Curing America’s Eli Syndrome
This sermon lays out the facts of where we are as a nation and how it is up to the church and God’s people to get us back on the right track. The attack on Christianity has turned into an all-out “take no prisoners” war. In order to get control over people and make everyone dependent on the government, Christianity has to go.
In order to have a successful socialist nation, you cannot have people who have a faith in a loving God that supplies all of our needs. That’s why the atheists, agnostics, progressives and now Muslims are attacking us on all sides.
By Tim Crooks
I am passionate about restoring America to its greatness. I want to see this country go back to being the nation of yesterday, one that worked hard, gave freely and invested in our future. I have been really thinking lately how I don’t want to be like Eli. Reading this, you are probably wondering who Eli is or at the very least wondering what a priest from Ancient Israel has to do with restoring our nation. In 1 Samuel 3:1-14, the bible gives us the story of a Jewish Priest named Eli. Eli did a great job of ministering to Samuel and raising him up to be a great prophet. Eli was so laser-focused on Samuel he ended up neglecting his own children. He did not give them enough guidance and they ended up, quite literally, going to hell.
As for me, I know I don’t want to spend so much time serving in church or at work that I fail my children and have them end up taking the same road Eli’s children did. In the same way, I am watching our nation also go the same way as Eli’s children. As a nation we are turning our backs on God, His laws, commandments and His love. We are becoming a pagan nation; one that is headed for destruction and ruin, and it will be self-inflicted. But, we can still turn this around, and avoid the destruction and ruin.
In this article, I want everyone to walk away understanding where we are now, how we got here, and what we can do to change the path we are on. Right now, we are on the path to socialism. It’s progressiveness these days, but it’s still just socialism. We are creating a dependency on government. We are over taxing the middle and rich classes and redistributing that money to the poor. The poor are being dumbed down, becoming dependent and losing what work skills needed to be self-sufficient. We are heading for socialized medicine and yet more taxes to cover those costs. There is more government regulation. As of right now, no one is for sure how many federal regulations there are, but it is estimated that there are over 8,000 of them.
At the same time, the attack on Christianity has turned into an all-out “take no prisoners” war. Why? It’s simple, really. In order to get control over people and make everyone dependent on the government, Christianity has to go. In order to have a successful socialist nation, you cannot have people who have a faith in a loving God that supplies all of our needs. That’s why the atheists, agnostics, liberal left progressives, and now Muslims are attacking us on all sides.
Everywhere we turn we are facing persecution for our beliefs. If you are a Christian Conservative in America, you will be called names like bigot, intolerant, hater, and many more I won’t mention here. True Christ followers are nothing like that. Christ followers are the most giving (time, talent and treasure) to help the poor, the fatherless, the widows and orphans, and nations devastated by wars, famines, droughts, etc.True Christ followers are not bigots, but love everyone, because God created us, not because we have to. True Christ followers do not hate people because of lifestyle choices, drug and alcohol addictions, and pornography addictions. True Christ followers take the path Jesus took – we hate the sin, but love the sinner.
We have been facing an epidemic of mass proportions in this country due to our lack of moral values in this nation. Our moral values should be dictated by the Bible, but are now dictated by Hollywood, the media, and politicians that cannot be faithful to their spouses. How can we trust leaders in public service, the media and movies if they can’t keep a promise to someone they love? Do you really think that they have our best interest in mind? We are strangers to these people, and they treat the common people like peasants.
The question I have been wondering for years is how did we get here? This is not an all-encompassing list, but our educational system, development of a promiscuous society, use of movies and television for the moral decay of families and the use of some music has helped bring us to this point. It didn’t just happen overnight. It’s been a well-thought out, planned attack going back at least fifty years or even longer. The removal of God and His Word from our schools began in the early 1960s. In the Engel v. Vitale case (1962), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-1 against New York’s “Regents’ prayer,” a “non-denominational” prayer which state education officials had composed for public schoolchildren to recite.
