Except the Lord Build the House

Below is another excellent testimony from Hal Lindsey. I, too, remember most of the events he remembers, though I am a tad bit younger. I remember, just after "the malaise of Jimmy Carter" the election of President Reagan offered us a new direction. I will never forget the sense of hope we then realized as a nation. One could literally feel the change from apathy or disgust, to an atmosphere of encouragement and life. Not only did President Reagan give us strong leadership, he reminded us we were still "a shining light on a hill" - a real hope for a hurting world. He did this not only through his strong leadership, but also by reminding us of the God we serve and that it is He who is the true Founder of our nation.   Hal Lindsey could not be more right in his commentary below: We are trying to succeed without God. But along with that, I also believe Americans have grown weary of the continual attack and belittling of our nation. That attitude elicits no hope and only brings discouragement. The quote President Reagan used to encourage Americans is from Matthew 5:14. "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." Our past can remind us there are better days if we indeed find our way back to our roots.   Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.  ~Psalm 33:12-22 KJV   Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. ~Proverbs 14:34 KJV    And I like that Mr. Lindsey, used the same verse that I have chosen to show my hope for my blog:    “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”  ~Psalm 127:1  KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 14th, 2014 This week on 'The Hal Lindsey Report'   I have a birthday coming soon and I've been thinking about my life and the times in which I've lived. I was born just days after Black Tuesday, the day of the most devastating stock market crash in U.S. history. I grew up during the Depression and the lean years that followed. In fact, it was not until my 25th birthday that the stock market again reached its peak level from 1929. I remember the Dust Bowl and what life here was like during World War Two, the biggest, deadliest conflict in human history. I remember the start of the Cold War. I served in the Coast Guard during the Korean conflict. I lived through the Cuban missile crisis, the Kennedy assassination, the Viet Nam war, and the counter-culture rebellion of the 60s and 70s. I worked on American college campuses during some of those tumultuous years. I remember the Arab oil embargo, Watergate, the Nixon resignation, the malaise of Jimmy Carter, and the terror of 9/11. But through all of that, the American people seemed never to lose their sense of optimism. That is, until now. In a recent Fox News Poll, a staggering 58% of Americans polled thought that "the way things are going" could best be described by the phrase: "Things are going to hell in a handbasket." Americans today share a sense of doom that they just can't seem to shake. So what makes our time different? Is it the Ebola outbreak? So far, only one person has died in the U.S. and only two people have contracted it here. On the other hand, 1,500 Americas die each day from cancer. Is it ISIS? The small terrorist army is unsettling, and even though they've vowed to fly their flag over the White House, they're a long way from being able to carry out that threat. Is it Vladimir Putin? He's been doing a lot of saber-rattling lately. His bombers are probing ours and NATO's defenses. He's engaged in a slow-motion takeover of chunks of Eastern Europe. He's irritated because Western sanctions are beginning to bite and he's started making veiled threats about nuking those who oppose Russia. When an insulated sociopath who controls 10,000 nuclear weapons publicly insinuates that he might use them, it's worth taking notice. But I don't think Americans really believe him. So I don't think that's why they seem to be feeling this sense of doom. I think that, deep down, most Americans know that our nation's true strength is her morality and they sense that America's moral base is crumbling. A few weeks ago, I discussed Psalm 127:1 and how it applies to the United States today: "Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain." That's what America 2014 feels like. It feels like there's a hole in our boat. We bail and bail, but the water in the boat only gets deeper. Things don't work like they used to work. Everything seems upside down. Why? I think it's because we're trying to succeed without God. As individuals and as a nation, we have the ability to reject the presence and fellowship of the Lord, but we do not have the ability to achieve real and lasting success without Him. Until we patch that hole in our boat, we're bailing desperately, but in vain. Don't miss this week's Report on TBN, Daystar, CPM Network, The Word Network, various local stations, www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com. God Bless, Hal Lindsey