A Divine Diagnosis: Health-Check America at 250

A Divine Diagnosis: Health-Check America at 250

Host: Hon. Sam Rohrer

Guest: Dr. Carl Broggi

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 6/19/26. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.

Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.

Sam Rohrer:

Hello and welcome to this very special edition of Stand in the Gap Today. Joining me is familiar guest and friend Dr. Carl Broggi, senior pastor of Community Bible Church in Beaufort, South Carolina. And we do this today for a critical historical and theological evaluation of our nation, America, the United States as she reaches her landmark 250th milestone. Honest national evaluation in my opinion is entirely absent today because our culture completely rejects accountability to both God and the voters. And while our national motto remains in God we trust, it’s largely been reduced to a cultural relic, a feel good placebo thought that God is somehow obligated to continue blessing America despite our systematic public repudiation of him as creator, judge and king to whom we refuse to bow. Our key founders understood scripture and as a result had a far different view. They understood God’s supreme authority and intentionally built accountability into our system explicitly appealing to the great judge of the universe as an example in the Declaration of Independence.

And building into our system of government, the concepts commensurate with that, the concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances. Honoring God’s word and their commitment, we do well to consider God’s timeless warning to Israel and Haggai chapter one where it says these words now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have sown much and harvested little. You eat but you have not enough. You clothe yourselves but no one is warm and he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. So today we’re going to apply that admonition to consider our ways as there is no better time than now to do so. And whether fiscally or culturally or spiritually, America’s health can be objectively diagnosed, but only through the filter of a biblical worldview and according to God’s template design for nations.

So examining our nation through the lens of God as creator, judge and great physician is the objective of today’s program and the roadmap that we will follow. This requires us though to reject political spin and approach our condition with fear and trembling, humility, repentance, and a raw recognition that God alone is God with the authority to set the rules, demand accountability, and determine whether blessings or judgment are in order. As Elohim, the creator, Ilohim, Shafet, the great judge, or Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our healer, God alone is worthy. So stay with us for this vital broadcast as we deliver a divine diagnosis. Health Check America at 250. And with that, Carl, welcome to the program.

Carl Broggi:

Sam, thanks for having me. I really liked your intro because I think if we’re going to honestly assess our spiritual condition as a nation here at 250, we got to lay aside talking points, political talking points and really think what does God think because in the end that’s all that matters. His assessment of our people, of our nation.

Sam Rohrer:

Amen. And in this program, Carl, we’ve undertaken a monumental challenge. We know that, but one that from God’s perspective is a matter of life and death as far as nations goes, even individuals. So as we consider our ways in America’s condition now in our 250th year from God’s perspective, let’s establish a couple of things. One is from God’s word. His authority to set the rules and the standards for nations, starting with God alone is God. Build that out biblically.

Carl Broggi:

Okay. Well, obviously I think basic to doing an analysis of where we are spiritually, we have to have a standard. And of course the standard is God’s word. Amos, I love the book of Amos. It refers to God’s word like a plum line. And so God reminds us over and over again that the standard is not public opinion or political ideology or some cultural trend or what even the majority of the people think, but it’s what’s found in scripture. And so the most attacked book of the Bible, I suppose the most attacked verse in the Bible is Genesis one: one, because the Bible begins with God and as you read through Genesis, he’s affirmed as our creator. He’s our sustainer and he’s the judge of all the nations of the world. And what I find interesting to this day on every Shabbat, every Sabbath, Jewish people across the world recite the Shema.

Most folks know Shamah is the Hebrew word for here. Here are Israel, the Lord, our God is one. The Lord is one, you shall love him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. And of course in I think it’s Matthew 22 when Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees and they’re testing him. And what’s the greatest commandment of all? He quotes the Shema. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And so when a nation does that, a nation receives God’s blessings. But in the greatest commandment, it affirms there’s only one true God. And I think that in spite of all our flaws that we had, even when the nation was founded, our founders, our people as the Americans confess that truth, that God, the God of the Bible, is alone God, not Allah of Islam, not Vishnu or Shiva in Hinduism or even the false gods of cults like Mormonism, but the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Bible alone is the one true God.

