The following post was originally published in 2017 on the original Refined4him website at blogger.com. It is here in its original format, unedited. I can no longer guarantee that any links associated with this post are still active.

I remember it well during President Trump’s inaugural speech. He had mentioned many times the name “God” and even at one time said that God would protect this nation. This, I am sure, threw all of the anti-Christians into an uproar. I am sure that this alone would have spawned many people to call for his impeachment just minutes after becoming president. On the other hand, I am sure that this gave much hope to the many Christians out there who had begun to fear that their faith was going to be outlawed and that full blown persecution was coming to Christian America. I even remember seeing on Facebook a meme that depicted Jesus running down a road, carrying multiple suitcases, saying that He was on his way back to the White House. Many conservative and Christian Americans once again held their head up high with hopes that we would return to the America of yesteryear. But when we put our hopes in man, we put our hopes in a false security. One look at our current President’s past, as well as his current actions, prove that he is no great Christian leader that we should put an iota of faith into. 

In reality this nation needs to repent and turn to Jesus Christ. Not a famous orator, leader, or governing official. Only then would we as people be changed from the inside out. But is this possible? Could an entire nation repent and thwart God’s judgment against them? The mighty city Nineveh repented after hearing Jonah’s prophecy. “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’” (Jonah 1:1). “And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” (3:4). “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes… Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” (3:5-6, 10). Not just did the repentance of Nineveh hold back God’s hand of judgement, but eventually Israel repented. If you are familiar with the Biblical history of Israel it was their wicked and idolatrous ways that caused God’s judgement to come upon them and allowed them to be taken into captivity. What many Christians may not realize was that when they returned back to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity, they no longer worshipped the pagan idols and instead worshipped the One true Yahweh. God brought judgement upon them. He smacked some sense into them. They said “God is for real. The prophets weren’t kidding”. It took judgment to wake them up and to get them to turn from idols. Thankfully God remained true to His promises and did not wipe the entire nation clean off the face of the earth. Israel, an entire nation, repented. So yes, it is possible for a city and even an entire nation to turn back to God.

In just the past two weeks there has been more evidence of a nation of godless, reprobate minds running loose without the restraint of God within their conscience. I happened upon a video of a liberal woman who helped instigate the Berkeley protests and riots that I had mentioned in Part 2. She said that she uses violence to stop others from speaking and that she promoted violence during that riot against the conservative speaker because his views could spark violence. The news program went on to air a video of her arguing with an opposing protester in the street in which a man who was accompanying her pushed the opposing protester down and they began kicking and stomping him in the street. So let’s stop violence by being violent? Another incident involved the conservative speaker (who is also a homosexual male) in question at Berkeley promoting man-boy (pedophilic) relationships. He found himself in trouble and those who usually side with him began to distance himself from him. The third incident involved vandalism to various Jewish synagogues. When the President’s daughter called for religious tolerance, the religious intolerant called her a racist and a promoter of hate. The disturbing part about this typical leftist view is that many who are against religion because of its stance against the LBGT agenda want to be allowed to destroy Christians for their beliefs. That’s why they don’t want religious protection against any religion that opposes LBGT. So therefore we allow them to hatefully destroy those that they see promote hate. These three incidents are just a sprinkle on the icing of the cake that is the current reprobate America. It leaves many to ask “Are these people seriously using their brains?” Sadly, yes. They are using minds that are void of God and are left to their own decaying mind (as I had discussed in Part 3). This is how you end up with a society of cut-throat savages. Every man for himself!

Jesus said to his disciples “Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” (Mark 14:37-38). The problem with the modern American church is that it too has fallen asleep. Gone are the preachers who call for holiness and repentance. Gone are the preachers who could pull out a convincing “hellfire and brimstone” sermon that would even make saints fall to their knees in repentance. The popular preacher of the day is one who preaches a hippy Jesus that is all about love and happiness. Have you even noticed how big of a following that Joel Osteen has? This “Jesus” gives credence to the sinner for their wicked ways and condemns those who preach against sin and for repentance. The “Jesus” of today would’ve been the one to have imprisoned John the Baptist. The modern church has fallen asleep, and while she was snoring Satan crept in. This is why the modern American church’s gospel is as watered down as skim milk. There’s nothing there but fluff. There’s nothing there to counter balance the godless culture that is spiraling out of control and seeking to destroy the church. The church is no longer the lion, but is now the little lamb whereas Satan is the hungry lion.

Jonathan Falwell (Thomas Road Baptist Church) has a commercial on our local Christian radio station where, at the end, he says that Christians just want to change the world. It is not our job to change the world because, as we see in the Book of Revelation, there are many unbelievers in the tribulation. It is, however, our job to influence the world with the gospel. We are to be a light in a world of dark as I had mentioned in Part 4. We are to be a bright light for all to see, not a dim flickering light that makes everyone say “Is it going to work or die out?”. But the modern church has lost its influence. It has become complacent in its position of “strength” and “power”. It has become all about meeting the felt needs of the congregation, entertaining everybody, and receiving the applause and accolades of man. (For more of adescription on the modern church click here).

As I had mentioned in Parts 3 and 4, in regards to the reprobate man and the modern church, respectively, there is hope. That hope is Jesus. I know that that may sound like a cliché, but it is a fact. As Jesus said many times “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2, among others). Just like the men at Pentecost said after being convicted of their iniquities, “’Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’” (Acts 2:37-39). “Repentance” means to turn from your sinful flesh and turn to Christ as Lord and Savior. “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10). “Confess” means to agree with. If you agree that Jesus is Lord and “If we confess (agree that we are a sinner in need of salvation) our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). The hope is Jesus as Savior. 

For the church Jesus said to the church at Ephesus “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:4-5).Even the bride of Christ is not immune to judgement. But, despite all of their works and programs, this church had forgotten the basics of their faith. The modern church needs to wake up and clean house like Jesus cleansed the temple of the money changers (so much for that happy hippy “Jesus”, huh?). They need to reacquaint themselves with the God of the Bible, not the god of man.

May we recognize that Jesus is Lord, no matter what side of salvation we may stand on. “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).