I have been thinking with increasing seriousness over the last couple of years about the directions our country is taking, the dangers it is facing that most ignore, and the outcome it will have on our lives and the lives of our children. This morning I wrote a letter (likely the first of many) to my sons that I would like to share with you; not because I feel I am somehow smarter or more insightful than others, but because I want to have the ability to reach out to them long after I may be able to do so with my own words. I also want them to see the importance of God in every aspect of life and give them something to remind them of their responsibilities in life. Some will read this and laugh it off as ramblings of a fear-monger. Some will say I’m seeing things. I pray I am; but I truly believe that the times are changing so quickly we will not recognize our nation in a few short years. I hope that this will encourage some of you parents and grandparents to do the same for your children. I recognize that in the days of tv and the internet letters are less and less common, but I believe in the years to come they will be of ever increasing importance to the children of our nation as reminders of where we came from and what our God expects us to be. Anyway, without any more rambling, the letter is below. If you are not interested, that’s fine, but I pray you’ll consider it.

To my sons:

This will be one of many letters that will be written and kept for you over the coming months and years. I do not know how, at this time, to communicate to you some of these things; and I fear that by the time you are old enough to fully understand them it will be too late.

The country in which we live has been one of the best that the world has ever seen. It was founded on principles of freedom and responsibility by men who believed in God and the principles taught in the Bible. However, the country that I see before my eyes today is nothing like it was when I was growing up, not to mention how it looks in comparison to the original intent of its creation.

You see, when I was growing up, they didn’t kick you out of school because you wore something religious. They did not expel you in high school because you publicly brought forth a political viewpoint. The idea of “coming out of the closet” actually meant something because living lifestyles like that were considered shameful and wrong (as they are according to God’s Word – Rom. 1:26-32; 1 Cor. 6:9-11).

We have lived in a country for the last 200+ years that has in its constitution the right to worship God without the government dictating what you can or cannot say, and what you can or cannot believe. While this has allowed many people to believe and practice truly twisted and illogical beliefs, it has also allowed the true worshipers (John 4:23) to worship without fear of persecution from the government. My sons, this will not be allowed to continue in this country; and I fear that by the time you are grown you will have some very difficult choices to make when it comes to what you believe about God and how you profess it. But take heart, because Paul assured us that this is part of the life of a Christian when he wrote, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). He knew what he was saying, because he wrote that from a Roman prison. I believe that the same words will be written by brethren from the same place in the not too distant future of this country.

I want you to understand: America has become soft. There has not been a war fought on our soil in 150 years (Though there have been actions of war perpetrated). While this is a blessing to our people from the aspect of peace in raising our families, our people no longer appreciate freedom, because they have never had to struggle for it; they do not love liberty, because they have never been without it. Many have never heard the sound of a gun fired in anger, nor have they experienced the power a government that seeks to control men’s lives can wield over every aspect of it. America is in dire straits because our people are lazy and soft, believing that no matter what happens God will never allow America to fall. Nevertheless, Solomon wrote, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Pro. 14:34); but our people are not righteous. They laugh in their sin at the face of God and try to make him complicit in their actions by arguing that they were “made that way.” This will be the death of the America I grew up knowing, and I fear as you get older you will not even recognize the descriptions I give you of the way this land used to be.

More than anything else, I want you to understand what you must be as men. You must be God’s men. This cannot be a statement of possibility; it must be a statement of unequivocal truth. You must put him first in your thoughts, deeds, and decisions. There are many that will argue the belief in God is old and archaic, that we have overgrown it, surpassed the need for it, and are beyond the superstitions of an ancient crutch. However, as time moves on and matters get continually worse, our people will need men and women like you. Ones who know what God’s Word actually says (not just what they’ve heard from someone else); and ones who are willing to help bring others out of darkness to once again stand on principles of light.

My sons, I will do everything I can to prepare you for a life of service to God; to be men who will serve him, revere him, and love him as your mother and I do. It is my daily prayer that you know how much I love you and desire for you to have wisdom and understanding as was the desire of Solomon in the proverbs. But, my beloved sons, it will be your choices, your decisions, that will determine your eternal destiny. However life on this earth continues, whichever man seems to be in control, remember that God is truly in control and rules over the kingdoms of men (Dan. 4:17).

Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is your duty as men.

With all my love,

Dad