UNION BAPTIST CHURCH

CHARLES J. ARNETT

September 21, 2001

Englewood Independent

Editor

P.O. Box 100

Englewood OH 45322

Dear Editor

The letter writer last week asked if this attack could have been prevented if we had spent a little time each day in a moment of silent prayer. I don’t know. (I do know this was not personal judgment. When personal judgment comes it will be hell without Christ.) But I am thankful that he provoked us to thought. I also am thankful that our President asked for a national day of prayer. Amidst the smoke and ashes, there was a bright spot. America has once again become openly God Conscious. With the God consciousness there has also been recognition of the unity of America.

The letter writer seemed to indicate that a lack of prayer might have led to a weakness in America. If so, then our protection may be in the Hearer of prayer.

The attack seems to have awakened recognition that the phrase “one nation under God” is more than a poetic recitation. What does “under God” mean? For me it means under God’s authority, under God’s justice, under God’s power and under God’s sovereign rule among other things.

I am not so foolish to think that all Americans are thinking of the God Who reveals Himself in the Scripture. Praise God that America is openly recognizing that there is a truth and reality transcendent to human reasoning. I pray that national repentance continues. Can we expect the continual blessing of God when by our laws we protect the killing of pre-born Americans, by our laws defying the Lord’s definition of marriage as between male and female or by our state schools expelling Him who is the Author of all truth? Perhaps the day will come when it will not be thought un-American to call sin sin or perversion perversion. Perhaps God will give America repentance.

The letter writer mentioned our Creator. God has created man in His image. My faith community believes that the Godhead is One God in essential being yet Three Persons. That has been called unity in multiplicity – the one and the many. It is good to see America return the to the concept of the one and the many. Our leaders are facing a struggle, balancing the rights of the many and protecting the oneness. I am thankful they recognize the problem. Can they protect America and still keep our freedom as individuals? I am glad they are asking the question. In the image of God you have a unity in multiplicity. Regardless of what God Americans believe in, they are returning to see that America is one.

Perhaps the emphasis on individuals and individual groups has weakened the oneness that so defined our beginning. All Americans at the beginning did not believe in the God who revealed himself in Scripture. One of my favorite heroes, Thomas Jefferson, was not a Trinitarian. Yet he recognized God’s authority over America.

The present mood does truly represents the First Amendment. America is recognizing God, His authority, His sovereign power, and His mercy, without identifying Him according to any particular faith system.

I do not want to mislead anyone. I believe there is only one God and His Son is Jesus Christ. I believe that the mercy that any individual or any nation receives is grounded in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The character you attribute to God defines the God you believe in. I believe God is a sovereign God who had a purpose in the attack on America. While I do not know or pretend to know His ultimate purpose, I am glad to see the many “God Bless America” signs, the call for prayer and the God consciousness.

I am glad that I live in a composite society. There is no free society apart from a composite society. Not the “every one equally right” of multiculturalism as taught by political correctness, but true diversity. I am not offended by your discussion of your faith; please don’t be offended by mine.

Yours For One America

charles j. arnett,

Union Ohio
836-3272