The New Year came in peacefully here at Doe Valley, except of course for a few of the distant neighbors shooting their guns and lighting some fireworks. It gave me a chance to finish the book I started the other day, so everyone gets another book review today!
The book was “Can God Bless America” by John MacArthur.
This is a short, quick read where Dr. MacArthur attempts to answer the question, “Can God Bless America?”. The simple answer is, “Of Course, God can do what He wants.” The question should really be WILL God continue to bless America? MacArthur believes God will only continue his blessings upon America if the people of America turn back toward Him and repent of their sins, learn His Word and obey it.
God has clearly stated His conditions for blessings throughout the Bible. MacArthur uses James 4:7-10 to give a list of 10 commands that show God’s conditions for divine blessing. The problem is, according to MacArthur, many of the Churches and “Religious Right” are focused on fixing problems in America by changing laws, rather than proclaiming the Word and enabling God to change hearts.
Overall, this was an OK book. It is only about 100 pages and doesn’t have a nice “flow” to it at times. This could probably have been a better article than a book. This is probably not a book I would recommend buying, but it is worth a read from the local library or Bookmooch.
The concluding paragraph really sums up the answer to the question (page 96-97)
“Moralism isn’t the answer to what ails America. The gospel is. Higher moral standards alone won’t earn God’s blessing on this country. Our only hope for that lies in the transforming power of the gospel. And our calling is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, regardless of what unbelievers in our nation do.”
That is what we need to do in 2008! If we are faithful to our mission as individuals, we will be a blessed nation.
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