In 1951 the New York State Board of Regents (the State board of education) approved a 22-word “nondenominational prayer” for recitation each morning in the public schools of New York. It read: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country.” The Regents believed that the prayer could be a useful tool for the development of character and good citizenship among the students of the State of New York. The prayer was offered to the school boards in the State for their use, and participation in the “prayer-exercise” was voluntary. In New Hyde Park, New York, the Union Free School District No. 9 directed the local principal to have the prayer “said aloud by each class in the presence of a teacher at the beginning of the school day.”
The parents of ten pupils in the New Hyde Park schools objected to the prayer. They filed suit in a New York State court seeking a ban on the prayer, insisting that the use of this official prayer in the public schools was contrary to their own and their children’s beliefs, religions, or religious practices. The State appeals court upheld the use of the prayer, “so long as the schools did not compel any pupil to join in the prayer over his or his parents’ objection.” The Court found the New York Regents’ prayer to be unconstitutional.
Schools were originally created so that children could learn to read and write, but specifically to be able to read the Bible. The first book in the classroom was the Bible. It was central to a child’s education, not only for its content, but the way it was used to build skills. Students learned how to read using the Bible. Much of the school day was devoted to memorizing and reciting passages from it, and passages were copied to learn penmanship. Now, our educational system is set up to train children in the way they shouldn’t go, whether that is to become an atheist, agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or some other pagan religion, anything but Christianity. We have also been “dumbing down” our children the past couple of generations, especially since the federal government’s creation of the department of education.
Under President Jimmy Carter, the federal government created the Department of Education. Since inception in the late 1970’s, American children’s test scores have steadily declined and America is not the best educated nation in the world anymore. Chances are, not many high school graduates could pass a basic 8th grade test administered in 1900.Yes, there may be more children in America getting educated in colleges now, but the overall intelligence of our younger generations are not as strong as previous generations. A degree on the wall isn’t nearly as important as what is really on the inside of the minds of the current generation, and the lack of knowledge of the basics has brought us to the point where many teenagers now cannot function without the use of technology.
In the early 1960’s, “The Pill”, for birth control was invented, which was one step further to the development of a promiscuous society. The pill doesn’t prevent conception, but literally makes the environment for the fertilized egg so inhospitable that it cannot possibly survive. The U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare defined abortion in 1963 as follows:
“All the measures which impair the viability of the zygote at any time between the instant of fertilization and the completing of labor constitute, in the strict sense, procedures for inducing abortion.”
(emphasis added)
Although 1.6 million surgical abortions take place each year in the U.S., Dr. Bogomir Kuhar, a pharmacist concerned about chemical abortion, has calculated that in combining all forms of induced abortion — the IUD, Depo-Provera, Norplant, surgical, and the Pill (and injectables, implants, and oral products that work in a similar fashion), between 9.6 and 13.4 million young lives are terminated in the U.S. alone each year.(Lawrence Roberge, The Cost of Abortion. La Grange, GA: Four Winds, 1995, p 7. )
Abortion, what I call infanticide, came about in 1973, and even though it is technically not legal in the United States, our government has allowed this to happen. Just these two issues have caused millions of American women to surrender their bodies, hearts and minds to a lifestyle that God had not meant for women. Sex has become so casual amongst strangers that social diseases have been running rampant for over 40 years.
The modern feminist movement was also born during this time. Feminists are in full support of both the pill and abortion because they believe it’s a woman’s right. They also hide the truths behind what the pill and abortion do to women, both physically and emotionally. If this movement really cared about women, they wouldn’t try changing the God created natural role for women, but would support the fact that God created women with skills only women possess, in God’s image.
Men also have been under scrutiny for the past 50 years or so. Once upon a time, men had role models like Andy Griffith, Ward Cleaver and plus other fathers in shows like Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, and The Waltons as role models. What have we had in the past 25 years? Shows full of dolts that cannot provide for their families and who seemingly don’t know how to function. Men are portrayed as dummies and their wives are always proving them wrong and chastising him. Examples are easy to find. Just look at Married With Children, The Simpsons, and The King of Queens to mention a few.
