The choice is yours



If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.
Thomas Jefferson, 1816



When we entered the new century, it was a much-publicized, much-feared threshold: a new year, and though purists may disagree, it was also uniquely for those then alive, a new century, and a new millennium.
One of the few things of which we can be assured as we move forward is that we always have a choice in the way we conduct ourselves and our affairs. At no time has that choice stood in greater contrast than now.

For some, the 21st century promises to be an exciting time of challenge, opportunity and achievement. Yet there are others for whom this is never a happy time of year, who greet it with apprehension. I want to send my thoughts and prayers to those who feel troubled or abandoned, lonely, broken-hearted or bereaved. I know, and more importantly, our Heavenly Father knows, how you feel. I pray that the God of all comfort will remind you how much He loves you now and throughout the months and years ahead.

It seems to me that America is also standing at another kind of threshold: a definite choice about the kind of nation this is to become, and what kind of people we are to be.

Looking back across the vast sweep of America's great history, we see a nation "conceived in liberty" which, for most of its history has been the world's staunchest defender of liberty, a nation which bowed the knee only to Almighty God, and revered His teachings, and which was devoted to the principle that all power is derived from Him alone, and that in Him alone is ultimate authority.

Somewhere around 1967, many of these foundational beliefs were compromised, as an increasingly liberal society marginalized the importance of liberty, and quickly jettisoned one Christian teaching after another, until finally, God Himself was relegated to the status of a benign optional extra, who might perhaps be squeezed into Sunday mornings between the newspapers and brunch. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich calls this period "The Discontinuity of American History". He has correctly argued that it bears little resemblance to the preceding two hundred years.

As a result of the past 40 years or so, America has become almost unrecognizable, and many European countries seem to be following our example.

Because we have failed to defend the values we hold dear, our culture has become renowned worldwide for its depravity and godlessness. Because we have woefully mismanaged our resources, America's cities are decaying into ruin and lawlessness. And because we have eagerly succumbed to the pervasive influence of a centrally-owned media, America's suburbs have become havens for safe but humdrum existences in which people rarely make the effort to learn the truth.

We must face the most crucial of all questions: is this nation in God's will, or has it rebelled against God? If you'd like to see both the America that used to be and the America of today in graphic detail, I urge you to read Deuteronomy Chapter 28.
First, we see the clearest portrait of how things used to be until the mid-sixties: "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none." (vv 1, 7,10,12)

At that point, two-thirds of the way through the twentieth century, the American popular culture dictated an about-turn. We started making gods out of consumerism, entertainment, television, Hollywood and shopping malls. And God's consequences are all too plain to see: "If you do not obey the Lord your God ... the Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking Him." (vv 15,20) Actually, the scriptures are more specific. They refer to our judicial system, which seem to include a reference to how deceitful leaders have been allowed to continue their evil rule over this nation: "The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind." (v 28).

There is a reference to illegal immigration and to the way the Panama Canal was, handed over, de facto, to the Chinese government: "The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail." (vv 43-44) And there is an emphasis to this warning, which speaks of the broader threat, perhaps the Sino-Russian threat: "The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young." (vv 49-50). That sounds remarkably like the brutal regimes of Iran and Communist China.

The American people are not without intelligence, even brilliance, but many seem to have been hypnotized into stupification by the seductive mainstream media. And according to Moses, the outlook isn't too shiny either, unless we mend our ways: "All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God ...because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity." (vv 45,47)

We still have the same choice as we've always had: to follow the narrow way of righteousness or to continue in the broad path of neglect and waywardness. To become informed is a choice, and, I believe, the most basic duty of every American. We live in the information age, when it is so much easier to gain knowledge than in previous generations. If we are to make a single resolution this year, to become informed should be considered a priority. It will affect your whole life.

One area in which I have been terribly ignorant is nutrition. Several former cancer patients have taught me a great deal about cancer and nutrition. It certainly appears that, just as scurvy is caused by a Vitamin C deficiency, a leading cause of cancer is a Vitamin B-17 deficiency. That Vitamin has been banned from sale in the United States, but can be obtained from overseas sources, as well as many natural foods such as apricot seeds and macadamia nuts. Consequently, as a preventative measure, I have made some huge changes in my diet, curtialing use of animal products and virtually eliminating prepackaged food. And I feel absolutely great!

The 21st century can be a time of blessing or a time of drift, of growth or of shrinkage, of ignorance or of knowledge. As ever, the choice is yours. America, and the world, can be changed in only one way: by individuals resolving to no longer follow the popular culture but to take charge of their lives: the way they earn a living, the manner in which they eat, think, receive information, and conduct themselves.

Liberal thinking suggests that anyone who has definite opinions and believes one way is superior to others is regarded as intolerant.

Indeed, our web page has been labeled a "hate site" by the FBI. Yes, a hate site. Well, there is something I hate: deliberate ignorance and those who hate God. "Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?" (Psalm 139:21). There will be no changes and there will be no apology from me.

Liberal thinking has probably run the gamut of credibility, and no longer has any. There is good reason to be optimistic for the new century, if we are willing to cast aside ignorance for knowledge, and blindness for perception.

As ever, the choice is yours as much as it was for the Children of Israel in the time of Moses: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." (Deuteronomy 30: 19) That last sentence is a recommendation, not a command. We are never forced to choose God's way, in any part of our lives, but there are consequences if we do not, because the laws of nature cannot be suspended. If we eat poorly-chosen food, we will become sick. If we watch the poison that television has become, our minds will become corrupted.

Will the 21st Century see the final decline of America, as so many predict? Or can the poison be flushed out of our hearts, out of our bodies, out of the nation, and out of the church, so that a real act of healing and renewal can begin? The process is already under way. The incidence of sin, corruption and irrelevance in our lives, nationally and personally, seems to have overwhelmed logic recently.

Yet I sense a rising awareness of the need for change. The dubious pleasures of this world are obviously temporary and fleeting - they do not endure. Likewise, we must educate, because the hopelessly corrupt judicial, electoral and political systems need to be rooted out and replaced. I believe God's special people, chosen and anointed, will come forth and flush out the poison. We are already seeing it happen.

We have learned that the only things for which we can certainly rely on the popular culture are irrelevance, lies and deception. We are learning to solve the deadliest medical problems of the age. And we are learning to choose better lives, in which we carefully select what we take in, through food and drink, and through our eyes and ears. We are slowly and painfully learning to eschew the popular culture, discard television, and live in God's will. It seems we'll try every new fad except living by the scriptures. Let me recommend we try it.

Therefore, the choice is still ours. We can be, as Jefferson said, either ignorant or free, but not both. And that's true today, tomorrow, this new century, always. As individuals, as a nation, shall we choose freedom or slavery, death or life? I can only tell you I've made my choice. Joshua put it this way: "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve ... but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

As we stand at this special moment together, may I wish you and your family a peaceful, blessed time ahead. May God bless you, and may God bless America. Steve Myers © 2001, 2006