Sam Rohrer:

Okay. So God’s word, God’s authority, which is why we talk about it here, starts there. So God alone is able. That’s where we start. But God’s will is also, God is made clear in scripture regarding nations and rulers of nations as the standard. And that is the idea that nations and rulers serve at God’s pleasure. Build out just a couple of verses and establish that as we apply this as a part of the template in evaluating our nation.

Carl Broggi:

Well, you mentioned in the introduction Isaiah 45 where the Lord says, “I am the Lord. There’s no other. Besides me, there’s no God.” And of course that verse reminds us that his authority extends beyond the people of Israel, but to every nation of the world. And so while a number of passages are focused on Israel, all scripture obviously is inspired and is profitable and it reminds us that it has application for us. And so for instance, you reference here Isaiah 17, excuse me, Acts 17. Let me read that. Paul is speaking to some raw Gentile pagans on a place called Morris Hill. They’re in Greece and Athens. And it says he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and boundaries and their habitations. In other words, he’s just reminding us that national borders, the rise and fall of nations come from God alone.

Isaiah said, “The Lord is our law giver. The Lord is our judge. The Lord is our king.” And so God ultimately is the one to whom we are accountable. And Nebuchadnezzar found that out very quickly when he got full of himself and God humbled him for seven years and he turned back to the Lord.

Sam Rohrer:

All right, ladies and gentlemen, stay with us for joining us. A divine diagnosis, Health Check America at 250. We’re taking a look at our nation, building first the template, the foundation. God is God alone. He sets the rules. Nations and rulers serve at God’s pleasure. When we come back, God also has a way that he puts before nations and I’m going to have Carl, Dr. Carl Broggi, my guest today, build that out first and then we’ll move further into this program. Well, thank you for being with us today. This is a special focus today looking at our nation’s birthday, the 250th. And our theme today is a divine diagnosis, Health Check America 250. Dr. Carl Broggi, Senior Pastor of Community Bible Church in Beaufort, South Carolina, is with me today and we’re considering this approach to our nation. I’ve established the fact that God says, “Consider your ways.” And he lays out in scripture, God lays out and our founders understood it.

There was an approach. They knew that God had the right to establish the rules. They knew what the rules were and the standards and they tried to build that into what we have. Clearly, our nation has been blessed, but where do we go from now and where are we now? That’s what we’re looking at here today. Carl, in the last segment, you are building out the foundation, the template. One is that God is God alone. He is our starting point and he has the right to establish the rules of human civilization and human government, and he did it. You built that out. God’s will is manifest. We know through scripture. God says he raises up kingdoms and they’re for a purpose and nations. And then when they’re done, they move on. They move into history and people, leaders are raised up of God and they’re taken down at the will of God.

But God also establishes Israel being a pattern in Deuteronomy chapter 30, and actually that entire book, Carl, the immutability of about say two paths, two choices that every nation from the beginning of time, they have to make a choice. Build out these two choices to establish that and then we’ll move on to looking a little bit more at our nation.

Carl Broggi:

Well, in that great passage, Deuteronomy 30, Moses is at the end of his life. He’s getting ready to die. He gathers all the men and women and he said, “I said before you today, life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey, God will bless you. If you don’t, God will judge you. ” Now I know that that obviously is a covenant. It’s called the Mosaic Covenant. Unlike the Abrahamic Covenant that was unconditional, God’s going to fulfill it no matter what. The Mosaic Covenant was conditioned on the people’s obedience. While we’re not Israel, all scripture is inspired by God, it’s God breathed, it’s profitable. There are timeless lessons for every nation. And that’s why Proverbs will say, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. ” And so as you read this portion of scripture, God is saying, “I’ve sat before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.” And while the USA is not a covenant nation like Israel, we need to listen to what God says because there’s timeless lessons here for us as it relates to those who lead us and those

Sam Rohrer:

Who

Carl Broggi:

Follow the leaders.

