CANADA/AMERICA
NO LONGER GREAT
by Brooks Alden
(From "Thy Kingdom Come" - July 2009 - a publication of the
Association of the Covenant People, Burnaby, B.C. Canada)
On July 1", 2009, Canada will celebrate its 142nd birthday.
Three days later, on July 4th, America will usher in the 233rd
anniversary of its Declaration of Independence. In both countries
there will be signs of patriotism everywhere, in the speeches,
the marching bands, ceremonies, flag waving and of course, the
finale fireworks. Better than most days, we will remember our
history, our high points and our military successes. And when the
lines of the national anthems are sung, "O Canada, we stand on
guard for thee" and "O'er the land of the free and the home of
the brave," even new Canadians and Americans will sing out with a
greater sense of pride and wonder. In some quarters these words
will even ring out:
My country, 'tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing
Land where my fathers died
Land of the pilgrim's pride
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring!
Of certainty we have so much of which to be proud and to
memorialize. How about the early sacrifices of our pioneers who
bequeathed firm foundations in both nations? Or the wisdom of
leaders such as America's George Washington and Andrew Jackson,
or Canada's Sir John A. MacDonald and William Lyon MacKenzie
King. How about the two nations who stood hand in hand together
during two fierce world wars and with our friends, rescued a
world in peril? Two nations founded on Christian principles! What
a legacy our predecessors handed down.
Still, I believe underneath all the singing and flag waving
is a feeling of futility, perhaps nostalgia for days gone by, as
we witness the growth of evil and the death of freedom. When I
think of the immortal words at the beginning of this editorial,
that is, "If ye break faith with us who die" and look at what is
happening in our nations, I feel somewhat sad that we have not
kept faith with all those who passed before us and left us with
such a wonderful inheritance, an inheritance we have squandered.
Where oh where did the downward slide begin? Obviously, long ago,
but perhaps there is a specific moment in time and/or a specific
event that can be pinpointed. As to the moment in
time, I recall reading an article by a Christian writer that
seventy jubilee periods from the Exodus (70 x 49) expired in
1945, that from that moment on, True Israel ceased to be "God's
battle axe and weapons of war" (Jeremiah 51:20). We should
examine this and as we do, consider that the specific event was
the formation of the United Nations the same year. Both Canada
and the United States joined this alliance and we must recognize
that so many of our difficulties stem from that action. George
Washington warned against alliances of this sort but he was not
first to do so. We are a part of those nations descended from
Jacob Israel and as such we are under Divine directives as much
today as we were in the days of our forefathers. So when God, in
all His wisdom, said "Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor
with their gods," (Exodus 23:52) we should have listened. Of
course, we didn't and it was the beginning of the departure from
our greatness, the rapid decline of our faith and the growing
acceptance of other gods.
After 1945, we began to fight under the banner of the United
Nations. If ever evidence was necessary that we lost our vaunted
position as God's battle axe, we have but to review a few of our
escapades. We lost our winning ways. Korea turned into a fiasco
when the great military strategist, General Douglas MacArthur,
was prevented from triumphing. Then, we failed to resolve the
Cuban matter to our satisfaction, Vietnam was a disaster, with
nearly sixty thousand of our young slaughtered for nothing and
Lord knows how many maimed. We fought again under the United
Nations banner in 1990 in Iraq and like Korea forty years
earlier; we walked away without finishing the job. Now we are
immersed in Afghanistan and the second Iraqi conflict and we are
discovering that over whelming military superiority does not
simply translate to victory, as deaths occur daily and the
situation is rapidly turning into another Vietnam. Yet, still our
leaders are seeking new conflicts.
Internally, we are not the same nations that marched home so
victoriously in 1945. Think on this! God commanded us to permit
the stranger to come into our lands but only if they accept our
customs and our God. We disobeyed this as well and today, the
multi-religious factions have created such divisions in our
country that it has led to a revision of our Christian faith, a
softening down to the point it is difficult to recognize. We have
gone against God's Law with respect to economics, so much so that
we have become nations immersed in debt, with our hands out like
paupers beseeching non-Israelite nations to buy our bonds to keep
us going. It is a terrible reflection on society that 1% of the
population of America is said to control 45% of the wealth and 5%
control 75%. I suspect the same could be said of Canada.
I could go on and on but suffice to say that Israelites have
stood back and passively watched as one leader after another has
led us in the wrong direction. Still, God is not blind and even
on such birthdays as we celebrate this month, He does not mince
words, and our governmental and theological leaders should take
notice.
Look what God has to say to these leaders in Ezekiel 13:5-8
like (Amplified Version).
5. "You have not gone up into the gaps or breeches, nor built up
the wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in the
battle in the day of the Lord."
6. "They have seen falsehood and lying divination, saying, The
Lord says; but the Lord has not sent them. Yet they have hoped
and made men to hope for the confirmation of their word."
7. "Have you not seen a false vision, and have you not spoken a
lying divination when you say, The Lord says, although I have not
spoken? Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have spoken
empty, false and delusive words and have seen lies, therefore
behold, I am against you, says the Lord God."
