My friends, we must not set out
this culture war. We must get involved. We must
roll up our sleeves and spit on our hands and become the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Others are becoming so concerned
about our country, like myself. Others see the writing on the
wall, quite interesting, that not everybody necessarily who
professes faith in Christ sees the danger and the crisis. I
got this letter this week from Brooks Patterson and from Judge
Michael Warren. Dear Kent, as you know, our nation
is at grave risk. As a free republic, we must act
to protect our freedom. The next few months will be a
historic pivot point for the future of our liberty. And no
matter what happens, the struggle will continue. It's time to band
together for the fight for our generation. Brooks Patterson and Michael
Warren have asked me to join a group of people in an attempt
to talk about the danger that approaches. This coming election
is the most important election in the history of the United
States of America. We go one way or the other. We
either become a nation like Sodom and Gomorrah, where Satan's sex
marriage takes place when God says it's an abomination. I don't
care what Washington says. They can't change the Bible. I'm not talking hate now. I'm
just talking Bible. People talk about the Holocaust
a lot, but it doesn't hold a candle to the murder of 50 million babies. That was only six million Jews.
We're talking about 50 million babies. The church sits quietly
by, doesn't have a whole lot to say. There was an article
that appeared in a small newspaper, the editorial up north, and someone
sent it to me. I want to read it to you. It's
a little lengthy. Let's see what you think. Some
of it's going to hit home. You're not going to like some
of it, maybe. What has America become? Has
America become the land of the special interest and home of
the double standard? Let's see. If we lie to the Congress,
it's a felony. And if the Congress lies to us,
it's just politics. If we dislike a black person,
we're racist. And if a black dislikes whites,
it's their First Amendment right. The government spends millions
to rehabilitate criminals, and they do almost nothing for the
victims. In public schools, you can teach
that homosexuality is okay, but you better not use the word God
in the process. You can kill an unborn child,
but it's wrong to execute a mass murderer. We don't burn books
in America. We now rewrite them. We got rid
of the communists and the socialist threat by renaming them progressives. We are unable to close our border
with Mexico, but we have no problem protecting the 38th parallel
in Korea. If you protest against President
Obama's policies, you're a terrorist. But if you burned an American
flag or George Bush in effigy, it was your First Amendment right.
You can have pornography on TV or the internet, but you better
not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas. We have
eliminated all criminals in America. They are now called sick people.
We can use a human fetus for medical research, but it's wrong
to use an animal. We take money from those who
work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work.
We all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our
political ideology. We still have freedom of speech,
but only if we are being politically correct. Parenting has been replaced
with Ritalin and video games. The land of opportunity is now
the land of handouts. The similarity between Hurricane
Katrina and the Gulf oil spill is that neither president did
anything to help. And how do we handle a major
crisis today? The government appoints a committee
to determine who's at fault. then passes a law, raises taxes,
tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to re-election
campaign. What happened to the home of
the free and the brave? Thought-provoking. You may not
agree with all of it, but thought-provoking. America is not the America that
I knew in 1960 as a teenager. I would not have believed in
1960, even though I heard many preachers saying it would happen. I just could not imagine us being
where we are. But now, 50 years later, since
I was a young boy, 50 years in the ministry, I'm reading in the Bible things
that God said would come to pass. And they're coming to pass. The
greatest fear that I have today, living my life here in this country,
is with my government. I love my country. I fear my
government. And if you read the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th chapters
of Revelation, you will find That government is the great
Babylon of the Revelation with a taint of religion mixed in.
And that Babylon is called the great whore which God will destroy. And I want you to turn with me
to Revelation chapter 17. Everyone is not going to be comfortable
perhaps today. Some may leave here angry. Some
may not finish the service. But what I tell you today is
the truth. And all you have to do is put
your antennas up and you will receive the message. You will
see it coming to pass. Revelation 17, verse 1, And there
came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show unto
thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many
waters with whom the kings of the earth, presidents, political
folks, have committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth
have been drunk with the wine of her fornication. Now I want you to just skip over
to the 18th chapter. Verse 1, And after these things
I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power.
