Turning the Tide - Part 1

There is a tide that has touched the shores of our land and reached the heart of our nation. It is a tide that is bringing with it ideas and philosophies, actions and attitudes that will ultimately destroy the way of life that you and I have. Today on In Touch, Turning the Tide.

Well, throughout the scripture, God has given us warnings and usually those warnings are always because he wants to protect us, because he loves us and because he cares for us. Sometimes we heed his warnings and sometimes we don't. And it's very evident throughout scripture that when either nations or cities or individuals have failed to heed God's warning, they suffer the consequences.

And all you have to do is to go back to the very first book of the Bible and the very first family. Remember what God said to Adam and Eve? All the trees of the garden are absolutely yours. Imagine living in such an awesome place as that.

And then he says, but one warning. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil over there, you're not to touch it. Because in the day that you eat of that, you will certainly, for surely, you will die.

You would think they would have been wise enough to say, well, look, whatever that is, we don't want to lose all of this for a bite of that. But they didn't listen very carefully. They took things in their own hands and it cost them their life in the Garden of Eden.

And all down through the centuries, individuals, cities, and nations have been hearing the truth, ignoring the truth, doing their own thing at a terrible expense. And where we are today in the life of our nation is a very dangerous position. Because you see, one thing that makes it so dangerous is we've heard the truth.

We know the principles of the Word of God. He says, for example, the soul that sinneth it shall die. He says, whatever we sow, we'll reap.

What we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow, that's the principle of Scripture. So there are so many principles that we've heard. They apply to individuals and they apply to nations.

And yet, in spite of all of that, especially for those of us who are believers, in spite of all that, we find ourselves as a nation violating the laws of God, heading in a direction that is going to be disastrous for us, for our children, and the generations that are to come, unless there is a change. I want you to listen and to watch, because I'm going to put on the mag screens a group of verses of Scripture from the book of Proverbs. And the book of Proverbs in the Living Bible Translation.

I want you to listen how clear and applicable these verses are for us today. So I want to begin with the first one, and I'll just read them, but I want you to see them. With good men in authority, the people rejoice, but with a wicked in power, they groan.

That's God's Word. A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it. When you remove corrupt men from the king's court, his reign will be just and fair.

And if a king is kind, honest, and fair, his kingdom stands forever. Without wise leadership, a nation is in trouble, but with good counselors, there is safety. The good influence of godless citizens causes a city to prosper, but the moral decay of the wicked drives it downhill.

Now when you look at those verses, their warnings, their admonitions, the things that we should take into consideration. And oftentimes we think, well, what's happening to us is new, and so forth. And so it's interesting, because I want you to listen to this message by a president 133 years ago.

So, in 1877, James Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, gave a warning to the American people. Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption.

If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature. Now that's 133 years ago. So I want you to think about what we see going on today, and what's happening, and we need to seriously consider where we are, because we are in a very, very dangerous position.

In fact, we have never been where we are. You say, well, what about all those wars? No, we still have never been where we are. And I want you to listen carefully, because you see, it's your life, it's your family, and it's those generations that follow us.

And it's so easy for us to think about only ourselves, and what we have, and what belongs to us, and me, myself, and I, and my family. But you can't think that away. Not really.

And be honest with yourself, or honest with your children, with your families, and the generations that are to come. So I want you to consider something here, and that is that there is a tide that has touched the shores of our land, and reached the heart of our nation. It is a tide that is bringing with it ideas and philosophies, actions and attitudes, that will ultimately destroy the way of life that you and I have.

You say, well, how could something destroy the wonderful way of life we have? I'm going to show you why in a moment, and how. Not only that it's going to happen, it is already in the process of happening. What is happening is far more dangerous and deadly in lots of ways than Katrina, or all the floods, and the earthquakes, and the tornadoes, and even this oil problem we're having.

And so, when I think about what's involved in this tide that is sweeping into our nation, and altering our way of life, well there are a number of things involved in it. I'm going to give you a list of them, and I want you to think soberly about each one of them. One of the things that is a part of this tide is our financial crisis.

Now think about this, not just for yourself, but future generations. Our national debt is 13 trillion dollars and rising every second. In fact, if you get on the internet and you just bring up national debt, you will see these graphs and these figures, just split seconds how fast our debt is deepening.

And at the present rate, it is rising 3.87 billion dollars a day. Now the question I want to ask is this, who's going to pay for that? If today, for example, if all of us had to pay, it would be a hundred and eighteen thousand six hundred dollars per a taxpayer. And what has happened in this financial circumstance we're in? We have lost seventeen trillion dollars from the family households in America.

We have never been financially where we are. Now you may say, well I'm doing all right. Remember what I said, it isn't just yourself.

Because ask yourself the question, what would you say to your children when they say, well now how do we get in all that debt? Because you see your children are not going to have the lifestyle you and I have. Your grandchildren certainly will not. For the simple reason that money won't be there.

You say, where is it going to be? It will have been taken away from you in taxes. Because that's the way all of this fits. Because what is happening is all of this is a result of it.

And you see, if we keep moving in the same direction we're moving today, it is predicted that in eighteen months we will be insolvent. We will be where Spain, Portugal, and Greece is. And that is, they're bankrupt.

And when this nation becomes bankrupt, we lose our freedom. Somebody becomes absolutely in control. The worst part of this tide is the move toward socialism in this country.