If Noah Were Alive Today ...

In the year 2006, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said, "Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans."

He gave Noah the blueprints, saying, "You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark. Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed a building permit. I've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbors claim that I've violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision. Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions to clear the passage for the Ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it. Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go! When I started gathering the animals, an animal rights group sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space. Then the EPA ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood. I 'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew. Immigration and Naturalization is checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work. The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark-building experience. To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species. So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky.

Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean you're not going to destroy the world?"

"No," said the Lord. "The government beat me to it."

The Impotence of Democracy: Defining Goodness

The United States as a democracy (yes, I know – we’re a democratic republic) has a great many things going for it. I wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else. But frankly, our democracy has a number of serious flaws which can only be overcome by a good monarchy. A king, you see, doesn’t have to take opinion polls to find out what is "good." And a good king will make good decisions based on good standards.

The most serious flaw of a democracy is that it reflects an average standard of what is good and acceptable instead of an absolute standard. Inevitably, the average standard of goodness and acceptability declines decade by decade into the amoral abyss of "anything goes." Anything, except, of course, evaluation of society by an absolute standard. That is absolutely immoral, and the only sin that absolutely cannot be tolerated, according to today’s progressives (a.k.a. liberals).

In 1830 Alexus de Tocqueville came from France to study our country. In his two volume work, Democracy in America, he wrote:

I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors, in her fields and boundless forests, in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution.

Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if American ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

I wonder what De Tocqueville would think if he visited us today?

John Gardner wrote, " We would not put up with a debauched king, but in a democracy all of us are kings, and we praise debauchery as pluralism." (On Moral Fiction. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 2.)

From her inception, the Ten Commandments have long been America’s bedrock. That is no longer the case. It is now quite fashionable in our country to use God’s name in vain, to worship other gods (hedonism, secular humanism), to construct and worship models of other gods (the evolutionary tree), to ignore any day set aside for rest and worship, to marginalize our parents, to murder our unborn babies (do they ever get to choose?), to commit every sort of sexual immorality, to permit the state to balance its budget on the backs of people on low and fixed incomes (and call it gaming), and to covet absolutely everything our neighbor has (and bankrupt ourselves on credit because we don’t have the cash to pay for it).

Sir Isaac Newton, brilliant mathematician, wrote of three laws of motion in 1687. His Third Law states, briefly: "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." I have long believed that Law applies not only to the material, but also to the spiritual universe. As our country has jettisoned the foundational moral laws of the Creator, we have compensated by micromanaging away our freedom in a plethora of imbecilic, nanny-state laws: No more good firecrackers; six-year-olds in car seats; tobacco free zones (outdoors, for crying out loud); banning trans fats in New York City; proposing a "Twinkie tax" (just what we need – the Food Gestapo) – the list goes on and on. It’s OK to hand out condoms to kids in high school (because they’re going to do it anyway), but woe to you if you sell them (even diet) soda on school property! I can hardly wait until they fine me because I didn't brush my teeth!

Frankly, we could use a good king to set absolutely good standards in our crazy, mixed up world! Some day we will get exactly that. Jesus will return as King (Isaiah 11:1-5) and set up an absolutely Good government based on principles of Goodness! And by the way, this King is so good he has already died to pay for all your legal infractions (Romans 5:8-10). I think you can trust him!