As covered in a previous bulletin, there is a different mandate given to the government than to the church. The mandate given to the civil government states that it is "a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil" (Romans 13:4). If I were speaking to our civil government about what they should do to those responsible for the WTC and Pentagon attacks, I would exhort them that they have not been given the sword for nothing, and they must use it decisively until this enemy of civilization has been completely defeated.

To understand someone, we must "stand under" his or her situation. In trying to understand what our leaders must be going through I have tried to stand under their situation to determine what I would do. I concluded that I would bomb every nation that promotes terrorism back to the stone age. I do not mean that I would indiscriminately bomb innocent people. However, those nations which promote and harbor terrorists that are a threat to civilization should be excluded from modern civilization by the bombing of their power plants and infrastructure until they are no longer a part of the modern world, or they radically change their behavior.

Wouldn't this hurt many innocent people? That is very likely, but how many innocent people are being hurt by terrorism? Obviously the stakes have been dramatically raised since September 11. If those responsible for terrorism gain access to weapons of mass destruction, if they have not already, it is obvious that they will use them. Modern civilization is threatened, and if we do not fight this war in order to win it we will ultimately lose much more than our economy.

To win any war it is important to understand the enemies that we are fighting. Why do these people hate America? Why do they call America "the great Satan?" Why do they feel they must do these terrible things to America and to Americans? Again, to understand them will require us to try and "stand under" their situation.

I have heard commentators say that Islamic nations are jealous of our power, and they want to dominate the world themselves. Others think they hate us because of our friendship with Israel. These may be true in relation to some, but there is far more to this issue. The main reason that America is so hated by much of Islam is because we put "In God We Trust" on our money and then promote sexual and moral perversion and debauchery throughout the world. We not only do this with our movies, television programs, books, magazines, and other materials, but we also promote it with our behavior. Islam views these perversions as the product of "Christian nations."

The revolution in Iran was ignited when an American "R" rated movie opened in Tehran. The people rose up with such outrage that they determined to die rather than allow any more of the moral filth coming out of America to pollute their country. As the moral meltdown in America has increased many more Moslems have begun to share a horror of what is viewed as American moral corruption. As they look up at the great economic and military power of America against which they cannot compete, they feel forced to take desperate measures to try to stop it. Many have decided to die in order to do whatever they can to help stop this terrible moral and spiritual darkness that they see coming from America and covering the earth.

We can understand this, but that does not mean we agree with it. We can never accept terrorism as acceptable behavior for any civilized people. It is diabolical, and demeaning to any people or religion that practices it. Every true Moslem should be outraged by the extremists who claim to be using it in the name of Islam, and very many of them are outraged by it. They too know that God has more dignity, honor and class than to blow up innocent men women and children in this way. However, we must understand that these extremists believe that what they are doing is for a righteous cause.

In spite of all of our faults, and we do have many, in recent years I have become increasingly thankful to be an American. Having traveled the world quite extensively, I have no doubt that America is not only the most powerful nation on earth, but it is also the most just, and most benevolent. In my study of history I do not feel that there has ever been another nation like it for shear goodness. Even so, for the last few decades an assault on the moral fabric of America has begun to threaten our future as much as terrorists or any other outside threat ever could.

I was just talking to European friend who kept repeating, "There just aren't any answers." That gave a rise in me, and I let him know immediately that there were. To be indecisive in a time of crisis is to insure defeat. Though the decisive are always offensive to the timid and indecisive, we do not now have the luxury of worrying about who we offend by our decisiveness. Our civil government must fight the war that was declared against us by terrorism and they must fight to win. There is a resolve to do this that seems to have united America like nothing since WWII. I am thankful for this because I think it is the right thing to do. I pray that we have the resolve and fortitude to endure for the long haul, because this struggle will not likely be over quickly.

I am just as concerned that the church will awaken to the threat to our nation from within. If we are to continue to be the great nation that we have been we must recover our honor, our dignity, our integrity, and our morality. This tragic moral meltdown has happened on our watch. Has the salt of the church in America lost its savor? If the church is not awakened, and the light does not begin to shine in our nation again, then the war against terrorism will have at best only delayed our ultimate demise. We must have revival in America. We must have another Great Awakening.