If one does nothing more than reflect upon the downward
spiral of our two nations for the past several years, it will
reveal, as the old expression goes, "that the leaders jig is
up." We can't continue on the same path and for very much longer.
It's not good enough for our leaders to simply mouth, "God bless
America" or "God bless Canada," or theologians to spout meatless
messages, it is time for these people to look back and reflect
upon what made us great in the first place. The trouble is, they
don't seem to really understand the signs of the time; that the
return of Christ is on the horizon. They would do well to review
the balance of Ezekiel 13 to understand the wrath of God and what
could well be in store for them.
We have all read of the magnificent outcome of the days of
prayer initiated by King George VI during the Battle of Britain
and D-Day or the prayer that accompanied the Spanish Armada. Yet,
there were others of equal significance. Some are recorded in the
John Wesley's journal, telling of national days of fasting and
prayer. On Friday, February 27th, 1778, in England, before the
outbreak of the French Revolution, Wesley recorded a National
fast, which was observed with due solemnity. All shops and stores
were shut up; all was quiet in the streets; all places of public
worship were crowded; no food was served in the King's house till
5 o'clock in the evening. On another such occasion, Wesley
remarked, "I shall not wonder if God should now interpose and
send us prosperity, since at length we are not too proud to
acknowledge there is a God that judgeth the earth." Without
question, by this medium of national and individual intercession,
a moral and spiritual reformation ensued which changed the whole
course of history as far as England was concerned.
Well, it could happen here in Canada and America too! Truly,
what we need for a birth-day gift is a darned good old fashioned
day of prayer and for our leaders to rally behind God's Law. I'm
not talking about a prayer day like that last one in America,
where all faiths took part, but one dedicated to the only God,
the Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look, the urge for
national prayer could not be timelier than now. As someone once
wrote, "The black clouds that have now burst upon the world have
all the omen of another world war, far more terrible than before.
The solemn crisis that has arisen, and world events generally,
demand a national cry to Almighty God, together with humiliation
and repentance for our many abominations and sins." Ironically,
we have the Lord's assurance that He will hear us, "The Lord will
be very gracious at the voice of our cry when HE shall hear it HE
will answer." (Isaiah 30:19).
Still, let's not hold our breath that in these days of
apostasy it will happen. For one thing, our lands are now too
filled with non-Christians and even if our leaders understood the
benefit of devout prayer on a national scale, they would forfeit
all in the name of fairness. It seems that leaders live for
today's comfort and tomorrow's pensions. So, sadly, we shall
travel along the same road of moral corruption, the same road of
spiritual decline, the same road of spiralling debt, the same
road of lessening freedoms and the same road of wanting
stewardship.
Yet, we know from Scripture that we will one day seek
intercession from the Lord. Ezekiel 36:37 tells us this, "...I
will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel .... "
Probably if will take some calamity of major proportions to
get Israel to her knees but it shall happen sooner or later. In
the meantime, Happy Birthday Canada and Happy Birthday America.
.......
About 6 months ago I sent for a CD of the Sons of the Pioneers,
called "How Great Thou Art and other Cowboy Spirituals." There
are 20 great songs, the last one is called "What this Country
Needs" by Tim Spencer and Red Rowe, 1950. A good country swing
beat.
The words go:
Pioneers sing:
ALL: "What this country needs more than anything else, is a good
old fashioned talk with the Lord."
SOLO: "If we only try it how happy we'd be; we'd never have time
to be bored. Hear me talkin' brother don't spend all your time,
wishin' for the things you can't afford."
ALL: "What this country needs more than anything else, is a good
old fashioned talk with the Lord."
HUGH FARR BASS VOICE TALKS IN RHYTHM: "Yes sir, what this big ol'
wonderful country of ours needs, more than anything else in the whole
wide world, is a good old fashioned talk with the Lord. I just think
if the politicians all over the world, would get down on their
knees and ask for help, in the right way, peace and happiness
could be restored. There's no use fightin' with our fellow man,
we can find a way to live in perfect accord, and I still say that
..... (Hugh sings) what this country needs more than anything
else is a good old fashioned talk with the Lord."
SOLO: "And after you have tried it, and it's easy to see, a
prayer can do much more than a sword"
ALL: "What this country needs more than anything else is a good
old fashioned talk with the Lord .... (Slowly) .... A good old
fashioned talk with the Lord."
......
Indeed that is what is needed to save the Western world from the
punishment God will pour out upon us if we do not humble
ourselves in earnest and sincere REPENTANCE and seek Him with our
whole heart and mind. God looks for it, but He says there is NO
MAN, no leader in our lands to lead us back to Him and His laws
and way of life. It would seem we have crossed the line of no
return, no return until we are in slavery to our lover enemies.
......
California is the 8th largest economy in the world, yes the world
I said, not the USA. And that country state has no money. They
cannot borrow and have no money to pay their bills. They are
issuing "I owe you" certificates. The banks say they will not
honor them. And as common sense would dictate, California in such
a mess means the USA is in a mess, and then the world is still in
a mess. It looks like no fast or easy solution is going to happen
this year for the world to climb out of the pit of recession it
is in.
......
To be continued from time to time
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