Society & Culture

^{Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted by permission from the IFCA’s Voice magazine (May/June 2009).}

Believers in America are contemplative these days. Though confident in the workings of a sovereign God who rules over the kingdoms of men, their mood has become increasingly somber as the political and economic pendulum has swung out of reach.

Is this a hiccup for America or a heart attack? Are our freedoms threatened or just our values and traditions? How should believers balance national and eternal interests? Are civic and spiritual tied together? How can one best serve his or her country as a Christian citizen?

I believe that if we reorient our thinking we can cheat the pensive gloom and rekindle hope. To do this, we must first explore the Creator’s principles in the ancient text of the Bible, and then take a walk back through patriot alley to explore the principles underlying this grand experiment called America. When we do, we will discover that we the people are the king, but that we the people / the king has a heart disease only the Great Physician can heal.

^{Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from Dan Miller’s book Spiritual Reflections. It appears here verbatim.}

(Adapted from the author’s article published in the Savage Pacer, September 29, 2001)

Hanna Massad, pastor of Gaza Baptist Church, recently expressed his dismay at the bombing of his church building during the three-week war between Israel and Hamas (CT Direct, February 10, 2009, “God in Gaza”). The Palestinian Bible Society also suffered damage from Israeli bombs. In light of these events some questions come to mind. Is present-day national Israel God’s people?