***Today’s guest post is from our old buddy, ‘Pgh‘. And if you’d like to see any of his previous writings, they’re all collected right here.
–JTR
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One topic commonly discussed here at “Two Heads…” is our nation’s culture or, perhaps more specifically, the deterioration of our culture.
Recently, I came across an article by Reverend Billy Graham, titled “My Heart Aches for America“. In it, he recalls a conversation he had with his wife, Ruth:
“…Some years ago, my wife, Ruth, was reading the draft of a book I was writing. When she finished a section describing the terrible downward spiral of our nation’s moral standards and the idolatry of worshiping false gods such as technology and sex, she startled me by exclaiming, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”
She was probably thinking of a passage in Ezekiel where God tells why He brought those cities to ruin. “Now this was the sin of … Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen” (Ezekiel 16:49–50, NIV)…”
It would be difficult to dispute that America is, indeed, on a “Sodom and Gomorrah”-type path. The evidence surrounds us; it’s everywhere we turn, whenever we care to look.
Which is all the more reason to be grateful for one of God’s most wondrous gifts: the beautiful simplicity of prayer.
There’s a prayer which is often inaccurately attributed to the Reverend Graham. In fact, it first came to public awareness after being read by a minister named Joe Wright in front of the Kansas State House of Representatives on January 23, 1996. In my research, it appears as though it was originally written by Pastor Bob Russell of the Southeastern Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
Although, while we ALWAYS aim for 100% accuracy around here, determining who originally authored this piece is of less importance (to me, anyway) than what it actually says.
I hope you’ll pray it with me:
“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to see your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good’, but THAT is exactly what we have done:
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor and called it the ‘lottery’.
We have rewarded laziness and called it ‘welfare’.
We have killed our unborn and called it ‘choice’.
We have shot abortionists and called it ‘justifiable’.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it ‘building self esteem’.
We have abused power and called it ‘politics’.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ‘ambition’.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it ‘freedom of expression’.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it ‘enlightenment’.
SEARCH US, Oh God, and KNOW our hearts today. Cleanse us from sin, and SET US FREE. Amen”
Amen indeed!
One last suggestion:
If you haven’t already seen it (and I KNOW it’s a tad long, at nearly 30 minutes), I earnestly encourage you to watch “The Cross – Billy Graham’s Message to America“.
You won’t be sorry.
Two Heads are Better Than One 
AMEN, may God’s Will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Thank you livinrightinpgh!
And to you for being part of the conversation here, Teach!
I’ve said before that I am no prognosticator, but it’s hard to view world events these days without reflecting on the Scriptures that speak to the “end times”.
II Timothy 3:1-5,7
“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.“
Nicely done as always, Pgh!
But to be fair, we’re gonna need a LOT of prayer….
Can I give ya my 2 cents JTR? While I completely agree that LOTS is better than little, let us not forget the RIGHTEOUS PRAYER of but just one can be enough! (James 5… wow… the Holy Power of God, huh?) AMEN! 😀
Fair point, Teach!
Thus, allow me to include the caveat that I, obviously, am NOT that one.
😉
HAHAHA! You always make me smile… well, *humph*, you know your own heart better than I, BUT, let us also not forget that our Father God has used some ‘less than righteous’ people to accomplish great things in His Will over the years! 😀 WOOOHOOOO, so see, there is always hope! 😉
It’s ALWAYS an honor and a blessing to be able to add to the excellent work that you and GBL do here, my friend! Thank you for giving me a forum for my thoughts.
We’ve seen the results that have been achieved by turning to “men” and “government” as the solution to problems, and it always begs the question: SOOOO! How’s THAT workin’ for ya?!!
It is CLEAR to me that our slide downward as a society can be tied directly to the efforts to move God, Faith, and moral standards OUT of our society. May He have mercy on us all.
Great post PGH – I look forward to watching the video later today. That is a powerful prayer, asking for the strength to humbly accept our Lord’s guidance and the courage to act according to His word.
I agree with JTR…we will need unceasing paryer…
Gracias, hermano!
I guarantee that you will NOT be disappointed, Greg. In my own life, I find that I do MUCH better when I DON’T try to solve a problem on my own and seek HIS guidance instead….
Excellent! The more I see the deterioration of morals and values in society as well as the elimination of God from every little aspect of life, the more it makes me want to promote these things even more in my own home. This is making me a stronger person I am sure of it. It reflects on my kids when they are home too. It makes us a stronger individual and family. 🙂 Some days, that’s about all I can do!
You’re absolutely right, Wendee.
And while you say that it’s “about all you can do”, that effort will be greatly rewarded. Imagine if EVERY family made the following statement:
Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.“
Excellent post! As for JTR not being that one, I think of Gideon hiding in a winepress to do his threshing to avoid the Midianites. The Angel of the Lord greeted him w/ the words, “Hail to thee, o mighty man of valor!”
I’m sure Gideon didn’t think that he was the one either. God had different plans.
HA! GREAT observation TOC!
Each of us is “the one” when we are doing God’s Will, and I’m always comforted by the fact that when we ARE doing what He has called us to do, we KNOW that:
“… the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
(Hebrews 13:21 KJV)
Excellent post as always. I pray daily for our country, and even though it feels like the inmates are running the asylum more and more every day, I never lose hope because I know God’s power is limitless. “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14. We wore born a nation “under God” and the more they omit that phrase from speeches or pass laws that try to prevent we the people from speaking it, the more it remains in the spotlight. Abraham Lincoln was the man for a reason, he wrote to a friend in 1885, “Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except negroes” When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read “all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.” When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.” I am grateful to God and every Patriot that ever fought for our country, that I live in a land where I am free to pray. Should Lincoln’s “Know-Nothings” ever take that liberty from me, I think I will be forced to emigrate as well. God bless America!
Tom, thank you for being here and taking the time to pen such a great comment! There is certainly a rampant hypocrisy that permeates our political system today. But, like you, I look to the God of Creation, with Whom all things are possible.
Hope to see more of your comments on future posts!
Excellent post, PGH. And a most excellent prayer. It speaks such truth.
I like the coverage of the event, when Joe Wright delivered the prayer in the Kansas House of Reps:
Makes you wonder about those who “walked out”, doesn’t it?
I’d like to have known who walked out of the legislature. Walk outs usually denote rebellion.
Amazing! We the People! The faith was still in us! Back then, anyway.
Thanks for the ‘rest of the story’!
The prayer was also offered by Representative Mark Paschall (R-CO) as the invocation in the Colorado House….several members there also walked out.
Betcha they all have a “D” for their party affiliation….
I’m sure most had a ‘D’ by their names. Although progs can also be found with ‘R’ by their names.
It’s a prog thing.
The more I see everything deteriorating, the more brave I become in speaking up. I was talking to some of our mothers two weeks ago about the government. They were so surprised. I then told my boss what I did
I couldn’t let them continue living in their dream worlds. I opened my mouth at a staff meeting, caused a little commotion needless to say. Just spreading the word.
Something EVERYONE needs to do, Daisy! For me, I’ve seen ENOUGH in the past….DON’T NEED to see any more now, and WON’T tolerate any more in the future! It’s disgusting to see our Constitution and Founding Principles just stepped on, beat down, and ignored by a group of Progressives.