Sam Rohrer:

Excellent. All right, ladies and gentlemen, moving on, building on these things, stay with us for the entire program because all of these pieces link together. But having established the divine national standard that according to God’s word, God is God alone and according to God’s will, nations and leaders exist solely at his pleasure. We must face the reality of God’s way. And this is the path that Carl just talked about, two immutable choices that God sets before us. Deuteronomy 30 in verse 19 was famously preached by John Winthrop, one of our founders in 1630 to the early colonists of the Massachusetts Bay colony of which he served as governor. That verse says this, “I call heaven and earth as a witness against you today that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that you and your offspring may live.” Well, this choice for life and blessing requires a nation to fear God and to maintain God’s standards for human behavior and civil government.

That’s to fear God and keep my commandment’s provision that’s throughout Old Testament. But there’s absolutely no middle ground. There is none. It’s one or the other. When a nation consciously rejects this path, the consequences are severe, systemic and always terminal. In Ezekiel chapter 22, the prophet there, Prophet Ezekiel, delivers a staggering diagnostic blueprint of a society, the nation of Israel, that despite the overwhelming blessings of God and the warnings of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy were just quoting, they instead chose death detailing there in Ezekiel the total collapse of every one of its institutions of society and connecting the warnings of Deuteronomy to the indictments of Ezekiel 22 frankly was the bedrock message preached by early American pastors during the first and second great awakenings. They knew they purposely connected these two that we’re talking about today. They knew that if you want to understand how a nation reaches terminal decay, you must examine its internal anatomy using the health aspect as a comparison here.

In this segment right now, our focus is the divine leadership anatomy, God’s precise standards for those in government, those who govern. Next segment, we’re going to examine the citizen anatomy, the spiritual and moral condition required of the people. And then segment four, we’re going to overlay Ezekiel chapter 22 across modern America to see exactly how our leaders and citizens rate against God’s diagnostic standard. Again, we’re following God’s pattern. Dr. Broggi, as we look at Deuteronomy 30, the choice between life and death isn’t just an individual one. It plays out nationally. We know Winthrop warned that if we turned away from God, we would surely perish as did Israel. Here’s my question. What does God demand of those who govern and where does the breakdown begin? Just share what you’re able to in the next few minutes.

Carl Broggi:

No, that’s a fantastic question. I think here’s the basic principle. Leaders that honor the Lord God bring a nation to flourish. God has created a moral cause and effect, the law of sowing and reaping. He’s not mocked whatever people, whatever nation sows that it will reap. And it starts with the leaders, just like Jose said, as the priests go, so go the people. And you could say the same often of the leaders. And so a society or a leader, a governmental official that values truth and justice and the sanctity of life and holy families and honesty and religious freedom to worship the one true God, they’re going to experience the blessing of God. That’s why in Proverbs it says, when the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. And so the leaders need to honor God by leading morally and courageously in that respect.

Secondly, if they reject God’s standards, which people are doing all across America, who are governmental officials, they’re inviting the judgment of God. Again, while we’re not directly under the Mosaic covenant, these are principles that are timeless. And we know that because nations that didn’t honor these principles like Egypt, Asyria, Babylon, Tire, Sidon, Moab, Edom, to name a few Gentile nations, they came under the judgment of God. And of course the Revelation speaks of a future time. What Jesus called the time of great tribulation where all the nations of the world because of their utter rebellion are going to come under the judgment of God. Eight times, I think in the Revelation Sam, he speaks of the earth dwellers. It’s a participle with an article. So it’s translated different ways. It’s like the people who dwell on the earth and he’s going to demonstrate during the time of the great tribulation how all these nations had rebelled against God and would meet God in judgment.

And so a leader is to lead in a righteous way and a nation will be shaped largely by a leader in the choices that he makes. And so when they honor God in his ways, they’ll experience his favor, his blessing, but when they reject God, they invite his discipline. And so when we speak of these people who govern over us, there’s a number of things and principles that are timeless that we can draw from scripture. Number one, God requires humility in the leader. We need to have leaders who will say, “I am a failure at times and I ask God for forgiveness, not someone who’s full of himself.” Hey, listen, I pray for our president. I love our president. I voted for him three times, but nonetheless, he just recently, not that long ago, came out and said, “No, I don’t think I’ve ever confessed my sins to God.” That’s not a good thing.

