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    Can God Bless America?
    Can God Bless America?
    Can God Bless America?
    Ebook70 pages1 hour

    Can God Bless America?

    By John F. MacArthur

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    About this ebook

    Recently, and seemingly overnight, the once cliche slogan "God Bless America" became almost a national mantra. John MacArthur gets to the heart of the matter by asking the questions most Americans choose to ignore: "Should God bless America?" and "Is America deserving of blessing?" Turning to the Old Testament, he presents the simple truth of God's word, his blessing has always had conditions. MacArthur calls the Nation to turn back to God by showing us how we can become a nation that is once again blessed by God.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateJul 13, 2002
    ISBN9781418508043
    Author

    John F. MacArthur

    Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God's Word, John MacArthur is a popular author and conference speaker. He has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. John and his wife, Patricia, have four married children and fifteen grandchildren. John's pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in seven countries. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly two thousand English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, and digital recordings by John MacArthur. John is chancellor of The Master's University and Seminary and has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one biblical and practical. Bestselling titles include The Gospel  According to Jesus, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, Slave, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient.

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    • 4/5
      John MacArthur's Can God Bless America? is a short book you can breeze through in about an hour, but it asks an incredibly important question: is God able to bless America — and should He? In a time when the phrase "God bless America" has become a clichéd slogan, lip-service to a generic and rather selfish patriotism, we need to use this phrase advisedly (if at all). MacArthur takes a look at the underlying assumptions we have about this phrase and — more importantly — what the Bible has to say about national blessing and the conditions attached to it.Basically, we want God's blessing without God in the bargain. God, give us safety and wealth and good feelings about ourselves as Americans, please. But don't demand anything of us. Obedience and then blessing — are You kidding? MacArthur writes, "While people reject the God of Scripture as their sovereign, they still claim Him as their servant" (vi).I appreciated MacArthur's discussion of the dangers of moralism and how attempts to use politics as the church's main strategy for influencing our nation are doomed to failure. Jesus didn't try to overthrow or control government. We don't need more laws to make us moral; we need regeneration. MacArthur lists sixteen reasons that moralism doesn't work, and his arguments are compelling (to list just a few, 1.) it isn't our commission, 2.) it wastes immense amounts of precious resources, 4.) moralism misconstrues the nature of God's kingdom, 6.) moralism is a religion devoid of theology, 8.) moralism has no New Testament model except the Pharisees, 13.) the politics of moralism makes those we are supposed to reach with the gospel into enemies, etc.).America is not God's chosen nation, entitled to special privileges and first in line by right for when He hands out blessings. That would be Israel, and even their national blessings are and have always been dependent upon their obedience. The fact is, we're fast becoming a post-Christian nation and we have no right to expect special treatment from God simply because we are Americans. Our sense of entitlement must be so disgusting to Him. Unpatriotic? Maybe. But my citizenship is in Heaven, and God forbid even a good thing like honest earthly patriotism to become more important to me than my real country.
    • 4/5
      John MacArthur's Can God Bless America? is a short book you can breeze through in about an hour, but it asks an incredibly important question: is God able to bless America — and should He? In a time when the phrase "God bless America" has become a clichéd slogan, lip-service to a generic and rather selfish patriotism, we need to use this phrase advisedly (if at all). MacArthur takes a look at the underlying assumptions we have about this phrase and — more importantly — what the Bible has to say about national blessing and the conditions attached to it.Basically, we want God's blessing without God in the bargain. God, give us safety and wealth and good feelings about ourselves as Americans, please. But don't demand anything of us. Obedience and then blessing — are You kidding? MacArthur writes, "While people reject the God of Scripture as their sovereign, they still claim Him as their servant" (vi).I appreciated MacArthur's discussion of the dangers of moralism and how attempts to use politics as the church's main strategy for influencing our nation are doomed to failure. Jesus didn't try to overthrow or control government. We don't need more laws to make us moral; we need regeneration. MacArthur lists sixteen reasons that moralism doesn't work, and his arguments are compelling (to list just a few, 1.) it isn't our commission, 2.) it wastes immense amounts of precious resources, 4.) moralism misconstrues the nature of God's kingdom, 6.) moralism is a religion devoid of theology, 8.) moralism has no New Testament model except the Pharisees, 13.) the politics of moralism makes those we are supposed to reach with the gospel into enemies, etc.).America is not God's chosen nation, entitled to special privileges and first in line by right for when He hands out blessings. That would be Israel, and even their national blessings are and have always been dependent upon their obedience. The fact is, we're fast becoming a post-Christian nation and we have no right to expect special treatment from God simply because we are Americans. Our sense of entitlement must be so disgusting to Him. Unpatriotic? Maybe. But my citizenship is in Heaven, and God forbid even a good thing like honest earthly patriotism to become more important to me than my real country.

