Dear editor:
"What Happened?" asked Hillary Clinton in her book by the same name. Christians know the answer to her question -- God intervened!
The Rev. Franklin Graham, one of the greatest Christian leaders of our time, said, "I believe that God intervened to bring about the stunning results ... I don't have any doubt that it was the prayers of God's people that changed the course of this election."
"For 10 months, I (the Rev. Graham) had traveled across the country (on a true mission trip for America) visiting every state capital, calling on God's people to pray for our nation ... Hundreds of thousands of people called on God to help our troubled nation, and I believe He heard (and answered) our prayers."
"The past decade has seen an unprecedented moral decline in America, much of it endorsed by the past (Obama) administration through its very public support of same-sex marriage, abortion and transgender rights." (Quotes from Decision magazine, February 2017.)
"The nation was being dragged further and further to the left over the past two decades, becoming more and more decadent in the process ... (In response) millions of Christians were praying for a change in the direction of our country."
"According to the Pew Research Center, eight out of 10 self-identified white, born-again, evangelical Christians said they voted for Trump, while just 16 percent voted for Hillary ... they were looking for a leader they could trust -- someone who shared their values. As Franklin Graham suggested, they voted for the only candidate who wanted to make America great again. ... " (quotes by Stephen Strang, Charisma magazine, December 2017, page 66).
What will make this a truly great nation again is if we make God great again in our nation!
God promises (and it is impossible for Him to lie) that if we will only put Him first in our lives, trusting and obeying Him sincerely -- He will then bless us greatly (as a nation, as well as individually).
This is an example of one of God's conditional kinds of promises. In other words, if we keep up our end of the deal, God will bless us abundantly.
"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commandments I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 28:1, 2).
Please read verses 3-14 for a listing of God's promised blessings!
Now this is certainly not the way to obtain eternal salvation from God. No man is capable of obeying God perfectly in every way at all times!
No amount of so-called "good works" can save anyone. The only way to be saved (from eternal punishment in hell) is to trust only in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
None of us can save ourselves. That's why we all need Jesus Christ as our Savior.
May God bless you,
Lloyd Hoffman
Hot Springs
Editorial on 01/14/2018