America today is not the America that I knew growing up. Having been alive for over seventy years, I have witnessed a lot of changes in this nation. What has happened to this country? How can a nation go from being pro-God to anti-God in a generation? America has! We were once a God-fearing nation. We even printed on our money, “In God We Trust.” Though that inscription still stands, those days are long gone. Today, our leaders want to remove God from every aspect of public life. It’s a mission that didn’t happen overnight – but it has happened during my lifetime.
What will the future hold? Is there any turning back? Can America ever turn back to God? It doesn’t seem that way when we consider the current path we are on…
How did it all go so wrong? Our forefathers came to this country to escape religious oppression. They wanted to live in a place where they could freely worship God – and to them, that was worth risking the voyage and an uncertain future. Certainly, they didn’t do everything right, but they got that right. Admittedly, all of those who came didn’t have such lofty ideals. Some came to make a buck, others to escape prison – but our nation was built upon godly, Judeo-Christian principles and values.
Throughout history, sin has corrupted the best of intentions – even with godly men and women. The devil has always been at work to overthrow the kingdom of God. And yet, a nation was forged under the blessing of God. Except for Israel, America is the only nation founded upon godly principles taken from the Bible.
Today, people are trying to rewrite our history to fit a godless agenda. It’s all part of eliminating any place of God in the history and culture of America. What is happening in our country today is not normal or natural. It’s a diabolical scheme being played out before our very eyes. Yet, most people have no idea of the spiritual warfare being waged today in our nation.
So, how did this happen? What could have occurred to create such a shift in America?
I’m pretty sure something shifted in the middle of the 20th century right after World War II. The seeds of this Great Falling Away were planted before then, but the crop began to surface after the war. Something happened in the spiritual realm that change the heart of a nation – something that had a profound effect on America’s relationship with God. From my perspective, the first major breach in America’s armor was the result of pride.
After World War II, America became proud. After all, we had sacrificed a great deal in a war that was not initially fought in or for our nation. Thousands of lives were lost, and millions were spent in saving Europe and our Pacific allies. After the war, America was deemed the hero and praised for its many sacrifices. Men like Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and MacArthur, just a name a few, played strategic roles in the outcome of the war. They became household names back then. Nearly 1,100 U.S. generals served during WWII. And of course, there were many notable generals among the Allies.
After the war, America emerged as the SUPERPOWER of the world – and along with that came pride… It is only natural. When someone praises you, it can immediately boost your ego. Pride puffs up, and the Bible says that it goes before destruction. (1 Timothy 3:6; Proverbs 16:18) God hates the sin of pride – and for good reason. Firstly, it robs Him of the glory due His name, and secondly, it shifts our focus and dependency from God to man.
There are forty-five verses in the Bible that warn about pride. James 4:6b says, “God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble.”God opposes the proud! Instead of God being for us, He is now against us. Pride often leads to greed, another sin God detests. Isaiah 2:12 says, “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty.” The proud will eventually be humbled.
Pride does another thing: It opens the door for the devil to work, and Satan found an open door in America shortly after the war…
In 1947, the Supreme Court ruled in the case between Everson vs. the Board of Education, affirming the need to erect a “high & impregnable wall” between the church and state. In 1948, the Court ruled in favor of Vashti McCollum vs. Board of Education prohibiting religious training in public schools in Illinois. This was the first ruling forbidding the church from teaching religion in a public school. The first amendment was never intended to prohibit the church and state from working together. Thomas Jefferson argued against a state controlled or regulated church. He never intended the church should be excluded from the state. However, a state-controlled church is what forced the Puritan to leave England. These rulings opened a door to expel the church from the public sector.
In 1963, the Courts ruled in favor of Madeline Murray O’Hair to remove prayer and Bible reading from public schools in Baltimore. These rulings set a precedent for years to come in eliminating the influence of Christianity from the public sector. Few considered it a big deal back then – but it was.
Up until that time, America was pro-God. America was viewed as a Christian or Judeo-Christian nation. Sermons were often published in newspapers; leading magazines advocated for Christian morality; and entertainment was expected to uphold Christian values. TV would often sign off with a sermonettes or prayer. Politicians on both the left and right saw themselves as sincere followers of Christ, and the Bible was often quoted during government sessions. Teachers led prayer and Scripture reading in schools, and America declared itself to be, “One Nation, Under God.”
By the 60’s the ground was broken for a cultural transformation. That decade marked a sexual revolution led by the feminists, hippies, and the LGBTQ+ movement. “The pill” was made available in 1960, and the Feminists demanded equality for women to be able to enjoy sex without any repercussions, like men do. Conservatives argued that the pill would promote promiscuity. They were right…it did. The hippies promoted free love as a spiritual experience heightened by psychedelic drugs. More partners gave you a greater spiritual experience. It was only natural to have many sexual partners. Drug use, group sex, and homosexuality was encouraged.
The 60’s was also marked by the Civil Rights Act. This would be a sign of a new era of social reform to end racial disparity. It also was defined as the age of the Baby Boomers for those born between 1946 and 1964 and marked a population explosion after the war. The Baby Boomers rejected the morals, politics, and social values of their parents. They defined what became known as the countercultural revolution. That generation rebelled against all established structure. Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Jesus people became popular. The Baby Boomers searched for direction through drugs, art, music, and free love. Rock and Roll played a prominent role in influencing that generation.
