Forever Lost?

Deny it if you like, but our American way of life is

slipping away.  And it is matter of cause and effect.

           

        The war against terror doesn’t seem to be much of a war in the traditional sense.  The U.S. has weathered unending criticism for attempting to “fight” the war in Iraq.  But Saddam was toppled in a few weeks in one of the fastest most successful military campaigns ever.  Since then our soldiers have worked to create a secure environment for the Iraqi people.  They’ve undertaken all manner of projects to provide water, electricity and most importantly, security.  Of course you know the rest from the sad reports that reach us almost daily.  As I write, seven Marines reported killed yesterday and fourteen again today.  Radical mullahs across the Middle East, and in the west for that matter, desperately want the U.S. to fail in Iraq.
 
        For Iraq to emerge as a free and prosperous society amid the oppressive dictatorships of the Arab world would be a slap in the face to the ideology of Islam, and they’re willing to sacrifice untold numbers of young men and or women as suicide bombers to insure the failure of the Iraqi experiment.  All too often America’s sons and daughters fall victim to an invisible enemy who hides among civilians.  Aside from raids on known concentrations of the would-be bombers, our war has turned reactive.  This is certainly not a criticism of our forces there, it is simply the kind of kinder, gentler police-type action that’s been commissioned.
 
        Here in the United States, and in Britain for that matter, we also have to wait for the terrorists to act before launching into action.  Hopefully our law enforcement agencies have infiltrated some of the most radical extremist groups, and know what they’re planning.  But it’s not easy to take comfort in that hope.  This seems to be a situation that has been allowed to develop right under our noses over a very long period of time, as it has in Britain and to an even more alarming degree across Europe.  Surely it’s not been lost on authorities here that the recent bombers in London were British born citizens.  So it’s not just a matter of keeping track of visas and passports, which they’ve not been able to do anyway.  It turns out the west is facing a threat from individuals who are not foreigners but young adults who speak the language without the accent, know their way around, and move confidently through society. 
 
        How long can the west play these politically correct games? When you see a dozen or more “officers” working an airport gate, frisking old men, little old ladies, (I’ve seen them get real suspicious about a new mother’s baby bottle) you wonder, how is this advancing the war against terror?  What a ridiculous charade!  Now the outrage is being expanded to include bus terminals and rail stations.  And now they’re telling us that the greatest threat we face is not related to public transportation at all, but is rather the prospect of nuclear terror!
 
        Frankly, if the war on terror has to be conducted as a politically correct exercise, it cannot be won.  As my dear departed Dad said, if we’re counting on winning the hearts and minds of the Islamic world, forget it!  We’ve gone into the war on terror with at least one arm tied behind our back, and we’re rapidly giving up some of our basic rights and freedoms in an attempt to blunt the criticisms of those who hate everything this country was supposed to stand for, both here and abroad! 
 
        We’re only holding on to any pretense of national sovereignty by a thread as it is, apologizing as we go.  At this rate, Osama and the mad mullahs will take us down eventually.  Unless the radical Islamic movement can be somehow crushed during Bush’s second term (fat chance), we’re likely to see “leadership” elected in ’08 that will lurch into the arms of the corrupt, anti-American UN and relinquish what’s left of U.S. sovereignty to global opinion and international law.  Our citizens are so caught up in materialism and entertainment, with the entertainers themselves largely pushing that very notion, the odds may well favor that very scenario.
 
          There was no doubt that our very survival as a nation was at stake in the Second World War.  Our forces crushed Germany and Japan, left what was left of them destitute and staggering to ensure our future of freedom.  America knew when she had won and welcomed her soldiers home to victory parades.  That simply is not going to happen this time around.  We are engaged in a war without end, at least the way it’s being “fought.”  Many of our enemies are within our gates and more are on their way.  The way of life we seek to preserve is corroding as we meekly submit to politically sensitive, economically wasteful “security measures” which are gradually expanding.  Where does it end?  Will we end up with a full-blown police state where we’re all treated like prospective bombers so as not to offend the terrorists? 
 
        How far these policies, already in place, will expand is hard to predict right now.  But, even with our nominally conservative administration in office, the caste is set and we won’t be going back.  Is our beloved America forever lost?  The threat of terror will be with us from now on, and the policies that treat us all, including our mothers grandmothers and children, as potential bombers and hijackers looks to be here to stay.  The rights guaranteed under our Constitution and Bill of Rights are being denied those for whom they were intended, and applied to foreigners and captured terrorists!  Judges and political activists are insisting they be afforded our constitutional rights, provided with legal representation paid for by us!  As GTA so aptly put it, “Islam is at war with America, but America is not at war with Islam!”
 
