A Word from Rev. Billy Graham

"After World War II...we had the opportunity to rule the world...Something has happened since those days and there is much about America that is no longer good...We have confused liberty with license - and we are paying the awful price. We are a society poised on the brink of self-destruction...

"What is the problem? The real problem is within ourselves...We have lost sight of the moral and spiritual principles on which this nation was established - principles drawn largely from the Judeo-Christian tradition as found in the Bible...

What must be done? Let me briefly suggest three things.

First, we must repent. In the depths of the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln called for special days of public repentance and prayer. Our need for repentance is no less today...

What does repentance mean?

Repentance means to change our thinking and our way of living. It means to turn from our sins and to commit ourselves to God and His will. Over 2700 years ago the Old Testament prophet Isaiah declared,

"Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God,
for He will freely pardon"...
-Isaiah 55: 6-7 (NIV)

Second, we must commit our lives to God, and to the moral and spiritual truths that have made this nation great. Think how different our nation would be if we sought to follow the simple and yet profound injunctions of the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. But we must respond to God, Who is offering us forgiveness, mercy, supernatural help, and the power to change.

Third, our commitment must be translated into action - in our homes, in our neighborhoods, and in our society. Jesus taught there are only two roads in life. One in the broad road that is easy and well-traveled, but which leads to destruction. The other, He said, is the narrow road of truth and faith that at times is hard and lonely, but which leads to life and salvation...

What are YOU going to do?"

-Dr. Billy Graham, "The Hope for America," May 2, 1996