And the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily
with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen,
is fallen, and has become the habitation of devils, and the
whole of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird. Government. Look at verse 3. For all nations have drunk of
the wine of wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have
committed fornication with her. And the merchants of the earth,
business people, are wax rich through the abundance of her
delicacies. Economy is good. And government
was making it so. Look at verse 9. And the kings
of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously
with her shall bewail her and lament for her. That is, when
God judges government. He's going to ruin the economy.
When they shall see the smoke of her burning. Verse 10 says,
For in one hour is thy judgment come. The latter part of verse
10. Verse 11, And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn
over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more. Verse 14, And all the fruits
that thy soul lusted after departed from thee, and all things which
were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find
them no more at all. The merchants of these things
shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping
and wailing." Verse 17, "'For in one hour so great riches is
come to naught.'" In other words, God destroyed it like that. If
I were the devil, my great goal would be to create my own savior
of the world. I would gradually increase the
size of government so government could manage and pass out lots
of gifts. so that government would become
the great supply source of food and clothes and shelter and even
a source of income. I would make multitudes government
junkies. Let me say that again because
I didn't get an amen. I would make the multitudes government
junkies. That's not simply drug addicts
and welfare people. That's merchants and businessmen
who totally look to government. If I were the devil, I would
convince the have-nots that rich people ought to share what they
have with those who are not worthy. If I were the devil, I would
have government officials saying things like, wealth in this nation
should be redistributed. If I were the devil, I would
destroy personal incentive and I would destroy capitalism so
that everyone is on the same realm of the ladder. If I were
the devil, I would convince every American citizen that those who
reach the top didn't get there by themselves. They didn't get
there by hard work and effort. And therefore, those who are
at the top are the enemies of those who are at the bottom of
the ladder. If I were the devil, my goal
would be to make as many Americans dependent on government as I
could. This is where we are. Do you see it? How many of you
see it? It's here. Great. Many of you
do not. I hope before this morning is
over, you see it. Let me tell you the great danger
here. Government, just here lately in the last year, has stepped
boldly onto the church's turf. My friends, government is on
the move. If you think Antichrist is sleeping, you are asleep. The devil is busy while we sleep. The government has grabbed chunks
of moral truth and tradition from the church saying, we rather
than you will decide. The Catholic Church government
has just stepped on their turf. I want you to know, I'm not a
Catholic. I've been a Baptist since I was a little boy. I got
thrown out of the Baptist Church, but I was in there for a while. And I'm not a Catholic, but I
want to say this. Government has no business on the Catholic
Church's turf. And I'll go to jail for that,
for the Catholics, because next time they'll be the Baptists.
The next time it will be the Presbyterians. They'll come for
us. The government does this under
the guise of anti-discrimination or the right to privacy, civil
liberties. The government has begun erasing
the traditional bounds of marriage, denying the unborn the right
to life, and pushing God and godly virtues to the fringes
of public life. The church has reason and obligation
to speak and to speak loudly, and that I will do. All I ask
is that you follow. This was taken out in every major
newspaper across this country. This was in the Detroit News.
