By: Denny

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Growing up as a “Baby Boomer”, I remember reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each day in class in elementary school. I can’t say that I fully understood its total meaning at the time, but it instilled in me a sense of honor, pride, love, respect, and loyalty for our country. It was in 1954 under President Eisenhower that the phrase “Under God” was added. There was a prevailing presence and attitude that we were a united Christian nation blessed by and recognizing that our sovereignty and our liberties were founded on Godly principles and morals. In the 1960’s there began a cultural shift, and some would call it a revolution, that ever so slowly chipped away at those foundations. Gradually and subtly, we were becoming more “me” centered and less “God” centered. God was kicked out of the schools and the public forum. Churches were basically told to shut up and mind their own business. ”If it feels good, do it” became the mantra and driving force of a misguided generation headed down the dark path of perversion. In 1973 legalized abortion became the holy grail that we dared not touch, and the pivotal turning point and evidence of a society in decline: sentencing millions of unborn children to death since then and even to this day. So, as we’ve continued downward on the spiral staircase, each step has brought us a new amoral socialistic decadence and perversion. The latest being all this Woke nonsense and LGBTQ  gender orientation tripe of that great image and idol we must all bow down to. People think it’s okay to mock God and those who are His all they want to, but let someone speak out against abortion and this new-found false religion called Woke, and all hell will literally come against them. Politicians and preachers alike cower in fear of lawsuits if they dare oppose it. Few are those who have the spirit and anointing of David to face off against this giant and defeat it, or have the uncompromising tenacity to speak out as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego did in defying Nebuchadnezzar by proclaiming, “We do not serve your gods, nor will we bow down and worship the gold image which you have set up”. (Daniel 3:18) I recently received a video clip on my Facebook of Billy Graham preaching on this very issue. When He speaks there is power that the printed word doesn’t fully express.  I copied the text as follows:  

“You can mock God’s standards of sex and marriage and divorce and ethics and social justice and all the rest of it and make fun of the whole thing if you want to, but I want to tell you if I’m the only one left in the whole world I’m going to accept God’s standards. The 10 commandments and the Sermon on the Mount in which he lays out his moral standards. And God is not excusing us because we live in a permissive generation. He’s not excusing us anymore than he excused Sodom and Gomorrah or Babylon or any of the nations of the past that have perished because of sin or individuals that have perished because of sin. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sins shall die, the scripture says. What about you? Do you mock at sin? The Bible says be sure your sins will find you out.”

There have always been those issues in the political, social, and economic realm that were mostly differences of opinions in many cases, but we were able to resolve them through intelligent discourse. The First Amendment guarantees everyone freedom of speech, but it has gone way beyond that to where now people demand special privileges and protection under the law not afforded to others. There is no longer any discourse. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but no one has the right to tell others what their opinions must conform to. Now, if you don’t address someone using the pronoun that they desire it is considered hate speech. For instance, if a man thinks he’s a woman and you address him as Mr., Sir, or any other reference to his obvious gender of being male, you are guilty of a hate crime and can be prosecuted. The same holds true for a woman who identifies as a man. It used to be a spade was a spade, but not anymore. God does not honor, respect, or rejoice at the man-given rights of the wicked to do evil. In fact, the scripture says He sits in Heaven and laughs. Psalm 37:12-13 The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for he sees that his day is coming. He will not bless a person, a city, a state, or ultimately a nation whose attitude is anything goes because it’s my right, and you dare not offend me or speak against it. They ignore and mock the grace, goodness, and mercy of God designed to bring them to repentance, and continue headlong in their own ungodly ways. The fear of God is not in them. They are descending deeper into depravity, having rejected the truth and believed the lies. They thumb their noses at God thinking he does not see the shameful things done by them in secret and now paraded openly. In their arrogant condescending pride, they walk blindly and precariously on the tightrope of the judgment of God. Sadly, there are many spectators seated in the crowd below who in the so-called name of love and grace applaud their sinful ignorance, not knowing that when the breath of God blows down the circus tent, it will come crashing down on them also. (Romans 1:32)

The words “one nation under God, indivisible” in the Pledge of Allegiance almost seems out of place these days. We have become “A House Divided”. The great divide today is a battle between good vs. evil, and truth vs. lies. Subliminally, it’s always been that except now the lines are clearly seen and defined as evil pushes the envelope further and further. The real fight is between God and the devil. This is a blatant outright in your face from the devil to God and those who are his.  Revelation chapter 12 describes the war that is taking place in heaven and on earth. Verse 12 says, the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time, which goes along with 2 Timothy 2:26 saying, the devil has ensnared people and has taken them captive to do his will. Conversely, the prayers of those who have surrendered their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, releases the angels to fight in the unseen spiritual realm on our behalf as we contend for the faith here on earth. In reading Proverbs 6:16-19 you will find a short list of seven things that God hates as follows: These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. Notice carefully that these are things that God hates not people. However, when people embrace these things, they will find themselves opposing God. Not a good place to be in because you will always lose.

As written in John 10:10 The devil’s main purpose is to steal to kill and to destroy. He knows that if he can divide a nation, he can destroy it. He’s not satisfied with just dividing a nation. He wants to divide the church and families and destroy them also, which is the very basic unit of any God-fearing society. He will use any means possible not considering for a moment the lives he has to use , manipulate, and destroy to accomplish his purpose. The overwhelming tragedy is that people don’t realize they are being used as one of his pawns. He doesn’t just use the ungodly who belong to him, but delights even more to use undiscerning self-proclaimed Christians who are led by their own feelings and desires and not by the Spirit of God and His Word. As I mentioned earlier, the battle is between good vs. evil and the truth vs. lies. The devil is a liar and has been from the beginning and that’s all he knows. He has deceived many people by using a mixture of truth and lies, as he did with Adam and Eve. He tried it on Jesus with the three temptations as recorded in Matthew 4: 1-11, whereby Jesus defeated him soundly by using the very Word of God that the devil had tried to twist.  

In mathematical fractions there is a numerator on top and a denominator on the bottom. To reduce the fraction, you need to find the lowest common denominator. So, it is with a divided nation. Reduced to the lowest common denominator, you will find it’s a matter of the heart of each individual. In 1 Kings 18: 21 Elijah stood before the people whose hearts were divided between serving God or Baal and said, “If the Lord is God, then follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. The solution for “A House Divided” is for everyone to answer two questions. Where is my heart? Who am I following? The correct answer is only found in Jesus Christ.