Even one of my favorite actors, Jim Belushi was in a show called According to Jim where his character was a dumb-downed buffoon that was always in trouble or coming up with hair-brained schemes to get himself out of the stupid situations he got into. What has this been teaching men over the last quarter of a century? We have learned that no matter what, we are just beer drinking, meat eating dummies that cannot function in society without our wives. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that the relationship between a man and a woman is important; the most important relationship one will have outside one’s relationship with Jesus, but get real people. Husbands and wives are to submit to each other, we need to be the husbands and wives of Ephesians 5, not Al and Peg Bundy.
It’s not just television though; it’s in our movies as well. The amount of sex, violence, drug use, alcohol abuse and the use of foul language is affecting all of us that watch movies that contained too much of the above. Seems like movies today all have to have some type of hero that is going to save the world, but that hero isn’t Jesus. It’s Die Hard, Superman, Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, Armageddon, and so on that have these “supernatural” humans that save the earth, and make you believe that God is not needed.
There was once in a time, back in the 1950’s and 1960’s that movie makers focused a lot on patriotic movies (think of movies that starred John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda, etc.), biblical based movies (Moses, 10 Commandments, Ben Hur, etc.) and just good plain old family entertainment movies from Disney. With the exception of the Kendrick Brothers (Facing The Giants, Fireproof, Courageous), and a few other positive movie influences are few and far between.
Lastly, most in our media have succumbed to the wishes of the progressive movement and support the anti-Christian hatred spread by socialists. Except for the weather, I just about cannot stand what is given to us as news anymore. I really don’t want the opinions of any newscaster, no matter how famous they are or how much money they make. I am not a dumb man, just give me the facts and let me form the opinions on my own. When the media feels like it has to tell us what our thoughts should be on topics, you know that socialism is knocking on America’s door. We need to return to having news anchors give us the facts of the story and not inject their personal or political agendas into the nightly news.
So, what are we going to do about this? Some may believe that America is too far gone to turn back now. I don’t believe that. This isn’t the Titanic, it’s America. God has blessed us, and though we are an imperfect nation, God is willing to help us turn this around. It is in our court now, the ball is in our hands and strength in numbers will succeed.
First, if you are an American citizen that can vote, we can start now by voting in those that really want to restore America, and vote out those worthless lifelong senators and representatives that have done nothing but lined their own pockets and screwed the American people over. We can send a strong message to the court systems throughout the nation; we won’t tolerate legislation from the bench. Follow the federal constitution; follow your state’s constitution. If they cannot follow those, we the people, your bosses will remove you from office and properly charge you with treason.
We need to demand that our federal government and state governments need to be downsized, stop spending money, and stop over-taxing the citizens of this great nation. It’s time to give business and industry more freedom, less regulation, less taxes and more incentive to build, expand and create jobs in this country. Put American pride back in American industry again. It’s not the government that creates jobs. Job creation is the result of hard working American people that start a business on an idea or invention that created this wonderful nation, and God blessed us for it.
It’s time to send the IRS packing. Take America to a flat tax of 5% with no deductions, no refunds. If the federal government cannot live on that money raised, better stop spending. Put more focus on securing our borders, providing a strong military and protect us. Give more power back to the states and let the states make more decisions on their own. Put education back where it belongs, in the hands of the states. No national healthcare, no national welfare, no national unemployment. Let the states provide for their citizens, not by giving handouts, but by helping pick people up on their feet, get them working, and instill American pride back into the citizens.
Next, term limits for Congress. Both the House and Senate serve 4 year terms, at a pay of $50,000 per year. Turn Walter Reed hospital into a dorm for them while Congress is in session. , if you want your own place, fine, pay for it yourself. No retirement paid out of our Social Security. The President’s salary should be reduced to $100,000, a two-term limit and no retirement plan.
