as parallel to the african american situation has been the historic supposition of whites that both groups were and to many whites still are clearly lesser persons of lesser value and lesser ability than whites evolutionists in an earlier day chimed in with their so-called scientific findings and by the way the public is so gullible if you attach the word scientific to anything they fall

[45:55] for it their so-called scientific findings were that all people of color were simply not as far advanced up the evolutionary ladder as were the whites who were of course the superior beings how can we not expect racial tensions to flare up at occasions wherever these inequalities are demonstrated the entire racial conflict has deep roots and great complexities that fuel it but at its very base lies a spiritual problem that only a spiritual solution can correct America's historic racial discrimination at one time official and government sanctioned with slavery but now more unofficial yet nonetheless real constitutes another massive withdrawal of spiritual capital from our nation's moral bank this treatment has contributed to our decreasing spiritual and moral worth as a truly viable healthy nation it is reasonable to conclude that given their history early and more recent in the

[47:15] U.S. people of color at least in many instances suffer from debilitating kinds of frustration and depression and some react to that with a lethargy that prevents self-motivation and the younger set with more energy may react with anger drugs sexual promiscuity gang violence etc.

[47:39] bitterness and a general hatred of the white establishment particularly toward those of authority figures in law enforcement we should not be surprised in 1972 a supreme court ruling came down that given all the other chaotic things that were happening didn't seem that significant but in my opinion and I want to emphasize it is only my opinion now although it wasn't my opinion at the time I speak of the court's ruling against prayer in the public schools and as a 30 something at the time and yes I was actually a 30 something at one time in the 70s my thinking focused upon the actual prayers and their contents as prayed by teachers and kids in the schools surely this nation could survive without the

[48:43] Lord's prayer offered several thousand times across the country how serious could not praying in public schools be very I say very because I missed the point of the whole issue because it didn't center on the content of their prayers nor on the number of prayers being prayed the real issue was simply in the fact that they were praying I didn't see that their praying unmistakably communicated something very important to the children that there was somebody to whom they were praying somebody who heard what they prayed and someone to whom we are accountable someone over us above us and our parents and our teachers and everybody else and the supreme court ruling in effect said to those children never mind the highest legal institution in the land conveyed the message that there was not and would not be any official acknowledgement of a supreme being in the public schools which at the present we might add may well include not only schools but every public institution those in favor of such are today making rapid progress toward their goal but should not mere logic tell us that if and I emphasize if there is a supreme being over the affairs of men and angels to whom all will ultimately give account would it not be logical and prudent to at least acknowledge his existence and invoke his blessing in doing so would we not be placing ourselves and all other humans under his authority and recognition of his existence and supremacy in the universe after all is there nothing of real value in the word

[50:37] God does it convey nothing to children when adults who are their authority figures as teachers principals parents and policemen officially recognize that there is an authority over and above them and he holds them accountable also and what message is sent them with a refusal to even make that acknowledgement by public prayers never mind the likelihood that most maybe even all of the nine justices themselves may personally believe there is a God even if that were true that is all lost in their ruling if any or all justices believe there is a God may we assume that such is important to them are they then suggesting it should not be important to the nation's children one's personal belief is not here an issue nor that of a justice or a child but that of the state that of officialdom that is what the ruling stipulated and that is why it was so disastrous with this ruling given in 1972 one could only surmise the

[51:48] Bible would next be in the cross hairs of the secularists and it took every bit of a whole year for that finding from the same court 1973 and the only logical thing in the name of consistency that the court could do was buy buy Bible after all if we refuse to recognize God publicly by addressing him as God in prayer why should we allow any official recognition of what is said to be his revelation to mankind the Bible must go again I recall my embarrassment as a 30 something because after all how much do these kids learn from reading a few verses from the Bible each day anyway but the value and the point of this is the same as that of prayer it's all about acknowledgement recognition accountability authority and all of the emotional psychological and behavioral implications included in that officiality now it's all gone it's gone just isn't there so who's in charge secular humanism is in charge they are running the show now

[53:07] Christianity is very definitely in a rapid decline here in the United States not only in its numbers but in its influence and it is going to continue to do that unless there is the kind of reversal that is possible I don't want to be a pessimist but I must tell you I do not see any signs of it although I would do everything in my power to try to affect it but that will be the corrective and the remedy that we plan to offer in the next hour hope you will join us for that and thank you for indulging me for this time I appreciate your patience and your kind hearing that you have given me and I look forward to meeting with you again in the second hour but for right now let's enjoy our coffee break enjoy it if you can okay