Unleashing the Beast

312 / U NLEASHING THE B EAST

the leaders and the populace to reflect upon the spiritual condition of the nation and to repent when transgressions are revealed. Thus, it seems safe to say that God has allowed national calamities to serve the purpose of bringing about national repentance. Still, a lingering fear is that 21 st century America is less likely to repent of her ways in the face of such adversity. I have often said that, "America knows how to pray; but has forgotten how to repent." This is sad but true. Scripture reveals that a day is coming when, in spite of disastrous events, man will not repent of his transgressions (Revelation 9:20, 21). Instead of softening their hearts, different plagues will have the opposite effect—men will harden their hearts toward God. Is it possible that this has, in some degree, already taken place in America? Furthermore, could it be that wealth and a false sense of security accentuates the dilemma? When circumstances interrupt our lifestyles, mankind has the tendency to resent and reject the one they think could have or should have prevented their little world from being upset. Often God receives the hate mail. It would be nice to say that the church is exempt from this kind of thinking, but it is not. In fact, there are elements within the church that plant, water and nourish the notion that Christians are untouchable. We are led to believe by some that bad things shouldn't happen to those who are believers. While we do believe that our relationship with God does protect us from evil and attacks from the enemy, we do not believe that we are exempt from adversity. It is adversity