It motivates me to pray for him. God looks for humility in a leader. Secondly, he requires justice and righteousness and a commitment to govern with moral truth and not just what’s politically expedient, not what’s just profitable but with the truth of holy scripture. And so the breakdown begins when a leader begins to reject God’s authority and he begins to bring in his own human wisdom and he replaces the divine truth of scripture with human wisdom. And so if a leader, a president, a congressman, and even the people, when they no longer ask, “Well, what does God think? What does God say?” But they ask, “Well, what do we want? What do I want? What’s going to be politically advantageous for me? ” Then that nation is beginning to sink. And so the breakdown certainly is not limited to government. It’s reflected and it intersects with the people.

Sometimes the people vote for the leaders and a republic like we have that they want. So they interplay together, but clearly even in American history, we have had times when the people have been in a low moral state and God raised up a man who stood for truth and led the people in a righteous way, just like a handful of kings led Israel in a righteous way. In the Northern Kingdom, there were 20 kings all were wicked. God says in the southern kingdom, 20 kings, eight were righteous. And of those eight righteous leaders, God turned the nation around and he certainly can do that today through leaders we have. They can either bring us up or drag us down.

Sam Rohrer:

And ladies and gentlemen, when that happens, if you go to Deuteronomy 28, we don’t have enough time in this program, not long enough. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 28 and read the first 14 verses because there you will find where God says, if you as a nation and a people fear me and keep my commandments, I will pour out so many blessings upon you they will overtake you. From health to prosperity to being a lender, not a debtor, to being respected of nations not despised, read them because that is what America was at one point. Bear that in mind, choose the right way health comes. Well, as we all are in this window of acknowledging and recognizing our nation’s 250th anniversary, we’re all hearing and have been hearing commentary from one side or the other about where people think we are and how good we are or bad we are, whatever.

But in reality, does it make any difference what people think? Everybody’s got an opinion, but there’s only one opinion that matters and that’s God’s opinion. And so that’s today the reason we’re taking this approach at considering our nation’s birthday and how we approach it, a divine diagnosis health check America at 250. And we’re using this concept of health because the Bible uses the concept of health in referring to people and nations. And Dr. Carl Broggi, my guest today is we’re looking at this together as we walk through certain aspects of it. But in our last segment we examined the divine leadership anatomy we were talking about, but the leaders, because God raises up leaders and he puts them down and every one of them are going to be accountable to him in their capacity as leaders and God lays out what it is they are to do.

Ultimately, I’m going to contest to someone who’s been in office before and thought this thing through. I go to Romans 13. Ultimately, what’s government’s responsibility? Praise those who do well according to God’s definition, punish those who do evil, bring justice to those who break according to God’s definition. In Romans 13: six, it makes it also very, very clear that those in positions of authority, not just civil, but all authority, fathers and mothers and employers brought underneath, we are to lead people to the worship of the God of heaven. That’s what that verse says, ministers of God. So the key is when you look at somebody, when you walk away, were you led to God or were you pulled into the acknowledgement of who they think they are? That’s the real test, but it’s going to mention that at this point. But identifying God’s precise standard for those who govern and looking honestly at where the breakdown of a nation begins is important.

We’re doing that, but a nation is not composed of its leaders alone. Today in our analysis of America at 250 and the foundational standards established by God against which we must make comparison, we’ll now turn to the next aspect, the diagnostic mirror. We’re going to look at it inwardly. And that is ourself, the citizen, and ask about the moral, the spiritual, and the ethical condition of the individual that God requires of the people themselves. And once again, our guide is God’s way because that is God’s way. It’s laid out in Deuteronomy 30. Not just do nations collectively make a decision, but it’s ultimately made up of the people making a choice to follow God, fear God, keep his commandments, choosing life and blessing or choosing their way. When Governor Winthrop stood up before the early Columbus 16:30 and he charged them to choose life, which he did from this passage in Deuteronomy 30:19, he wasn’t just speaking to them in aspects of future magistrates and governors.

