I have just read a newsletter sent out by Joel Rosenberg who concentrates his ministry in Israel and the Middle East. In it he quotes Billy Graham who recently wrote an open letter to America. Let me quote some excerpts from the Billy Graham letter:
“Some years ago, my wife Ruth, was reading the draft of a book I was writing. When she finished a section describing the terrible downward spiral of our nation’s moral standards and the idolatry of worshiping false gods such as technology and sex, she startled me by exclaiming, ‘If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.’
“…I wonder what Ruth would think of America if she were alive today. In the years since she made that remark, millions of babies have been aborted and our nation seems largely unconcerned. Self-centered indulgence, pride, and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle.
“Just a few weeks ago in a prominent city in the South, Christian chaplains who serve the police department were ordered to no longer mention the Name of Jesus in prayer. It was reported that during a recent police-sponsored event, the only person allowed to pray was someone who addressed ‘the being in the room’ Similar scenarios are now commonplace in towns across America. Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone – except God.
“Yet the further we get from God, the more the world spirals out of control.
“My heart aches forAmerica and its deceived people. The wonderful news is that our Lord is a God of mercy, and He responds to repentance. In Jonah’s day, Nineveh was the lone world of superpower-wealthy, unconcerned, and self-centered. When the prophet Jonah finally traveled to Nineveh and proclaimed God’s warning, people heard and repented.
“I believe the same thing can happen once again, this time in our nation.”
I don’t quote these excerpts simply because they are applied to America, but because the principles apply to any country which turns it back on God, including Canada! May people wake up to the warnings and may the Church wake up to its responsibility in raising the alarm!
