Wake Up America: ACNA Archbishop Says Church in America has been Co-opted by the Culture
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
July 5, 2020
The evangelical Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America says the Church in North America is becoming like the Church in Germany when Hitler took control and coopted it for his own political ends.
The Most Rev. Foley Beach said the German Christian Movement abandoned the idea that one must seek the Will of God from the Bible -- the Word of God -- in the name of what they called "Positive Christianity." Instead, they promoted the idea that one finds the Will of God in the voice of culture, the tides of history, and most importantly the Third Reich. They preached unity. Most of the churches fell for it, he said.
"No longer would the Church speak to the culture; culture would speak to the Church. And with one voice the Church would say 'Amen.'"
Germany became a one-party state, blessed by one single and subservient church. The German Church had been co-opted by those outside the Church who lured it away from the Word of God. And the Church blessed the very evil it was supposed to condemn.
Is the same thing happening here in the United States? Is the Church of God abandoning His Word to such a degree that it cannot speak -- or it will not speak -- against the culture?
• The culture says it's OK to kill over 50 million unborn babies.
• The culture says it's OK to live together whether you're married or not.
• The culture says it's OK to change the God-given definition of marriage.
• The culture says it's OK to be consumed by alcohol or drugs.
• The culture says it's OK for the government to be in debt to the tune of over $50 trillion.
• The culture says it's OK to ignore the plight of the poor and the needy while feasting on self-indulgent materialism.
• The culture says it's OK to condemn our elderly to homes where they live in isolation and loneliness away from their families.
"Has the Church been so enamored and enticed by the blessings of materialism and capitalism that it has lost its ability to speak to the culture about the issues vital to our day?"
Without naming any particular politician or political party, Beach tore into the nations politicians who use religious words and the rhetoric of the Church, but their actions speak louder than their words. "You must listen carefully and understand the meaning of the religious words they use. Just because someone mentions "God" or "prayer" doesn't mean they are using the word in the same way you understand it."
"The founders of this country established a country to be ruled by law. Laws which were based on the laws of the Bible, specifically the Ten Commandments. Their intent and belief was that civilization would best operate if the tenets of Scripture were accepted as the norm in the culture. There was a sacred trust. That if the justice system was centered upon Biblical precepts that right would prevail, evil would be punished, and the blessing of God would be upon our land. Do you see that happening in our courts today?"
Beach pointed to James Madison, the fourth president (1809-1817) known as the "Father of our Constitution", who made the following statement: "We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity for each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
"Yet, we have forgotten our history. And we are oblivious to our Constitutional rights, so we sit back and allow others to co-opt and run our government who have one objective -- to remove any vestige of Christianity from the public consciousness."
• Our children are no longer taught that the founders of this nation came here for religious freedom. Not for freedom FROM religion, as they are taught. They wanted to be able to serve Jesus in their own way, not the King of England, and not the Church of England, which is our Mother Church. They wanted a government established on the precepts of the Bible, not by the dictates of the King.
• Our children are no longer taught that our national motto is "In God We Trust."
• Our children are no longer taught that 55 of 58 signers of the Declaration of Independence were devout Christians.
• Our children are no longer taught that every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a clergyperson, a chaplain, whose salary has been paid by the government since 1777.
• Our children are no longer taught that every president has had prayer at his swearing in ceremony and most have used the Bible to swear their Oath of Office. And why the Bible? Because it represented authority --The Authority ... God's Authority.
• Our children are no longer taught that the Supreme Court begins its sessions with a prayer.
• Our children are no longer taught that behind the speaker's podium in the House of Representatives, in bold gold letters, reads "In God we trust."
Beach took aim at those who would remove the Ten Commandments in courthouses. "The founders of this country had woven into the very fabric of their psyche that the country's standard of justice and law should be based on the morality of the Ten Commandments. They really believed what James Madison (1751-1836) said that: "We stake the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity for each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
"Many believe it is too late for our country, that we have gone over the cliff too far into the selfishness, materialist, and godless greed. We're too far to turn it around. That God has turned us over.
"But I still believe the promise God gave to Solomon in II Chronicles 7:14 when Solomon had dedicated the temple and his government to God."
The Lord says this to Solomon: "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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
END