by: Jonathan Painter
“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” Ezekiel 22:30
It is a sad state our nation is in today. Alcohol that was once outlawed in the United States now flows like water. I heard in a news bulletin that two stores just outside the town of Whitely, Nebraska, were selling an average of 500 cases of alcohol a day. This comes to the grand total 182,500 cases of alcohol sold a year in the town of Whitely, which has a total population of 2,000. This means that on average, an individual consumes approximately 91 cases of alcohol a year, which comes to a low estimate of 1,092 cans of alcohol a year. These numbers are outrageous!
Marijuana, once considered to be an illegal substance, now has been legalized in 18 states and the District of Columbia for medical use, and in three states it is legal for people over twenty-one to use it for any purpose they desire. This is aside from the fact that several states are having a tremendous amount of pressure put on them to legalize the drug. Unfortunately, we are crumbling as a nation.
Further evidence of our oncoming demise as a nation is the legalization of same-sex marriage. I heard a story just the other day of how a preacher was preaching on the street corner and said that homosexuality was straight out of Hell. He was arrested, fingerprinted, booked, and interrogated for several hours. Thirteen states have declared the legalization of same-sex marriage. Mark it down young person, marriage is between one man and one woman for one lifetime. Yet, our nation is on the verge of changing this definition on the grounds of love and acceptance, yet the Bible does not change it’s definition.
I could continue going down the list; however, in pin-pointing these three I feel we have enough evidence to say that our country is on a fast-track to destruction. What are we to do? Are we to lay down and play dead while the world amps up its wickedness? Are we just to submit to the idea that our country is finished? I dare say, “No!” This country can be changed, and a great revival can be had again. America’s revival will not spark from her President in the Oval Office, but from her preachers who stand in her pulpits. It will not be sprung upon us on her Senate floor, but by her soul winners on her streets. It will not be found in her conservative values, but in her concrete morals found in the Word of God! America can see a revival if her pulpits are aflame!
Sadly, her pulpits cannot be aflame while they are vacant. God is looking for men, men who will fill America’s pulpits and bring revival once again. He is not looking for a lily-livered orator with soft hands and tones, but he’s looking for the man who will fight through sticks and stones. He is looking for a man ready, determined and strong in the God’s Word, a man who has zeal and a passion to do a work for God! The question must be raised to you, young man. Will you be that man? Will you be the man for whom God is looking? Will you make up the hedge and fill in the gap for your country? God is searching, he is searching for you!
Jonathan Painter
Youth Pastor
Lincoln Baptist Church
Lincoln, Nebraska