Plucking the Eagle's Wings

Plucking the Eagle's Wings

Amsterdam spawned the hippie movement and has the distinction of being the most liberal city in the world. Sadly, over 16 million people in Holland are infected with AIDS. Missionary Russell Domingue, having ministered extensively in Amsterdam, heard ministers express their opinions as to why Holland seems to have lost its faith. Apparently, during World War II, many Christians in Holland prayed fervently that the Nazis would not enter their nation. At that time, Christianity was quite strong and many Christians prayed earnestly for the country. Much to their dismay, the Nazis marched into Holland anyway. It seems that this so disappointed the Christians that they lost their spiritual fervor. Great Britain is another somber example of modern-day spiritual defeat. God greatly blessed the country following the completion in 1611 of the King James English translation of the Bible. English missionaries took the Gospel to Africa, the Middle East and as far away as India. It was said that the "sun never sets on the British Empire." But current day society in Great Britain, as in Holland, is dominated by cynicism, skepticism, and secularism. The "isms" of Humanism and Socialism have choked the Word of God from society, leaving Christian influences weakened. If Americans stop praying for our nation, we could have a spiritual postmortem similar to Europe. We are the final Gentile stronghold of Christianity in the world. We were blessed spiritually during the World Wars. Of course, our nation was not bombed into rubble. In fact, previous wars have birthed churches that were filled to capacity. Wars provoked our presidents to seek guidance from God. During times of national crisis, our faith in the God of the Bible became our staff and comfort. Our spiritual problem comes from spiritual ignorance. The 1960s produced a generation without truth. Students in public schools are so ignorant about the Bible that they think Jezebel was Ahab's donkey, and the epistles were the wives of the apostles! However, the Founding Fathers were not ignorant regarding Christianity. They recognized the importance of the Scriptures. George Washington placed his hand upon the Bible while being inaugurated. At the conclusion, he added the words, "So help me God." At that moment, the secretary of the Senate offered to raise the Bible to his lips, but he bowed down reverently and kissed it (Source: The Lives of the Presidents ). George Washington said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the 16