Dr. Lawrence Butler
The Bridge Church, Pembroke
Easter returns, but so do our tears.
Spring arrives with all its beauty intact. April showers and May flowers await their appointed time. Easter should bring joy and happiness, along with improved outlook for our future, yet tragedy somehow again overwhelms us with sorrow. Recently another school shooting occurred, taking the lives of three children and four adults.
It has been reported that as of the date of that awful situation there have been 128 mass shootings in our country since the beginning of the year. Time and again we have listened to our leaders bemoaning these repeated tragic incidents as they continually ask the question, “What can be done?” Some argue for gun control, some for more security at schools, while others bemoan the crisis of mental illness that grips this nation. I am sure that most of the suggestions to help us stop the violence have some validity, but I fear we overlook the most powerful influence upon our people. The truth is that we have left our God. There is no nation that has ever survived the loss of God, and America is now walking this path.
There is a quote that was attributed to Alexis de Toqueville until it apparently was debunked. It does not matter to me who said it, but I still think it reflects truth. Someone said, “America is great because she is good. If America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”
We have decided that we can handle our own problems, that we no longer require “faith” to help guide us.
As a result of our decisions, we have removed the Bible from schools, also any display of Christianity from public places, and no longer teach our children the importance of Bible principles. The Supreme Court even stated in Stone vs. Graham, 1980, that if children even see the Ten Commandments they might meditate on them, obey them, and “We can’t permit this.”
So here we are. Church attendance is down dramatically, marriages break up daily, and it seems many children are reared in homes where God is forgotten. Please do not take this as criticism, I am only pointing out the loss of spirituality in America.
We are told that we are no longer a Christian nation, but no one tells our people that we should be.
Revivalists like Billy Sunday, DL Moody, Charles Finney, Oral Roberts and Billy Graham had powerful messages for our nation. Why not study their lives and their messages, then let us return to the God they preached?