The theology of a Sovereign God who demands authority over all spheres of life has been lost.

Depression is rottenness in the soul. I am depressed – not clinically depressed – but depressed nonetheless. As a Minister of the Gospel, I’m not supposed to get depressed, but let’s get real; Ministers are not immune from depression.

The United States of America is in the midst of a great decline. We have become a Secular Empire who knows not the God of our Fathers. Our brave soldiers are sent to fight in unjust wars. Our borders are not secure. Our currency is becoming worthless. Our national debt is both disgraceful and dangerous. Sodomy is expanding its grip on our land, and Islam is becoming a part of the landscape under the guise of religious pluralism.

However, what depresses me most is the silence of the Church. Yea, maybe even worse than the silence of the Church, is the inability of the Church to speak to these issues. The theology of Pietism in a Two Kingdom World is the standard theology in most all denominations. Spiritualism rules the Church and Natural Law rules the civil magistrate. This is why the big three on television – O’Reilly, Hannity, and Napolitano are so popular. They are all Roman Catholics who interpret reality through the lens of Natural Law, and only mention God in a perhaps a spiritual or pietistic moment. This is good Lutheran theology too. Reformed and Presbyterian Theology has lost its heritage. We are all Roman Catholics or Lutherans at heart!

The history of the modern church as the prophet of God is deplorable. Where was the voice of the Church when Roosevelt confiscated the gold of American citizens in 1933? Where was the voice of the Church when Nixon took America off of the gold standard in 1971? Where is the voice of the Church today as the Federal Reserve inflates the dollar and ignores the biblical law of just weights and measures?

The theology of a Sovereign God who demands authority over all spheres of life has been lost. The Civil Government certainly has no right to be in the area of education or welfare (charity). It certainly has no right to autonomously decrease the value of the dollar that we all carry in our pockets. In 1853 Rev. James Willson set the standard for the duty and limits of the civil magistrate in his Book “The Establishment and Limits of Civil Government.” It is required reading for modern preachers who have little to say to a dying culture that is under the orchestration of the Modern Bush – Obama Leviathan. What is the important issue of today? The Law of God is King. The King is not above the Law of God. This is part and parcel of the good news!
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Larry E. Ball is pastor of Bridwell Heights Presbyterian Church in Kingsport, Tennessee.