Is there any hope for America?
That question and related others are being asked more and more frequently these days as the United States shakes its fist at God and rebels against His Word. The 412 Church senior pastor and host of the Hope For Our Times video program, Tom Hughes, has written an insightful book titled America’s Coming Judgment: Where is Our Hope? in response to this crucial question. We were blessed on Christ in Prophecy to have Pastor Tom as our guest on our television program to discuss this vital topic.
Mobocracy
Dr. Reagan: Tom, in your book you claim that the chief criminal organization in America today is the government. That is a mouthful! How so?
Tom Hughes: It is, and I don’t think many people would disagree with me anymore. When you look at what’s going on in Washington D.C., if we were to take the current temperature of Washington, you can easily see we have issues. Moral issues continue to plague the FBI. Moral bankruptcy continues to plague Congress. We have what equates to two mob families — the Republicans and the Democrats — vying for power. I don’t know how else you could state the debilitating condition in Washington.
Nathan Jones: Despite their differences, the two parties are pretty well linked together in all their decision making.
Tom Hughes: Yes, the parties are very well linked together. However, the question remains just what “crime family” is going to come out ahead. Which party’s platform are you going to decide you want to adopt?
Dr. Reagan: President Trump promised he was going to “drain the swamp.” Sadly, he’s discovered that some of the members of his own party are actually living in that swamp.
Tom Hughes: Both Republicans and the Democrats comprise the swamp. Do you know what? Those crocodiles in that swamp are pretty vicious, too.
Dr. Reagan: Recently a revelation was exposed that the Treasury Department ran a slush fund to pay off the woman who have been sexually harassed by members of Congress. They’re using our tax money to pay off victims of sexual abuse!
Tom Hughes: What’s even more unbelievable are congressmen who preach about morality, attempting to pretend like they have been moral people all along, and yet their private lives are filled with all kinds of corruption and evil. Now we have Hollywood’s sexual scandals exposed, and what’s happening to abusive Hollywood execs and actors by an outraged society has been conveyed over to Congress and the Senate. All these politicians at all levels are wagging their tongues at Hollywood saying, “Shame on you! You shouldn’t abuse people.” And yet, we’re finding out congressmen are committing far worse sins behind their own closed doors. Does this actually surprise us? I don’t think so. Sexual crimes committed in secret are finally being exposed to the public. I believe God is exposing the sins of America, thereby giving us an opportunity to get right with Him.
#God is exposing the sins of #America, thereby giving us an opportunity to get right with Him. Click To TweetThe Romans Curse
Dr. Reagan: In that light, let’s then explore a statement you made on page 200 of your book. It’s quite a very interesting statement. “When a nation falls under the curse of Romans 1, it can’t make laws fast enough to keep up with the evil growing in the hearts of human beings.”
Tom Hughes: When a nation falls under the curse of Romans 1, it can't make laws fast enough to keep up with the evil growing in the hearts of human beings. Click To TweetNathan Jones: You are referring to the end result of all societies moored in evil — totalitarianism?
Tom Hughes: It’s the direction every society eventually goes. As Christians, we know biblically the direction all of human history will go when the Antichrist set’s up his dictatorial global government. Totalitarianism is the end destination of every depraved society. George Orwell in his book 1984 echoed this truth when he made predictions that we are actually watching being implemented today.
Nathan Jones: Great Britain has already implemented many of the Big Brother types of surveillance measures Orwell predicted.
Tom Hughes: So have we here in America. In my book I mentioned that in 2011 there were some 40,000 laws that were passed. These are laws regarding all 50 states and territories. They were not just federal laws, nor were they just city or county laws. Some 40,000 laws were passed nationwide in 2011, not including just federal or city or county.
Our society has become so depraved that our behavior needs to be micromanaged by Big Government. We’ve gone so far south of public discourse. Government tells us, “You can’t do this. You shouldn’t do that.” And so, we start making law up for everything.
Why so many laws? Because we as a society and individually cannot keep the Ten Commandments anymore. The Ten Commandments have been ejected from our schools and court houses and everywhere else that’s public. And so, since we cannot keep the Ten Commandments, we must add 40,000 laws per year and try to keep them in order to regulate our terrible behavior. It’s impossible to keep so many laws! The lawmakers cannot even keep up with society’s changing dynamic. How do you interpret the laws? What was the real meaning behind what this or that law states? Society is lost without the Bible, Declaration of Independence, and our Constitution.
Nathan Jones: The Bible has always had it right — love God and love each other. The sum of all laws is tied to our vertical and horizontal behavior between God and our fellow man. The Golden Rule covers everything we need when it comes to right and moral behavior.
Dr. Reagan: This reminds me of a brief video put out by a Harvard University professor who teaches in the Business Administration Department of Harvard University. In his video he talks about how he was conversing with one of his Chinese students. The student commented something like: “I’ve noticed there’s a difference between the United States and China. It’s all these churches. Churches are everywhere. The fact that Americans place so much importance upon following some kind of moral law means something. In our society, we don’t have freedom of religion. Instead, we live under a totalitarian dictatorship.” The Harvard professor replied, “Yes, that is exactly right. If society doesn’t have a moral foundation then you can’t hire enough policemen to keep the people well behaved.”
Gleam of Hope
Nathan Jones: Does that mean there isn’t any hope for America? Are we destined to slide towards totalitarianism. Have we reached the point of no return? Is the republican form of government almost dead?
Tom Hughes: I believe there’s always hope. I’ve heard from many people who believe America is in a lot of trouble, but they always believe there is hope.
I would liken America’s future to this. I’m a pastor, and so I’ve visited a lot of people in the hospitals over the years. I’ve been to hospital rooms where the family tragically has had to remove life support from their loved ones. I’ve been with families when they’ve had to remove the breathing apparatus from a spouse or child. For anybody who’s ever witnessed such an event, it’s a horrific thing to watch. How very painful to witness the heartbreak of the family. The patient is dying right before their eyes.
At times you’ll encounter patients who as they are taken off of the breathing apparatus, when they begin to take their own breathes again, their last breaths are gasps. They heave violently and are quite noisy.
I believe America has just been removed from the ventilator. We are taking our last breath, and it is in a very real sense a violent, noisy gasp.
What do these gasps look like? We are seeing the end of civility and increasing violence in the streets. Anarchy nearly reigns as thousands of totalitarian laws try to replace biblical morality. The structure is collapsing under its own weight of corruption.
So, you’ve got to wonder, will America survive? This is what I do know. Jesus loves us. God forgives sinners. There’s always a chance to get right with God. There is always hope in the Lord. His desire is that none should perish. Therefore, there is still hope for America. God still calls preachers to preach His Word. People are still accepting Christ and being forgiven. Some people still hold a conscience and are feeling convicted of their sins. As long as these happen, there’s always hope. I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ loves people and wants to save Americans, even if He doesn’t end up saving America.
Tom Hughes: I believe that the Lord #JesusChrist loves people and wants to save Americans, even if He doesn't end up saving #America. Click To Tweet
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