While in prayer and fasting in the summer of 1998, I, pastor Chris Ward, a Viet Nam veteran, realized that Americans had fallen out of the practice of praying for their country and being faithful to the Lord.
I had heard and read that many people and prophets were speaking out against America and saying that God would judge and even destroy America.
Many people had prophesied that God was about to judge America with natural disasters, a World War III, a terrorist nuclear attack that would devastate New York, a crash of the New York and Chicago stock markets, and earthquakes that would tear San Francisco off into the Pacific Ocean.
As I prayed and sought the face of the Lord, I realized that God was not done with America. In fact, God was inviting America to be a part of the greatest event in the history of mankind.
While it was true that America was deep in sin and was turning its back on a relationship with God, God had not turned His back on America. God loves America.
Remember it was America that saved His people the Jews from genocide by the hands of the German Nazi party. It is America alone that stands by Israel now to protect it from a Islamic and Communistic genocide. It is America that still tolerates religious freedom and is the voice of Human Rights around the world. It is Americans that sends billions of dollars of support to missions and foreign countries in aid.
I began to understand that God views America as a type of Samson in the Old Testament. Samson, once great yet fallen, was restored in the end to do a mighty work for God because of his repentance and return to the Lord.
I based this revelation on two significant realities. Consider first the fires, the floods, the earthquakes, the hurricanes, and the tornadoes that swept across America in 1998. Any of these events could have been devastating in the cost of lives, but in each case there was a minimal loss of life. It seemed clear that God had restrained the devastating attacks of nature. Second, consider the two presidential terms of scandals and immorality in the highest office of the land. Any of these incidents could have triggered a stock market crash in the midst of the crash of the Asian and Russian stock markets of that same year. And yet, our economy was growing and our stock market was booming. It seemed evident that God's thumb print was in these events.
But what was God trying to tell us? Had God hidden a message in the middle of these trials and events? Was God giving America another change to repent and turn to Him? Did God intend to restore America like Samson, so that He might use America again and make us a significant partner in the most fantastic event in human history--the Outpouring of His Spirit on the entire world?
In order for America to play a significant role in this historical event, Americans would need to humble themselves and pray, seek His face, and turn from doing things without God.
Yes, the birth pains were coming, but did God intend to use the remnant in America to minister to the millions of needy that would survive earthquakes, floods, mud slides, civil war, solar flares, famine and plague and terrorism. After all, who would have the means to help the millions on the edge of disaster except America?
The following is offered as a simple guide to the restoration of America and the preparation of the world for the return of Jesus Christ.
America
Under Attack: WWIII
"Listen America: The Lord our God is One; You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And you shall teach this diligently to your children, and you shall speak of this when you sit at home watching t.v., when you go shopping, at bedtime prayers, and at the dinner table."
""God loved America so much that He gave His only Son to die for us on the cross, to pay the price of a good standing with God, so that if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you shall never die but receive eternal life in the life to come and a true and holy relationship with God today."
"Come unto Me, all of you who struggle with life and are depressed, and I will give you rest. Take My teachings and learn from Me, for I am merciful and kind hearted, and you will find rest for your soul. For My teachings are easy and My expectations are light."
I recognize that I can do something significant to help make America a great nation, a nation under God.
I promise to humble myself and pray, to seek the face of the Lord, and to be diligent on a daily basis in the three following activities:
1. I will pray for America.
2. I will study the Word of God.
3. I will be faithful in attendance to my church.
Staff Sgt Andrew Ramirez, 24, Staff Sgt Christopher Stone, 25, and Private Steven Gonzales, 24, who were seized after their patrol came under fire on the Kosovo-Macedonia border on Wednesday afternoon March 31, 1999.