    Book preview

    Can God Bless America? - John F. MacArthur

    INTRODUCTION

    CGBA_final_pages_0095_001

    In this era of war against terrorism, a sudden wave of patriotism has revived the slogan God Bless America. The sentiment is expressed everywhere. It is even seen, ironically, on bumper-stickers adjacent to other bumper-stickers expressing humanistic and atheistic sentiments. One assumes that even those who don’t believe in God want His blessing on our nation.

    Anti-God philosophies and anti-Christian worldviews now clearly dominate most of modern Western society. God has systematically been removed from public discourse; prayer has been virtually banned from the public arena; agnosticism and humanism dominate public policy. So it is remarkable that the slogan God Bless America has seen such a wide-spread revival. We have to wonder what most people have in mind when they repeat the slogan.

    Many believe this nation’s devotion to freedom, equality, charity, justice, and individual rights has led God to bless us with riches and comfort. But as America has become more humanistic, it has also become more prosperous. Now more affluent than ever, we are also more atheistic than ever. While people reject the God of Scripture as their Sovereign, they still claim Him as their servant. For some people that is all they mean by God Bless America.

    Originally, God Bless America was a prayer for divine blessing. In its current form it sometimes seems nothing more than a patriotic battle-cry—usually intoned without much serious reflection. Perhaps it is sometimes recited like a mantra—as if merely invoking God’s name could garner His blessing.

    Some apparently believe that America enjoys God’s blessing by divine right. After all, God has blessed America throughout history to a remarkable degree. But His blessings are not measured—as most people believe—by material affluence, power, and world dominance. The greatest blessings God has graciously given America have been spiritual blessings— knowledge of the good news of salvation in Christ, freedom for the gospel to be propagated, sweeping revivals like those of the Great Awakenings, and growth and spiritual prosperity for the church in our nation. The sad truth is that all those blessings have been in serious jeopardy since long before the terrorist strikes reminded us that our freedom and material prosperity hang by a fragile thread.

    What do we really mean when we invoke God’s blessing on our nation? Do people in America truly long for the spiritual awakening that would be the necessary condition for true divine blessing, or would the policy-makers and media moguls in our society be as hostile to such a revival as they are to the threat of terrorism? Are people in America prepared to embrace God’s Son as Lord and Savior, or do they just want God’s favor on their own terms?

    And what are the means by which the people of God should seek to have God’s blessing on our nation? Can we help position modern society to receive God’s blessing merely by influencing public policy through politics and protest, or is something more needed to fulfill the conditions under which God will bless our nation? Can external moral reform alone make America fit for God’s blessing, or is something even deeper needed in the lives of most Americans?

    To ask such questions is to answer them. Scripture is clear that a wholesale spiritual renewal, brought about through the clear and persuasive preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the sole pathway to divine blessing. What is needed is not merely moral reform, but spiritual regeneration. And unless this occurs on a widespread scale that deeply impacts all of society, we will continue to forfeit the true blessings of God for our nation. Merely reciting the slogan God Bless America will do nothing for us, until it becomes a heartfelt prayer for spiritual renewal and regeneration through the gospel.

    The remedy to our nation’s moral and spiritual woes must begin at the house of God. The process starts with personal repentance. And if Christians truly want to see God’s blessing on our society, we ought to be models of genuine contrition and humility, rather than merely pointing fingers of blame at the evils of secular society. God Himself said to Israel, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14, emphasis added).

    Christians concerned about the moral evils of society often opt for the wrong remedies, as if all that were needed to cure the spiritual malaise of our nation were some kind of federal legislation against abortion, sexual promiscuity, pornography and other forms of corruption.

    Political remedies to our nation’s moral ills are no cure for the underlying spiritual problems. Of all people, Christians ought to know that, and the preponderance of our efforts ought to be focused on proclaiming the truth that can genuinely set people free.

    Lives, not just laws, need to be transformed before America will be in a position to ask for and expect God’s blessing. The blessings of God cannot be acquired by any legislative process. Law cannot make people righteous. Scripture is clear on this. "If righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died

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