In God we trust. I don't know who did it. He must
have had lots of money, he or she. But he just put some quotes
in here. I like them. Here's what the
first President of the United States said. It is the duty of
all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to
obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly
to implore His protection and favor. I was the first president
of the United States. I wish I could hear another president
say that. John Adams, signer of the Declaration
of Independence. We have no government armed with
power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality
and religion. Our constitution was made only
for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the
government of any other. In other words, without Christian
people, the Constitution will not work. That's what the writers
of the Constitution says. The Constitution doesn't work
without Christian people. That's why we're seeing on a
regular basis now the President overriding constitutional issues James Madison, the father of
the Constitution. Fourth President of the United
States. Before any man can be considered as a member of civil
society, he must be considered as a subject of the governor
of the universe. I want to read a quote. I'm not
going to read all of this. But I want to read a quote from
a John Jay, first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Listen. We've heard a lot about the Supreme
Court here lately. Listen to what the first Justice
of the Supreme Court said. The Bible is the best of all
books, for it is the Word of God and teaches us the way to
be happy in this world and in the next. We've come a long ways,
haven't we? The wrong way. The wrong way. Now I know, and I'm sure that
many of you are aware that it is illegal for churches to participate
in activity for or against a candidate for public office. I cannot get
up here and tell you to vote for a certain person. I cannot
do that. Not as your pastor. In public,
I can say, as Kent Clark, I say this. But not as pastor. They
would take away our 501c3, you know. They try to booger bear
us with taking away our 501c3. But I'm going to scream like
crazy. Kent Clark's going to scream. As a citizen, you ask
me outside this building and don't address me as pastor, say,
Kent, what do you think? I will tell you, as a member
of this church, as a citizen of the United States of America
to register and to vote. And vote God! And vote Bible! I can do this, too. I can speak
the truth concerning same-sex marriage. It is wrong! How wrong is it, Pastor? It is
so wrong! that God sent fire and brimstone
upon Sodom and Gomorrah. You want to know how wrong it
is? Look up the word sodomy. Is anybody awake in here? Say,
well, Pastor, you're preaching hate. I don't hate anybody. There's not hate in my heart.
There's sorrow. Because I'm going to tell you,
homosexuality does not work. Because it is not natural. The
Bible says so. It doesn't work. In the days
of Sodom and Gomorrah, nobody wants to talk about this. You're
not going to hear this in most churches. But God saw Lot and his people
down there and sent angels, men, angels as men, to his house.
And the Sodomites banged on the door. Lot went to the door and
he said, I'll give you my daughters. Just go away. They're all virgins.
I'll give you my daughters. It must have been insane. And
the men said, we don't want your daughters. We want these beautiful,
handsome, young men. It's wrong! Let me say it one
more time. You ought to be on your feet.
It's wrong! I know this is America. And America
and sodomy will go on because of the depravity of man. But
I'm going to tell you this. No way, no how should you vote
for sodomy. No way. You think we're in trouble
now? Look what happened in Colorado.
Well, I don't understand that. Understand it. 50 million babies. Same-sex marriage. Outlaw God. Get out of our country. Get out of our schools. Metal
detectors. You don't understand that in
our schools? Police dogs patrolling the halls of our schools. You
don't understand that? You don't understand why kids
are killing kids? You don't understand it? Because
we've left the Word of God. It's not hard to understand.
We are becoming a nation that cannot be ruled. The Constitution
will not hold this nation. Only God in this nation can keep
this nation together. A government for the people and
of the people. I'm not for the Church of England
or the Church of America. I love the liberties that we
have here. The free right of speech. I want us to continue to have
that. I see people burning the American
flag, which grieves me. I'll tell you this. I told the
first crowd this. You go to Iraq or Iran and burn
their flag, they'll cut off your arms and feet and hang you from
the tallest tree. You burn the flag and talk about
America. If you don't like it, get out!
Go to Iraq! And behave yourself over there
and see what happens. The Bible says this, that righteousness
exalts a nation. You say, well, Pastor, we're
not saved by works. I know we're not saved by works
and you know I know that. And I'm going to tell you this,
God is righteous. And I still do wrong. I do a
lot of wrong. But I'm going to tell you this,
I'm against the wrong that I do. I'm on God's side. And righteousness is the only
thing. Righteousness and accountability
and discipline are good and wonderful. That's why some of you are in
here over at Grace Centers of Hope. You're over at Grace Centers
of Hope. Maybe you hate the rules. You
hate this. You hate that. You don't like the accountability.
