I Remember America                   September 3, 2015

To my children and grandchildren,

You live in a culture that is so radically different from the one Dad and I grew up in that it could be of a different country. The America we knew as children no longer exists, except in the memories of those who have experienced it.

When we were young, God, the Bible and church goers were viewed with respect by society as a whole. The Bible was held up as the absolute final authority from which came the basis for the laws and moral standards of our country. Often today, faith in God is ridiculed, church-goers simply disregarded as hypocrites and the Bible considered a fable-ridden story book full of inaccuracies.  Although it would seem to me that 100% fulfilled prophecies alone would be enough to assure confidence in the scriptures!

The media reflects and influences the changing culture. When we were young, even the “bad guys” on television seldom swore and condemned criminals generally acknowledged the fact that they would soon “meet their Maker.” In fact, one whole episode on the Dick Van Dyke show was devoted to the problem of his son saying a bad word! We never did hear the word; they always whispered it. Today, it’s difficult to find a modern show where God’s name is not dishonored.

When we were young, sexual images on television and in movies were almost unheard of. The public would have reacted with shock. I’ve read that even changing Ricky’s and Lucy’s single beds to a double one was a major decision, even though they were married.  Of course, sin has been with us from the time of Adam and Eve, but in our day, its practice was generally recognized as shameful, to be hidden from sight. Now sin is often held in honor as an acceptable—sometimes even preferable—lifestyle.

What brought about the cultural change? I believe, as do many students of the God’s Word, that when our society began to lack confidence in the authority of the Bible, people began to trust in human reasonings and unproven scientific theories to decide for themselves what was right and what was wrong.

When we were young, The doctrine of a six-day Creation was mostly taken for granted . . . until about the time I reached high school. For if the theory of evolution is followed to its logical conclusion, sin, death and disease were rampant millions of years before Adam and Eve made their fateful choice to disobey God. If this were true, the salvation story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, which is the basis for the gospel, is pointless.

The world-wide flood of Noah’s day and many proven scientific observations support the six-Day Creation belief of a young earth, although that is beside the point. God’s Word has never been proven false, but science has often changed its beliefs.

All the major Biblical doctrines have their basis in Gen. 1-12. These doctrines also provide answers to the confusion regarding the modern practices of abortion, homosexuality and euthanasia.

I pray for all of us—since we are never too old to be misled—to have discernment so we won’t be swayed by subtle attacks against God’s Word by our secular society.

What a relief it will be to one day reach heaven where we will no longer have to guard ourselves against Satan’s question—the same one he asked Eve—“Did God say?”

  There we can rest in an environment of total Truth, safe forever in Jesus’ arms.