Elected officials holding federal offices and their staff should not be allowed to invest in the stock market. If you are caught investing and conducting in insider trading, you get the same fate as Gordon Gecko in Wall Street; a prison sentence. You will be a felon with no chance of being pardoned. It’s time to send a message; you go to Washington to serve and work for the people, period.
I believe in the 1st amendment, so I will let Hollywood create what they want, even if I disagree with what they do. But, we the people can put a ban on movies by not going to see the movie, rent it or buy it. Same thing with television shows. If they put garbage out on television, we stop watching the show, write letters to the network and more importantly write letters to the sponsors, and let them know we will not purchase your products due to your support of this show or movie.
Businesses will change who they sponsor when we the people choose not to spend our money on their products. Once we get their attention, well you know how it works, money talks. We can get shows created like The Waltons, etc. again. There’s power in numbers and if we all pray to God to change the hearts of Washington and Hollywood, we can change the direction.
Same with music, I believe in the 1st amendment, but if some numbskull is going to put out garbage that supports violence, rape, drug or alcohol abuse, and violence toward children, stop buying their music. Start calling radio stations, asking them to stop playing the garbage. Send letters to the sponsors of the radio shows and let them know you will no longer buy their products. I love music, but let’s get real, there is too much junk out there that is bad, let’s focus on keeping it real, keeping it clean and putting God first again.
We need more positive influences like the Irish band U2. My wife introduced me their music years ago, and I have become a huge fan. They are a band of Christian men, spreading the Word that we can have heaven on this earth until Jesus comes again. They have a song that I love listening to; it’s called “The Hands That Built America”. It’s a wonderful song, very relaxing to listen to.
What strikes me funny is this – U2, a bunch of Irish-born musicians, understands what America is really about more than most Americans. Our founding fathers formed this nation, and it has become successful because we are a melting pot. Bono mentions that the hands that built America are; Russian, Sioux, Dutch, Hindu, Polish, Irish, German, Italian, Blacks, Chinese, Jews, Korean, Hispanic, Muslim and Indian. This is true, even though we are a Christian nation; God has used the whole world to build this great country.
Bono’s statement that really makes me think though is this one: Of all the promises, is this one we can keep? Of all the dreams is this one still out of reach?
Remember our heritage. Almost all of us, except for Native Americans, have ancestors that came to America. They didn’t come here for handouts and welfare. They came to escape socialism, monarchies, communists, anti-Christian atheists and ruthless dictators. They came to start families, worship God, and spread the gospel to the entire world. They made sacrifices to establish a home for future generations to live, love, thrive, survive and bless someone else. They laid their lives on the line to give us what we have today; we owe it to them to lay our lives on the line to keep what they passed down to us. They were the hands that built America.
We are standing at a crossroads here in America. Family is no longer regarded as the cornerstone of this country. It’s no wonder that this is happening in America. The decline of true Christianity has led us away from God; away from all that is good. As a whole, Americans have become like Eli in the Old Testament.
How have most Americans become like Eli? Eli was a priest, who focused on his student (Samuel), but did not give his children what they needed. Is this still happening now? Yes and at an alarming rate. How many family members and friends of yours have put their careers first in life? How many people have not gotten married so they could work on their careers? How many have given up their marriages and children for their careers? I can imagine you probably know at least 4-5 people who have done this. That is the “Eli Syndrome”, focusing on your work, not on what matters.
So, what does matter? In order for us to put our families first, we must follow this order; God must be first, our spouses second, our children third (family right after God), then our careers/ministries. That’s how we can do it. We restore the true family structure first.
We can all get back to the basics of this simply by starting in our homes. If each one of us focuses on our own families, raising our children properly, eliminating the garbage from our homes and put patriotism, faith, hope, and love back into our own families. We can put our nation back on the path to righteous and then, God will bless America again. Only then will this generation be able to answer Bono’s question by being “The Hands That Restored America”.