He was speaking to the shopkeepers, the farmers, the families, and the individual citizens. He knew that a constitutional republic can only survive if the citizenry possess an internal moral compass anchored in the fear of God. The same principle was echoed later, years later by William Penn and others who said that this nation, this holy experiment in freedom, which was William Penn’s phrase here in Pennsylvania where I sit right now, he said it could only get off the ground and survive if the people themselves and those in authority ultimately who would come about would voluntarily submit themselves to the 10 commandments of God. That’s God’s plan. Make a choice to fear God. That’s what they said. So when a culture chooses the path of death and cursing, the decay doesn’t just fester in the halls of political power. It permeates the neighborhoods, the marketplaces, and the homes.

Ezekiel chapter 22, God there delivers a devastating indictment of the general public of Israel then exposing a citizenry called the people there in the end of that chapter that had traded integrity for extortion, practiced oppression, forgotten the vulnerable, and systematically hardhearted themselves against the truth. Great awakening preachers like, well, Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, they understood this picture perfectly and they preached about it specifically. They didn’t just preach to the politicians. They brought the warning to consider your ways directly to the hearts of the common man, knowing that national revival or national ruin ultimately rests on the spiritual health of the population. Dr. Broggi, as we consider and we move this transition from the rulers to the ruled and in keeping with our great physician and health diagnosis imagery, let’s look at the citizen anatomy. What does God expect of a nation’s people and what happens to a society when the general citizenry loses its moral foundation replacing the fear and the worship of God with the worship of man or some other idol of man’s making?

Carl Broggi:

Well, that’s a critical question because obviously our health in these United States of America is not only determined by its leaders. We can rag on the leaders night and day, but it’s also determined by the people and I would say first and foremost by the church, the body of Christ. And so the health of the USA is ultimately, in my view, rooted in the character of its people. And when a people exchange falsehood for truth, wrong for right and God’s moral standards become blurred when we entertain ourselves on evil, when we laugh at things that God calls blasphemous, that’s a nation that is spiraling downward. I often think of the words of Isaiah where he says, “Woe to you who call evil good and good evil who substitute darkness for light, light for darkness who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. What are those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight?” And I fear Sam, that’s where we are moving very, very fast as a nation.

And so we have to ask whether we as citizens and certainly we as born again Christians are living according to the truth that God has revealed.

Sam Rohrer:

Okay. All right. And that is a good question. Here’s a couple minutes left. You referred to it in the last second. We’re talking about leaders. Just your thoughts on this. What is that nexus? Some would say, “Well, the nation’s bad because the people are bad.” Others would say, no, the nation is evil or good the other way around because it’s the leaders. So it’s easy for the people to blame and everything on the leaders and the leaders to say, “We’re just doing what the people want. ” What is that nexus and how God, when he addresses and lays out these principles, choose life. He’s obviously talking to the nation, but he’s obviously, it’s got to start with the people. So what’s that nexus?

Carl Broggi:

Absolutely. Well, no question. Leaders influence the people, but the people produce, they tolerate, they reward, they perpetuate the kind of leaders that they want. And really it’s the same problem in churches today. Paul warns at the end of time and the last of the last days that the time will come when congregations will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled. They, the congregation will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. And that’s what we’re asking for in a lot of our leaders. I spent a half an hour on the phone yesterday with Dr. Jerry Vines. He’s going to be preaching at CBC on July the 5th. And of course, he pastored one of the great churches in American history. They would average between 15 and 20,000 people on a Sunday morning, but this was a real church. I’m not talking about a Joel Olstein, another Jesus, a fake Jesus kind of Christianity, or even a church where the people worship their feelings rather than a church that’s grounded in scripture.