But I'm going to tell you, what did you do before you got there
when you had no accountability? Accountability makes your life
better. Some of you haven't used in a week. That's great. And the only reason you didn't
is because you was afraid you were going to have to drop. That's
called accountability. It's good you made it a week
because you was afraid the cup was coming. Oh, we're real here. The Bible says, Proverbs 11,
11 says this, Through the blessings of the upright, a city is exalted. Huh? Through the blessings of the
upright. Who do you think has blessed this city? Grace, gospel,
fellowship and grace centers of hope. God has used to bless
this city. It wouldn't surprise me at all
if this city comes back. I mean, we hit bottom. Bankrupt. Wretched. No police department. No fire department. Ten million
dollars in debt. And yet, little Grace Centers
of Hope and Grace Gospel Fellowship, we just keep trucking right along
here. Houses are remodeled, redone. People getting their lives back. You know, this is funny. Most
of you know I got that Michiganian thing. Isn't that funny? I'm
a screaming preacher at a rescue mission. How does things like
that happen? I'm a nobody. Nobody pays any
attention to me. And yet, God says, well, you
know, he's kind of helping people over there. We ought to give
him something. God does those kind of things.
Somebody said, I'm amazed they gave you that. Me too. We are not to sit idly by while
the wicked rule without doing what we can to change things.
No nation has ever come this far and turned back. You say, well, you mean there's
no hope? Oh, there's hope. God can turn
this thing around. That's what I want him to do.
I really do. I don't want anybody to get hurt
too bad. I just want to see it turn around.
I want us to invite God back. You know, since God's been gone,
some of you've heard me pray that prayer that I prayed in
the Senate since you've been gone. Since you've been gone,
lots has happened and none of it good. No good can happen when
God's not around. You do know that, right? Christians
are to be model citizens. We're to render to Caesar what
is Caesar's and to God what is God's. That's what Mark 12, 17
says. We're to pay our taxes. Just
hope they don't get too high. Just let me throw this in. The
reason taxes are high is because government's got its nose in
things it shouldn't have its nose in. Let me tell you just
one. Government, a good parent, does
not make. So we have 800,000 foster care
kids who are five times as likely to be murdered by foster care
parents than they are their drug-addicted parents. You know why? Because
government's paying people to keep kids who don't love kids.
It's a job. And so they abuse them. God didn't
ordain government to do that. God ordained you and I to do
that. The church. Absolutely. If the church hadn't
been asleep, government wouldn't have taken over. We ought to
have orphanages. We ought to be taking care of
the little ones. There's so many things we ought to be doing instead
of paying the preacher and hearing sermons that, you know, fit the
bill and then going home and forgetting about the world. Listen
to me. The greatest mission field in
this world is the United States of America, and you better believe
it. And I hope more of you seek public
office as a calling. I was telling the first service
that when I was a kid in the Baptist church, young men would
come forward and say, God's called me to preach. I want folks to
come forward and say, God has called me to be a senator to
the United States of America. God's called me to be mayor of
Pontiac. Say, well, I got a felony. Who
cares? Run! God saved you by His grace, right?
You're not what you used to be. You know, people think that if
you use drugs, you're just some kind of idiot, that there's no
hope. You're not smart. You're not intelligent. They
call you those people. We're all users. But what a miracle
it would be. My great dream is that the city
council members, one day upon it, are all graduates of Grace
Centers of Hope. I'd love to go to a city council
meeting Hi Pastor, how are you doing? I'd love that. I've been
thrown out of some of those city council meetings. I want you to think about this.
There's nothing more that Christian American people need to fear
more than big government. So now you're going to get...
I know where you're going now. I got you now. You're going toward
one of those parties, political parties. I'm not talking politics.
I'm telling you flat out. You need to fear big government.
Because God in His Word says that big government is going
to take over the world. And big government becomes the
Savior. Don't take anything from the state. You know, join me in saying this. I've said this for 25 years.
I don't want your money. First of all, it's not your money.
You know there's no such thing as government money. Where'd
they get their money? That's right. I saw a hand go
up. They got that money from us. That's our money. Fear of government. There's only
one Savior. And that's Jesus Christ. There's
only one Lord. That's Jesus Christ. You know,
if you could just do this, trust God. Trust God. I was thinking about this. last
night in the study. You know, I collect coins, especially
silver dollars. Anyway, you know, I got out one of these
old silver dollars. Let me see what this one is. 1885. Do you know what it says
on the back of an 1885 silver dollar? Let me read it to you.
In God we trust. Well, I wonder when that changed.
