Mission to America - Oct 2013

By God's grace, I have safely returned from a four-week Mission to America. During this time I undertook 13 flights, ministered in 6 states, at 10 churches, was the key-note speaker at 3 conferences, presented 18 lectures, 12 TV interviews, 5 radio programmes and 15 home meetings: a total of 60 meetings throughout Nebraska, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Arizona and California.
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A Time of Crisis
This Mission to America coincided with a number of crises. This included: the war in Syria and serious threats from the American president to bomb Syria. The Islamic terrorist attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. And the confrontation between the Republican dominated House of Congress and the Democrat controlled Senate and White House over excessive spending and the ruinous costs of Obamacare.

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By God's grace, I have safely returned from a four-week Mission to America. During this time I undertook 13 flights, ministered in 6 states, at 10 churches, was the key-note speaker at 3 conferences, presented 18 lectures, 12 TV interviews, 5 radio programmes and 15 home meetings: a total of 60 meetings throughout Nebraska, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Arizona and California.

A Time of Crisis
This Mission to America coincided with a number of crises. This included: the war in Syria and serious threats from the American president to bomb Syria. The Islamic terrorist attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. And the confrontation between the Republican dominated House of Congress and the Democrat controlled Senate and White House over excessive spending and the ruinous costs of Obamacare.

Selective Shutdown
Although there was much talk about the government shutdown, it was evident to me, as a foreign traveller, that the US government had by no means shut down. Their TSA agents were still harassing and molesting passengers at airports, the IRS were still overtaxing the population, their teachers were still indoctrinating children in evolutionism, situation ethics, propaganda for perversion, and brain washing them in the new world order version of history. The partial shutdown seemed to be mostly a farce. Congress remained open, the White House remained operational, the police stations and post offices were still open, but, incredibly, open-air monuments were declared closed!

Closing Open-Air Monuments
One would have thought that it cost more funds, and involved more staff, to barricade off and police open-air monuments and national forest reserves than to allow the public normal access to these open-air areas. The extraordinary lengths gone to by the US government to barricade off War Memorials and Nature Reserves, even going as far as to close the roads that ran near Mount Rushmore (in case travellers could see the cliff faces from a distance) made it clear that this was nothing to do with a government shutdown, but everything to do with petty and manipulative party politics.

When Australia Faced a Shutdown
I pointed out to a number of Americans that when the Australian parliament was at a deadlock facing a government shutdown over an inability of the branches of government there to agree on a budget, the Queen fired the Prime Minister, had the parliament dissolved and ordered fresh elections. Interestingly enough, there has never been another government shutdown in Australia since 1975.
 
Bankrupt Policies
Wherever I travelled in the USA, I witnessed intense dissatisfaction of the Americans at their government. The overwhelming conviction of most whom I spoke to was that their president was hell-bent on bankrupting the country with ruinous and unworkable policies. The United States owes more than it is worth. The national debt is officially 110% of its Gross Domestic Product. By way of contrast, Russia’s national debt is less than 10% of its GDP.

Spending Like Drunken Sailors
One would have thought that a country spending more than it earns, which is effectively bankrupt, would be cutting spending. However that is far from the case. Their president even wants to raise their debt limit. The public debt of the USA is now well over $16 Trillion. To put that into perspective, the national debt in 1980, which was considered catastrophic at that time, was $1 Trillion.
Obamacare by the Numbers
The estimated cost to taxpayers for the marketing, advertising and publicity campaign promoting Obamacare is: US$684 Million! The largest abortion provider in America: Planned Parenthood, will receive US$67 Million, along with other groups, under Obamacare. US$1 Trillion in new taxes need to be collected under Obamacare during the next decade. Obamacare will require a 41% average premium increase for individuals buying medical insurance. Delta Airlines predicts that their medical insurance costs will increase US$100 Million over the next year, because of Obamacare. Many companies are drastically cutting staff as a result of the demands of Obamacare and the net result is millions more unemployed.

Extravagant and Irresponsible
One would have thought that a country so deeply in debt and living so extravagantly beyond their means would, at the very least, cut its welfare and entitlement grants, foreign aid and funding of the United Nations. For some obscure reason, the United States taxpayer is expected to fund virtually every government on the planet and ends up paying for both sides of most wars.

Money for War But Not for Nature Reserves
Many commented on how strange it was that barely a month before the president had been hell-bent on starting a new war with Syria. Yet now, faced with congress insisting that he cut spending, was mobilising personnel to barricade off open-air monuments! Only the timely intervention of Russian president Vladimir Putin, prevented America going to war with Syria.

The Divided States of America
Many Americans are openly talking about secession. Large numbers are stock-piling supplies expecting a break down of the social order and perhaps even a new civil war. Numerous Americans expressed the conviction that, if present trends continue, the United States of America cannot continue to survive in its present form.

