What Happened to America First Happened to the Church — E.A. Johnston

My Bible says in Proverbs 29 18 Where there is no vision the people perish. America used to stand for decency democracy and dependence upon Almighty God. America was a nation washed over by Great spiritual awakenings and it was a country that maintained a fear of God in the land.

There was a time in this country when Hollywood had censors and politicians had a conscience. It used to be that a man's word and handshake were as good as gold. We were a nation that still had integrity and fought against the evil in the world.

There used to be modesty in Society and how people dressed and there was such a thing as shame in society back then. In 1904 in Wales a revival broke out that washed across the continent and Churches over here experienced new life as well.

In 1904 America was still a God-fearing country with lofty ideals and a spiritual hunger for God. It was a time before the sinking of the Titanic a time before automobiles a time before Technology a time before world wars and mass genocide.

America’s Turning Away from the God of the Bible

What has happened to America in the last hundred years? When did the soul of a nation die? Slowly, but surely America has turned her back on the God of the Bible and we have gone from Being a once Christian nation to a pagan one that has outlawed God in our land.

One can look back to certain dates in history and point the times of early decay. Let's begin with 1962 friends. It was a year where the Supreme Court kicked God out of our public school system. I remember standing as a young child in the public school system and saying out loud with my class the Lord's Prayer before class began.

I Remember women back then wore dresses down to their ankles and were more concerned about modesty than the latest fashion. There were no school shootings back then and parents didn't have to worry about what their kids saw on TV.

Public Prayer, Rebellion, and the 1960s

There were still laws in the land against indecency and profanity when we kicked God out of the Public schools by eliminating prayer. We began a turning away from God that has worsened with each new year.

The 1960s was a time of riots and rebellion in the streets. Assassins shot and killed the Kennedy's and Martin Luther King. The hippies were high on love and drugs at Woodstock while thousands of our young people Died over in Vietnam.

Society in the 1960s was spinning out of control. Then came along 1973 and Roe vs. Wade and the legalization of killing our unborn babies. It's been estimated by Reliable sources that since the Roe vs. Wade decision over 50 million babies Have been butchered in America.

Abortion and the Blood of the Innocent

We have animal rights and rights for homosexuals and rights for Transgenders, but we don't mind killing babies who have a right to life. We are a bloody country with the blood of the innocent on our hands.

We are morally indecent society that calls good evil and evil good. Our young people today are a godless generation Hooked on sex and drugs and alcohol. But we must be aware friends that what happened to America first happened to the church.

The Church’s Loss of Moral Authority

The church used to be a Moral compass to society and the country used to look to the church for guidance and direction. What happened to the church is the reason for what happened to society? It didn't begin in the pew but in our pulpits of the land.

Churches became gripped with Materialism and the building committee replaced the weekly prayer meeting with social groups to attract a bigger audience. Preaching no longer transformed its hearers because it had become teaching instead of preaching.

It went from being God-centered to man-centered the great doctrines of the gospel. We're eliminated from our pulpits. We don't preach on rune redemption repentance or Regeneration anymore. We preach a social gospel which elevates man.

The Abandonment of Sin, Hell, and Regeneration

Churches existed for the happiness of man. Everything revolves around making our congregations happy. We don't preach against sin. We don't warn against hell and we don't preach man's duty repentants nor his utter necessity of regeneration to get to heaven.

We just have nice little messages that don't offend anybody. But they don't save anybody either, but that's not important anymore in our churches. We stopped caring about the salvation of souls when we expanded our campuses and Realized we couldn't pay the bills unless we got more members on the church roll.

So we made it awful easy to walk a church aisle. And joined the church so we could get more folks. Joined to support it. You don't want to offend any of these nice rich members. You don't want to call them sinners and tell them they're going to hell unless they repent.

We mustn't preach anything disturbing to our nice congregations. Why you just upset the good deacons? So the church has watered down the gospel message to where it was a no gospel. God has been kicked out of the church because we can get more done with money and manpower.

The Church’s Self-Reliance and Loss of Influence

Anyhow, the church has become self-reliant and obsessed with its own self-preservation. To such a degree. It's a laughingstock to a sin-loving society. Nobody takes church serious anymore, especially our teenagers who can see right through all the rotten hypocrisy.

Germany produced Martin Luther and it produced Adolf Hitler as an example of what? Happens when a country forgets God. What happened to America first happened to the church? We are who we are. Because of what we have become.

Repentance, Judgment, and the Church’s Call to Lead America

If the church in America fails to lead America back to God then both lose their way and both will fall under the judgment of a Provoked God who has been replaced by no gods. Heaven help this once great Republic that has turned her back on the God of the Bible and heaven help the Sleepyheaded pastors who refused to repent and lead their congregations back to the God of the Bible.

Heaven help this nation heaven help us all.