This guy taught the Bible inside and out. And we’re discussing that America is going down because in the pulpits of America, the truth of God is not being preached. And so when a nation no longer has a moral light that comes through the body of Christ where we’re a salt that preserves righteousness, where we’re light that dispels darkness, then Romans one progression begins to kick in and that’s what we are witnessing. The scripture says that a nation is supposed to praise God and give him thanks. And yet if Barna is right, approximately 80% of America was not in church last Sunday. Those who are 12 and under most of the children in America have never even gone to church. We’re having a vacation Bible school shortly. We’re praying for 800 children to come over 500 are registered, but we’re meeting all these children, eight, nine, 10, 11, first time they’ve ever walked on a church campus.

And so this younger generation refuses to give God thanks and praise. And when that happens, you see that downward spiral three times over in Romans one, God gave them over and that’s what we’re happening. We No longer have time for God, much like during the time of the judges, every man did as he states twice over, every man did what was right in his own eyes. And so the ultimate sickness in America, it’s not in Washington, it’s not in state capitals, it’s not in the Supreme Court, it’s not in the schools. Those are just symptoms. The disease is a spiritual rebellion and apathy towards the living God and it’s seen in a lot of evangelical churches, even amongst God’s people where they livestreamed last Sunday because that was easier than getting up in an obedience, not because they were unable, but they were able to be with the people of God.

And when that kind of apathy sets in an America, darkness is going to overtake us and there will be a tremendous price to pay in the end.

Sam Rohrer:

Ladies and gentlemen, how would you rate America today as far as its health goes and the areas of, well, most important to God? Do we fear God? Do you fear God? I ask myself, do I truly fear God? Do you keep God’s commandments? I ask myself each day, Lord, help me to keep your commandments. Are you living holy? I hope and trust that I am that we are as God’s people. We look to government, we see it absent totally there. But when we look in the mirror, because it’s all together, when we come back, we’re going to actually say, what does now based on what we see in America, what is that divine verdict as God would make it? And we’re going to go to Ezekiel chapter 22, just like our founders went and the George Whitefields of the world went in their sermons. We’re going to go there and make a diagnosis.

So using a health illustration we have as we’ve walked through looking at our nation, we are all thankful for what God has done. I’m thankful for what God has done for us in our nation. Most nations don’t make it to 250 years. We have and hoe, how have we been blessed? Have we not? Like no other nation. But where are we now? I can assure you that when our founders, if they were to come back and stand and look at us today, they would wag their heads. But what they think is important, but what God thinks is the opinion that matters. So with that, we’re going to walk into now comparing these things that we’ve talked about and applying it to our nation. We’ve reached the critical diagnostic, I’ll say at the diagnostic climax of today’s special emphasis. In segment two, we examined the divine leadership anatomy, looking at the responsibility of leadership.

Segment three, we talked about the citizen. Now we must lay this divine template that we laid out from the beginning. God set the rules. We’re following his plan. When we look at these two structural frameworks directly and lay them over the United States of America, she reaches her 250th milestone, historic. Our purpose in this final segment is not to offer personal speculation, partisan cheerleading, or political hype. Our explicit objective is to deliver a hard and an honest and clinical diagnosis of America at 2:50 based on God’s word, God’s will, God’s way. And by taking this approach, we are in absolute alignment with both biblical command and American historical precedent. We are hearkening directly to God’s timeless warning through the prophets to consider our ways. Furthermore, we are standing in the exact shoes of Governor John Winthrop in 16:30 who used the solemn covenant of Deuteronomy 28 and 30 to warn the Massachusetts Bay colony that choosing the path of self-interest and spiritual rebellion would guarantee national destruction.

And we’re following the precise blueprint of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield in the great awakening preachers of our past. They routinely delivered what was known as the Jeremiah, a message that boldly compared our nation’s current moral condition then against the unchanging standards of the creator using the graphic indictments of Ezekiel chapter 22 as a mirror to show a people their structural rot. So let’s make the hard diagnosis. When we evaluate America against Ezekiel 22, do we see a healthy superpower or do we see a nation that has chosen the path of cursing and death as Israel had at that point? Carl, lay this down on top of this as we look at our nation, our leaders, our religious leaders, our cultural elite, the general citizenry, and walk through that diagnosis. Take a few minutes here and do that. Answer from your perspective, how does America at 250 honestly rate?