        Has God, once and for all, turned His back on this great nation?  Will a corrupted false religious ideology succeed in bringing down the greatest nation in world history, one that once claimed God’s promises and sought His favor? 
           
        Clearly, America has turned it’s back on Him!  The U.S. has put all it’s reliance in our government’s ability to negotiate, backed up with our financial and military might.  It is simply not enough.  It will not return us to the status and the freedoms we once enjoyed. 
 
        I think it appropriate at this point to quote from a Garner Ted Armstrong commentary written just a matter of months before we lost him.  Although much has transpired since he wrote it, our plight remains the same.  It expands on this theme, that America simply cannot prevail and return to the carefree pursuit of prosperity and happiness without God’s favor, quoting several exhortations to ancient Israel that certainly apply to our nation today.  Mark Armstrong
 
   GTA – March 2003
 
America is not a God-fearing country. We are not a Commandment-keeping people.

We give lip service to a “God,” but as a nation we will not OBEY Him! Those clergymen who should be in the forefront proclaiming God’s laws and obedience to God are instead the chief proponents of no law; they claim the “law was done away.” But it is only ONE of the Ten Commandments they hate! If you need a clue, it is somewhere between the third and the fifth commandment.

Paul wrote, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

“Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

“Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Our leaders have a form of godliness. They mention God frequently in statements like “God bless America,” or “May God continue to bless America.” This enrages many Americans who have gone to court to expunge all mention of any deity from the Pledge of Allegiance or public buildings.

Millions of those who use the generic title “God” neither know the true God, nor obey Him. How do we deny the power of God? By failing to rely on Him, and Him alone, for our protection and our salvation as did Jehosaphat and all his people (2 Chronicles 20).

David’s greatest sin was depending upon the size of his army, and forgetting to depend instead upon God! Read the account in 2 Samuel 24:2-10. Because of his lack of trust and faith, thousands of his citizens died! 

If we DID rely solely on God, and if we were an obedient people, here are His promises to us:

“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

“And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

“Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

“Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

   “Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

“Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

“The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

“The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

“The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.

“And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.

“And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

“The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

“And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

“And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them” (Deuteronomy 28:1-14).

Such fabulous blessings cannot be imagined. Rain in due season? That would mean no deserts, no droughts, no crop failures — huge WEALTH for farmers. Obedience to God would mean no infant mortality (and no abortion!), no crib death, no childhood disease or any other kind of disease; it would mean an end to heavy taxation and the introduction of God’s tithing system; a ten-per-cent “flat tax” across the board; every laborer would keep NINETY PER CENT of his or her earnings! It would mean no crime, no divorce, no pornography, no kidnapping, no child molestation! It would mean happy, healthy families; long marriages, full lives!

What, instead, are we reaping? And what is the underlying CAUSE?

“But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

“Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

 “Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.

 “Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

 “Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

“The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

“The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

“The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

“And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

“The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

“The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

“And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

“The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

“The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:

“And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

“Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

“Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.

“Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.

“The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:

“So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

“The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

“The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.

“And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

“Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.

“Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

“Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

“Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.

“All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.

“The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.

“He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

“Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee” (Deuteronomy 28:15-45).

God also said, “And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

“And I will break the pride of your power...” (Leviticus 26:18,19).

Today, America stands at the pinnacle of her power. Our POWER, represented by our panoply of military weapons, is the source of both resentment and jealousy around the world. Because we rely on that power, instead of God’s power, we can expect to experience a series of the horrible curses which God says will descend upon us.

Will God allow us a time of respite? Will we win, and win convincingly, in Iraq?

Even if we do, as I have portrayed in earlier commentaries, the entire balance of power in the world is now being forever changed. NATO is divided. Europe is divided. Europe and Britain are hurling accusations. France is deeply anti-American and anti-British.

A United States of Europe will emerge which will SHOCK AND AWE America and Britain when it reaches the zenith of its military and economic power.

It sounds impossible to most to think that Europe could eventually emerge as America’s most dangerous enemy. Tragically, events taking place right now are contributing to that very scenario in the future.

It is not too late for America to REPENT both individually and collectively.

               But it is much later than you think.

It is time and past time for Americans to heed the words of the Apostle Peter who said,

“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

“For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

“And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:38-40). The best advice I can give.  –GTA

Mark Armstrong
 

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Further reading:
Word from: "The Pride of Our Power–Or Weakening Resolve? by Garner Ted Armstrong