Here's a 1903. Let me read what it says on the
back. What about that? In God we trust. I got a brand spanking new silver
dollar from the U.S. Mint. You know what it said on
the back? In God we trust. But we don't. We don't. You know, there's been
several little movements over the past 20 years that I can
remember to take In God We Trust off. Oh, it's coming. Oh, it's coming. And let me tell
you this. If the church keeps sleeping,
the same folks who took God out of the schoolroom will take In
God We Trust off the coins and our paper money. It's time for
the church to say, No! I am a registered voter. No.
You know what politicians understand? No! You do it, I'll never vote
for you. Amen. It's hard for me to stay
out of the snake's den in the sense of getting involved and
running for office. It is difficult for me to stay
out. I mean, I wrestle with that. Because I just would love to
see somebody Stand up and say this. I'm running for office.
I want you all to know that I believe there is a Creator of the heavens
and the earth. And I believe that abortion is
murder. And I believe that God's way
is the best way. And now, now you can see it. Don't mention God. If you're
a politician, don't mention God. You've got to balance yourself.
Who said so? Look at history. Just read the
history of this nation. Everyone in here ought to read
the history of America. You ought to read it. It's just
God, God, God, God. All the politicians are going
to church. Just read it. And we are one nation under God.
And what President Reagan said is right. Absolutely right. We will be
a nation under God or one nation gone under. We have our choice. We have our choice. One nation
under God. I had someone say to me the other
day, well, you know, I will pledge to the Christian flag, but I
won't pledge to the flag of the United States of America. Come
off it. I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America. I'm not ashamed of that. And
to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God. So this is really how simple
it is. Here's how simple it is. Let me put it in easy terms. It's either God or we're going
under, baby. It's either or. It's not difficult,
church. It's really not difficult. Well,
you know, Pastor, these things really shouldn't be talked about
in a place of worship, Pastor. I think these are things for
the Senate and the Congress and the House and You know, the powers
that be. The powers that be have messed
up things already. Government, the founders of this
nation, never intended government to get this big. No way, no shape,
no form. Government's out of control.
And, if it were not so serious, it would be funny to watch. I
watch the news and think, they're all nuts. You know, our budget
at Grace Centers is $5.3 million. But if I'm spending $16 million
as the CEO, I'm just spending it like crazy. Grace Centers of Hope is getting
in more debt, more debt, more debt, more debt. And I go, we
can always print more money. Just keep the presses running.
And you know what? You know why I like silver dollars?
Because an ounce of silver is worth 20 bucks. You know what
your dollar bill? Take out your dollar bill. You
got a dollar bill in your pocket? You know what it's worth? Doodly-squat! It has no backing. It's a piece
of paper. It's just like your bulletin.
Take your bulletin to the store after church and see how that
works. That's what your dollar bills
are. Does anybody know, am I right about that? That's just a piece
of paper. You know there was a time in
this country when that paper money was all backed with gold.
Remember Fort Knox? That's in Kentucky. You remember
Fort Knox? That's where all the gold is
hidden, stored. Now China's got it. If we really understood this,
we'd be weeping on our face, begging God to come back. Elder Gary read those passages
of Scripture where the prophet was accused of being the troubler
of Israel. Are you the one that troubles
Israel? No, you are. I'm not the troublemaker. We
got trouble. Trouble in my way, and it's big
trouble. And the question and probably the thing that bothers
me the most is, here we sit. You'll notice that this church
is not a sitting church. At least the leadership is not.
We're not about sitting. You're constantly being probed
and pushed. I don't know anything about holding
the fort. I say we take it. I don't know
anything too much about defense. I like to carry the ball. I'd
like to give hell more trouble than hell gives me. I'd like
for this church to be known in hell. You better not get near
that church. I'm telling you, they're dangerous. That church
is dangerous. You know, I thought while we
were singing Blessed Assurance, I thought during our praise and
worship, did you get goosebumps? I'm telling you, the Spirit of
God dropped on this place while we were singing. He did. Have
all of our singers gone? I'd like to sing that one more
time and really let's stand and go out of here positive that
we're going to make a difference. We're going to be used of God
in whatever way we can to bring our nation back.