Carl Broggi:

Well, Ezekiel 22 is an indictment against Jerusalem and therefore the nation of Israel. And when you read through that chapter, it’s pretty sobering. You find leaders who abuse power. There’s violence in the streets, there’s sexual immorality, there’s corruption and the people are profaning what God views as holy of people who no longer blush at sin. And when I read this chapter, it reminds me, Sam, of Jeremiah 6:15. It says, “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done?” And Jeremiah, of course, is a contemporary of Ezekiel. Ezekiel’s ministry starts before the Babylonian captivity, but he’s largely writes during the time of the captivity. But Jeremiah writes right before same problems. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not ashamed at all. They did not even know how to blush. And I fear that’s where we are in America. The things that used to make us blush, we entertain ourselves with.

There’s no longer any red faces in America. People don’t blush the way they once did. And so when you hold the moral mirror of scripture up to America, you can’t say that we’re spiritually healthy when we celebrate things that God condemns. Even in the small county that I live of a few hundred thousand people into the library this month, it’s Gay Pride Month. And as you walk in, there’s a wall of gay literature and they’re inviting little children to adults to what God would consider a perverted lifestyle. There’s this attack on the family. There’s growing lawlessness and murder and just an outright rejection of biblical authority. We have two Presbyterian churches in our own town that perform gay marriages. Two Baptist churches that say there are mistakes and errors in the Bible and one that just recently took out marriage between being a man and a woman.

This is the culture that we live in. This is symptomatic of a nation that is rotting from within. Now, does it mean that we’re beyond hope? I don’t think so, but if you honestly diagnose it, I believe that the nation is moving away from God’s path and unless God somehow sent a revival, could he center revival? He can do whatever he chooses to do, but I do know this. I do know that there’s coming a time in human history and it’s indexed with the people of Israel and they’re being regathered in the land that there will be no revival before the rapture, but there will be one during the great tribulation. But if God wants to bring a revival, he can. If he wants to bring one to your state or my state, he can. If he wants to bring one to your county or Mount County, he can.

But I know one place where he can bring a revival and that’s in my heart and in the heart of all the listeners. And so we need to start there by looking inside.

Sam Rohrer:

Amen, Carl. And ladies and gentlemen, I ask Carl to give his view. He has done that. So much more could be said. Here’s my comment or my closing words and my view as I would look at applying what we’ve talked about here today. As the United States reaches her landmark 250th anniversary, an objective biblical examination I believe reveals a nation, our nation from a health perspective and critical condition. Our founders anchored this republic to the authority of Elohim, the creator, and appealed to Elohim Shafit, the great judge of the universe. Both of those included in our nation’s birth document, the Declaration of Independence, recognizing that national longevity requires a moral foundation no political strategy can manufacture. Today though, looking through the diagnostic lens of scripture, we do not see a robust superpower. We see a living organism suffering from profound systemic rot. Like ancient Israel and Isaiah one, our head is sick, our heart is faint.

Our condition from any measure is on life support called the mercy of God. From academic classrooms to the halls of governance and tragically into the pulpits, truth has been compromised. It’s fallen in the street. We’re covered in the open infected wounds of ideological division, fiscal, recklessness, spiritual rebellion and there is no political spin that can soften that. Scripture proves that a nation’s health is never measured by its economic GDP, military might or cultural pride, but by its interior alignment with truth. For instance, do the people fear God and submit to his word, his will and his way? The markers of divine blessing, societal health, being a lender rather than a debtor protecting the innocent and punishing evil doers have been traded for the markers of judgment. Today we spend what we don’t have. We murder the innocent and as 94% of our population demonstrates embracing the idolatry of syncretism have a form of godliness by denying its power.

The ultimate prognosis I think is clear. Human opinions and partisan remedies are completely uses. No political savior economic policy can do it. America’s solitary hope for survival beyond this milestone risks on a collective turning to Jehovah Rafa, the Lord, our healer. In raw humility, fear and trembling and genuine repentance may we all approach this time, this roof.