Why I Can No Longer Sing or Listen To “God Bless America”

This may seem bold or un-American, but I’m aware of what I’m saying. I was born and raised in America and grew up playing, watching, and loving the nation’s pastime… baseball. I loved listening to beautiful renditions of “God Bless America” during major sporting events and holidays. But recently, I haven’t been able to sing or listen to it because I don’t believe it matches with our current reality.

Why do I believe this? Our Pledge of Allegiance contains the words “under God,” and if a nation wants God’s blessing, He expects them to take His laws seriously. If they don’t, they will be under a more severe penalty than of a nation that doesn’t claim allegiance—the more guilty nation did not fear Him or His laws as its people claimed.

But America has committed abominations—the legalized murder of innocents, legalized covenants of perversion and sexual immorality, and idolatry of presidents, to name a few. America has ignored the eternal laws of God engraved on the buildings of our highest courts. And if He doesn’t drop the hammer down, we’ll end up destroying ourselves.

We have abandoned our trust in God in favor of trust in presidents, politicians, money, and government. Many Americans, including the mainstream news, can’t believe how bad the leadership is under President Trump. We have turned away from the God of this nation. He is the only One who gives us a firm and uncompromising basis for morality and truth—both of which cannot be separated from Him and still work. Because we have compromised on truth, morality, and love, our only basis of reference for what was once good is history and traditions.

Like Moses calling his people back to their God after four hundred years of slavery, we need a mass spiritual revival—starting with God’s anointed and holy church.

I believe many things need to happen for the judgment of God to not come upon America, but these are just a few major issues America must see. This list is by no means comprehensive.

  1. For Americans, especially those in high power and authority, to love the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
  2. Repealing the 2015 legalization of same-sex marriage. (Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26–27)
  3. Total abolition of Roe v. Wade, on national and state levels. (Matthew 2:16–18)
  4. God’s church adhering to and proclaiming His Word in His house.
  5. Great repentance by the nation and call of prayer to seek His Holy face.

I have loved this country and what it stood for, but I can’t ignore blatant wickedness, perversion, and corruption. I do hope America repents of her wickedness and major wicked laws listed above, but my allegiance is now to the Lamb of God and His eternal Kingdom. Glory be to His Name and His Kingdom, now and forevermore!

Sportsmanship

When you think of sportsmanship, what do you think of? A player helping his/her opponent up? Shaking hands after a game? Would you believe me if I told you fans also have the responsibility of sportsmanship too?! Yep, the duty of the fan, among many other things, is to act civilly and with thanksgiving when a beloved player leaves an organization. Why? Because if you only love a player when they’re playing for you, what credit is that to you? Sound familiar? That’s because it’s a modern application of what Jesus said “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?…”-Luke 6:32

It’s almost become expected that fans will burn jerseys and boo them upon a future return. It seems to be an uncommon occurrence that fans will cheer, give thanks, and honor former players when they play their old team. But there are examples of fans giving standing ovations in many sports to players who went to a different team. Take, for instance, Sergio Romo, who closed out the San Francisco Giants’ 2012 World Series win against the Detroit Tigers, then went to the Dodgers—longtime rivals of the Giants—and received a standing ovation for his time in San Francisco.

There’s a similar example in hockey. When Patrick Marleau, drafted by the San Jose Sharks in 1997 and who spent 20 years with the team, signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he received a memorable and moving homecoming upon his return with his new team the following season.

These are just a few examples of fans showing both cases of admirable behavior and reprehensible behavior to players who gave so much. Sports, teams, and fans must have character into the contest area if any honor is to be seen in sports—winning and losing. If not, those who act in a despicable manner are nothing more than players and fans who are slaves to their own evil emotions. “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.'”-John 8:34