Donald J. Trump ran on that slogan to win the Presidency of the United States of America. Many citizens realize that our nation has strayed from its original roots and has decayed into lawlessness, corruption, immorality and more.
We complain because our government continues to talk, but actually does nothing to accomplish their campaign promises. One side pretends to actually be doing something to change it but they build in some way of not getting it done because they don’t want to upset their status quo, comfort zone, supposed power, etc. Therefore, nothing changes except for the continued slide into depravity and away from all that Jesus Christ taught and did – the very roots of our nation that originally made it so great.
1. What Was It That Made America Great?
A little history will help us to see that the United States became a nation in large part because Christians rebelled against the government (England) telling them how they could or could not worship. The first thing that brought the Pilgrims and Puritans to this new land was freedom of religion.
Leaders both here and abroad have acknowledged that it was the Christian values and work ethic that has made the United States the most desired and free nation of the world. (See Wall Builders and David Barton for more detailed history of our Christian foundations.) We are the most productive, charitable, industrial nation on earth and, even today, more people seek to come to the United States than to any other nation. We offer greater freedom and hope than any other nation on earth.
2. What Has Happened That Has Made the USA Less Than “Great”?
From the beginning, but especially over the last 50 years, a movement has grown, virtually unchecked (by Christians), that wants government to control everybody and everything. They seem to believe that the government is smarter and that people will actually obey, even when they don’t agree with what the government imposes.
Since the 1960’s, liberals (especially progressives) have sought to remove God from our nation and our culture. They fought to get prayers, God and Bibles out of schools and Christians did not fight back. Now they are teaching sexual immorality as normal behavior and Christians are as guilty as they are and are, in large part, not engaged in doing anything to teach and stand up for Biblical morality as designed by God.
In the ’60’s, the sexual revolution which was known as “free love” filtered through our young adults and brought all kinds of negative consequences. More recently, the homosexuals have started “coming out” and demanding that we not speak against their lifestyle, but allow them to promote that behavior to our children. Now we have had an exploding transgender issue trying to pretend that God made a mistake with their sexuality and seeking man to change them into something they think they want to be but contrary to how God made them. This is a direct “in your face” to God who is older, bigger, more powerful and smarter than they are.
The bottom like to all of this is an effort to remove God from our culture, history, society. They have “banned” prayer, especially in Jesus’ Name, from schools, public government meetings and everywhere else where they think they can get away with it. They have used liberal (non-Christian judges) to legislate from the bench with little regard for the law or Constitution of the United States to threaten, intimidate and extort money from anyone who dares to advocate Christian values. They want to silence (or at least severely restrict the rights and freedoms of) the church. They actually think they are smarter than God.
This has left a nation where sexual immorality has become a major blight – nearly 60,000,000 babies aborted (mostly black babies – and they accuse conservatives of being racist?). Sexually transmitted disease and AIDS is running rampant through these immoral behaviors. Some are not pretending that God made a mistake with their sexual parts and seek to change themselves into something they are not.
On top of this, we now we see crime in the inner cities, corruption in our government from the top down to the local level. Voter fraud is a problem in most elections. Bribes are common place and almost expected in many political circles. Getting elected is more important than standing up for the rule of law and the United States Constitution. There is a lack of regard for the value and dignity of human life. More government control, taxation, interference in our private lives has become the norm and our freedoms are eroded away and replace with man-made rules and regulations instead of respecting and living by God’s teachings.
Add to this that most Christians are really Christians In Name Only. They have abandoned, or have not been adequately taught the teachings if the Bible regarding sex, love, marriage, honesty, integrity, love and respect for others, etc. Many preachers are afraid to speak the truths of Scripture because they fear they might “offend someone”. Some are afraid that the IRS will threaten or intimidate them. Many just simply have not studied the life and teachings of Christ or have excused His teachings as no longer relevant to today’s culture. As such, they have done little or nothing to stop the progressive degeneration that is surrounding them in greater numbers and has even infiltrated many churches.
The root of the problem is an attempt by the anti-Christs (All who oppose Jesus Christ) to remove God, Jesus Christ and Christianity from our nation. These anti-Christs include Muslim extremists, atheists, homosexual activists and liberal progressives who want to destroy in belief that they can gain control. It is further exasperated by Christians who aren’t living like followers of Jesus Christ or are afraid to stand up for what the Bible teaches.
3. How Do We Truly Make America Great Again?
The solution is found in Revelation 2:4-5 – 4 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. This is a call for Christians to get back to studying and following the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.”
Jesus lived on this earth and understands every temptation and challenge you are dealing with. As such, He showed us how God truly wants us to live. We are called to study His life and teachings and follow His example. As we do so, we will subtly make changes in our lives to become like Him. As we do, we will gain His power in our lives to turn away from temptation and to stand up and speak up for Christian values in our School boards, city councils, county meetings, state legislators and federal government. Jesus will empower us to be living voices for His teachings to others who don’t currently see any difference between “Christians” and the rest of the sinful world.
I wrote the Walking With Jesus Bible Study Series to help Christians learn all that Jesus taught and did. Walking With Jesus is a non-denominational, ready-to-use Bible study of every event in Jesus’ life as recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each volume in this six volume series contains six months of lessons on the life of Christ. You can see more and get started at www.wwj.bible. (In case you are concerned, there is no obligation to purchase the remaining volumes once you get started. We believe that the power of the lessons will be sufficient motivation to continue until you have completed the series.)
Walking With Jesus – Build a more Passionate, Personal and Powerful relationship with our LORD, Savior and role model – www.wwj.bible.
Let Jesus empower you to be more like Him, be a more effective witness to others around you and be a stronger influence to the various governing leaders in your circle of influence – local, state and national.
God Bless America in Jesus’ Name!
How YOU Can “Walk With Jesus”