Dear Editor:

Recently, I came across an old VCR of an evangelistic series which was dated 2000. It was from 3ABN network. Pastor Ken Cox was the speaker. One segment of this Prophecy series was called, “Wake-up America.” What he had to say was odious, to say the least, and it should be a concern to every American, especially in the light of our present financial crisis and upcoming election.

Pastor Cox is an excellent historian and utilizes historical events to back biblical prophecy. He has keen observations about the rise and fall of nations since the beginning of time. He relates the consistent pattern of nations rising and falling. I have paraphrased and shortened his comments.

First, Mr. Cox explains that every nation is born out of bondage. For us, our forefathers left England because of a great lack of civil and religious freedom. We were in bondage.

This stage is always followed by an earnest turning back to God for answers and becomes a time of renewal of spiritual faith. People will turn to God when they are in dire straits.

The third stage is unbelievable courage. Patrick Henry’s quote, “Give me liberty or give me death” (the whole of it is very profound) expresses well the boldness of the colonists. They became courageous victors and over-comers in the battle against tyranny.

Courageous actions resulted in freedom. We here in America have enjoyed more freedom than any other country in history. Unfortunately, we have grown to take freedom for granted until 911’s wake up call. Do we need yet another call?

The next stage is abundance. We have more blessings than all the rest of the world. This wonderful by-product of freedom has given us great increase. After World War II, the abundance became exponential. We’ve become fat (literally) and wealthy. Even our poor aren’t poor by Third World standards.

From this abundance comes a downward spiral. We have become just like the other nations which prospered for a time, selfish. Instead of sharing our great wealth, we hoarded them. We forgot about the suffering poor in other countries and even in our own.

Compliance is then the child of selfishness. We have yielded to conformity, allowed “herd” mentality to reign over our lives, and we have allowed our moral standards to be formed by the dictates of society.

Because we are in the center of great blessings and are compliant, doing whatever it takes to maintain our status quo, we have become apathetic. We are as sure of ourselves and our bank accounts (although those are in question of late) and we have an attitude as Mr. Cox says, “Don’t bother me. Don’t get me out of my comfort zone.” Apathy is a sinister poison of the heart.

Then the slippery slope brings us downward into dependence. This is where we are presently. I have heard some say, “I will vote for him because he will give me more.” This is a phenomenon which has over-taken our society. Think about our welfare, Social Security, and medical systems and countless others. My own pension is dependent on the government.

Now we come full circle – dependence draws us right back to bondage. We will be wrapped and trapped in bondage. It has happened to every fallen nation. Are we going to be any different?

Cox uses this telling quote to prove his points: “Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury. As a result, democracy always collapses over loose financial policy (sound familiar?) and is always followed by dictatorship,” Alexander Tyler, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Cox also tells that the average age of the world’s greatest powers is 200 years. We have gone over that by a few decades.

The chances God is giving us to wake-up are slipping through our fingers. How can we bring our dependence on our government to a screeching halt? The torrent over the falls is so strong. I for one, cannot see any solution from either of our candidates for president. However, whoever that may be, he will desperately need our prayers.

We have only one hope and have always had only one hope. That is to put our trust and faith in God, in Jesus Christ His Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ kingdom is the one that “will stand forever.” The Bible tells us all about the rise and fall of nations, and we even know the end of the story. If you’re interested in a copy (VCR) of Pastor Cox’s series, I can get you one. Call 317-498-3466.

Sincerely,

Penny Schmidt

John M. Schmidt

Carthage