The revolution continued into the 70’s with another ruling to free women of unwanted pregnancies. The Supreme Court legalized abortion in America. Since 1972, over 63 million abortions have been performed in the US. A survey by Pew Research in January 2023, shows that 62% of US adults favor legalizing abortion in most cases. Only 36% opposed making abortions illegal.
In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that it was no longer legal to display the Ten Commandments in public schools. For Satan to gain further possession of the Nation, he would have to separate the people from the Law of God, especially the very first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3) The Ten Commandments summarize God’s moral Law and has been the cornerstone of Western Civilization – and that civilization was now in jeopardy. America would later strike down the Ten Commandments from the public square, part of Satan’s plan to capture a nation.
The influence of these decades played a major role in turning the heart of America away from God. In Rom 1:18 -32, the apostle Paul tells us what happens when people turn from God. It almost seems like Paul must have been looking ahead to our generation when he wrote these words…
For God in heaven unveils his holy anger breaking forth against every form of sin, both toward ungodliness that lives in hearts and evil actions. For the wickedness of humanity deliberately smothers the truth and keeps people from acknowledging the truth about God. In reality, the truth of God is known instinctively, for God has embedded this knowledge inside every human heart. Opposition to truth cannot be excused on the basis of ignorance, because from the creation of the world, the invisible qualities of God’s nature have been made visible, such as his eternal power and transcendence. He has made his wonderful attributes easily perceived, for seeing the visible makes us understand the invisible. So then, this leaves everyone without excuse. Throughout human history the fingerprints of God were upon them, yet they refused to honor him as God or even be thankful for his kindness. Instead, they entertained corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God was like. This left them with nothing but misguided hearts, steeped in moral darkness. Although claiming to be super-intelligent, they were in fact shallow fools. For only a fool would trade the unfading splendor of the immortal God to worship the fading image of other humans, idols made to look like people, animals, birds, and even creeping reptiles! This is why God lifted off his restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires. They were given over to moral depravity, dishonoring their bodies by sexual perversion among themselves— all because they traded the truth of God for a lie. They worshiped and served the things God made rather than the God who made all things—glory and praises to him for eternity of eternities! Amen! For this reason God gave them over to their own disgraceful and vile passions. Enflamed with lust for one another, men and women ignored the natural order and exchanged normal sexual relations for homosexuality. Women engaged in lesbian conduct, and men committed shameful acts with men, receiving in themselves the due penalty for their deviation. And because they thought it was worthless to embrace the true knowledge of God, God gave them over to a worthless mind-set, to break all rules of proper conduct. Their sinful lives became full of every kind of evil, wicked schemes, greed, and cruelty. Their hearts overflowed with jealous cravings, and with conflict and strife, which drove them into hateful arguments and murder. They are deceitful liars full of hostility. They are gossips who love to spread malicious slander. With inflated egos they hurl hateful insults at God, yet they are nothing more than arrogant boasters. They are rebels against their parents and totally immoral. They are senseless, faithless, ruthless, heartless, and completely merciless. Although they are fully aware of God’s laws and proper order, and knowing that those who do all of these things deserve to die, yet they still go headlong into darkness, encouraging others to do the same and applauding them when they do!
How do we understand our world today and especially our society here in America? It can only be understood through the spiritual lens. Clearly, what Paul wrote about has happened in my lifetime. A nation, called by God, has rejected Him. We refused to honor God and to thank Him for His kindness. And so, God removed the hedge of protection from America, when pride swept us away – and we stopped honoring and thanking Him.
Once the hedge was removed, Satan could move with great audacity. That is why we have witnessed the rapid descent of this nation in recent years. That passage in Romans has been played out before our very eyes. This is why we see such moral decay, foolish speculations, deplorable acts of sin, sexual perversions, wicked minds exchanging the truth for a lie, disgraceful and vile passions, evil schemes, hatred of others, murder, and rebellion toward parents. We have become a society immersed in filth going headlong into darkness. This is America today!
Satan has gained an upper hand in this nation in education, entertainment, sports, television, internet, social media, business, and government…and especially so with this current administration. Demonic influence in America is greater now than any time in our history. The United States of America is the primary target of Satan. If he can destroy this nation, he can break the backbone of Christianity around the world.
So, what do we do? How do we pray? James 5:16b tells us that “the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”. In Psalm 139:23-24 David cries out, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” We must begin by asking God to search our hearts to show us the wicked ways in us – and then ask the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray “effective fervent prayers.”
Every day we need to be reminded of Ephesians 6:12, because we are in a great fight – not against men but against principalities and powers of darkness: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of ]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”We are in a spiritual war for the souls of men, and for the soul of this nation! We are in the spiritual fight of the Ages.
That is why we must aim our weapons in the right direction to tear down the enemy’s strongholds. The Body of Christ must rise to the occasion to destroy the works of the devil. We also need to deal with reality, not religious notions. If we think people are saved but they are not living according to the Bible, we are as deceived as they are. We must ask God to open our eyes to His truth, so we can pray effectively – that veils of deception be lifted and evil be exposed, that Christians would repent and turn from sin, that demonic schemes be overturned and light break through the darkness in our churches and throughout the nation. We must pray for a revival as though our lives depend upon it, as though our nation depends upon it…because they do and it does!
