The Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives this past week. Nancy Pelosi was handed the gavel once again, and no sooner had she put on the mantel of leadership than one of the newest members of Congress, Ocasio-Cortez attempted to buck Speaker Pelosi. The reason is not all that clear to me (as are many of the hair-brained ideas that the far left is pushing). This rising star of the far left is determined to stir the waters of Washington and ruffle a few feathers along the way. I really think she is seeking to make a name for herself in hopes of making a Presidential run down the road. Why else would she immediately call for a change in the Constitution to eliminate the age requirement for someone wanting to run for the highest office in the land? I want to assure you that it is not my intention in this week’s article to pontificate on politics. It is important, however, to take a quick look at the counter-movement to what Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and other radical socialists are offering, and see whether any movement that leaves God out of the picture can ever hope to provide us with national stability and/or happiness.

Donald Trump rode the surge of public discontent regarding Big-Government all the way to the White House. He has, without doubt, unleashed a sleeping giant. The question of the hour, however, is whether the present movement can be sustained once Mr. Trump has completed his position as POTUS and returned to his real estate empire. Will the seeds he has planted find root that will reverse the cultural and economic mindset that is destroying our nation? Will the grass roots movement that seeks personal responsibility instead of bigger government, more “freebies” and “entitlements” succeed well into the next generation? I want to suggest to you that this nation will not, yea cannot reverse the present course we are traveling unless there is a spiritual revival that will help us put things in proper perspective.

Our Lord warned us, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). Most of America is drowning in “stuff”! We have filled our attics with “stuff,” backed our $50,000 automobiles out into the driveway, filled up our garages with more “stuff,” and now “U-store,” “U-Pack,” “Attic-Away-From-Home,” and all such storage rental companies are doing a booming business. When Jesus said you “cannot serve God and mammon,” He was, in effect saying, “It is impossible to serve both.” Once a person makes the choice to serve mammon, he immediately gives up his service to God. Unfortunately, the devil had convinced us that the heath of a nation can be summed up in the Gross Domestic Product rate and a stock market that is booming. It seems to me that America has yet to learn the lesson that Jesus stated so well in those half dozen words contained in Matthew 6:24. Not only is this nation no longer seeking God, she is in fact running away from God at neck-break speed. America is seeking more prosperity, cheaper consumer goods, better iPhones, faster computers, and automobiles with standard equipment that makes the Cadillac of the 1960’s look like a cheap means of transportation. Who cares if you have to finance that automobile for 72 months, as long as you can drive one off the showroom floor and park it in your driveway.

The tragedy is that Donald Trump has yet to call us to our greatest calling. He has not regenerated the soul of America, nor can he; only the Gospel can do that. With all our affluence we continue to move further and further away from the God Who has blessed us abundantly. Drug abuse is worse than it has ever been. The suicide rate continues to escalate. And now, Tim Wildmon of The American Family Association is calling on anyone who claims a faith in Christ to turn off the TV – completely, and indefinitely. Here are some sobering words from an email I received from Mr. Wildmon at AFA:

This week, NBC broadcast one of the most offensive and sexually repulsive segments ever during its New Year’s Eve coverage. Even the networks’ commercials are promoting lifestyles that are in complete conflict with God’s word. AT&T has just released a new ad promotion that features two homosexual men hiring a babysitter to watch “their children” so they can go on a date. Network television has become a vast wasteland of evil and wickedness. It is a present-day Sodom and Gomorrah. In response, thousands of Christian families are adopting Psalm 101:3 as the new standard in their homes: I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. They are choosing to honor God by restricting what is shown in their homes or even turning off the TV altogether and focusing on those things that draw them closer to the Savior (email from AFA, 01-03-2019).

While America seeks happiness, it seems rather obvious that the happiness they seek is one rooted in the lust of the flesh and not the law of faith in God. Happiness inseparably shacked to material gain is not happiness; it is merely reveling in the pleasures of sin for a season while slowly poisoning the inner spirit of man. True joy and happiness comes only with serving our Creator to the fullest of our ability (Ecc. 12:13).

I am part of the Baby Boomer Generation. My generation has witnessed a complete collapse of the moral foundation that once characterized our nation. A nation that once sought God no longer seeks the will or favor of the Almighty, and we are the worse for it. If President Trump, Congress, or any of our leaders in Washington, from Nancy Pelosi to Chuck Schumer, really want to help this country, they will seek to unleash the power of God’s word in the halls of Congress, the White House, our public institutions of education, and most of all, in the families that make up the constituents who voted them into office. Bills must be introduced into the newly empowered House that will remove the barriers that hinder men and women from pursuing the God Who has given us this wonderful nation; bills that will enhance and promote responsibility rather than encouraging reliance on “Big Government” for one’s well-being. My prayer is that our leaders in Washington will have such a spiritual revival, and that it will filter down to the common masses, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and far beyond the borders of our nation. It is to that end that we labor; it is to that end that we pray.

By Tom Wacaster