Secession Seriously Considered
Just as the Soviet Union split in the 1990s, with Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania attaining independence, and the Ukraine, Belarus and other republics breaking away from the Soviet Empire, numerous Americans that I spoke to believe that something similar may happen to the USA in the near future. Numerous states in America have passed legislation overruling Federal regulations. It was clear that I was travelling through a country in serious conflict. The USA is in the midst of a political crisis, an economic crisis, a moral crisis, and most seriously of all, a spiritual crisis.

Providential History Festival
My first conference was the Providential History Festival in Omaha, Nebraska, where home schoolers put on a fascinating series of plays, dramas, vignettes, displays, speeches, and interactive programmes. I delivered presentations on: The Life and Legacy of David Livingstone, Victory Over Islam – The Great Siege of Malta, Through the Dark Continent – Incredible Adventures of Henry Morton Stanley, and How the Vikings Were Won to Christ.

Dynamic Home Schoolers
It is always refreshing to see the dynamic innovations and enthusiastic presentations of history by home schoolers. The Home Schooling movement in the United States of America is producing a new generation of Bible-believers who understand the times and who love the Word of God.

Who is to Blame for the Chaos in America?
Surveying the moral chaos in much of America, it is tempting to place most of the blame at the foot of Hollywood. The godless distortions of history and blatant promotion of perversion and blasphemy by all too many of the studios in Hollywood have certainly played a major role in corrupting the morals and confusing the minds of most in America. However, I believe that the godless secular humanist education system in the United States has done even more damage to the minds and morals of Americans than even Hollywood has.

Facing the Failure of Our Churches
However, having said that, it is my conviction that the real problem is not so much these external evils. Secular humanism, communism, radical Islam and other false religions are not really the main problem. The catastrophic collapse of Western civilisation in recent years is probably more to be laid at the steps of a back-slidden, distracted, apathetic, and, in all too many cases, apostate church. If the Christian Church was doing what our Lord has commanded, then these false religions and anti-Christian ideologies would be in defeat and retreat.

The Curse of Compromise and Cowardice
It is the basic failure of our churches to make disciples, teaching obedience to all things that God has commanded, that lies at the root of this catastrophic situation. The salt has lost its savour. The light is being hid under a bushel. The last command of Christ is not the churches first concern. The Great Commission is not the supreme ambition of most congregations. Compromise and cowardice are pervasive. Evading controversial issues and seeking to please men, rather than God has become the norm. It is the disgraceful failure of most churches that has enabled this triumph of secular humanism and paganism to hijack what were once great Christian countries.

A Shallow Understanding of History
Americans continually refer to the previous generation as the greatest generation. That is doubtless an existential exaggeration, which ignores the spectacular achievements of previous generations of pioneers and Reformers of earlier centuries. However, while one can only respect the courage of those who went through the Second World War, one cannot speak as highly of their discernment, or policies. It was this previous generation that allowed the Ten Commandments to be taken off the walls of American Schools. For The Lord's Prayer to be dropped. For Bible Education to be removed. For evolutionism, situation ethics, and now perverted sex-education, to be made compulsory, even in primary schools. Abortion was legalised and homosexual 'marriage' promoted, under their watch.

Catastrophic Collapse of Civilisation
The past two generations have seen a cataclysmic collapse of almost every standard of Christian civilisation. A lack of understanding of history and of the teachings of the Bible are at the foundation of all this. History is far more than what has happened in just the last century. Unless we have an understanding of the whole sweep of history - for at least the last 2,000 years - we cannot possibly understand the times and know what God's people should do.

Understanding History is Key
However, the average Christian is hostile to history. Frequently they cite a negative experience at school. Well, of course, secular humanism refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of God in history and therefore does not see the patterns, or lessons, to be learned in history. Therefore a whole jumble of unrelated dates, names and places are thrown at poor students in the average government school, until they learn to hate the subject of history. But true history, understood from a Biblical perspective, is fascinating, interesting, relevant and empowering. We certainly need far more Providential History Festivals.

Reforming Worship
Dominion Covenant Church, the hosts for the Providential History Festival, are an inspiring example of a congregation which is taking God's Word seriously. The first thing I noticed was how well everyone was dressed at this family integrated service. The next thing was how the music team lead from behind the congregation. So as not to distract the congregation, the musicians were placed at the rear of the building. Psalms, hymns, responsive Scripture readings, and the Lord's Supper preceded the sermon. I preached on 1 Kings 18: "How long will you falter?"

Hunger for Revival
The fellowship over lunch lasted for the rest of the afternoon, with vigorous Biblical discussions. Even when we returned to the pastor's house in the evening, the discussions with congregation members continued close to midnight. If only more congregations in America were as deep in doctrine, as fervent in worship and as earnest in prayer, Evangelism and missionary vision, then the USA would not be in the crisis it finds itself in now.

Wretched
From Omaha, I flew to Atlanta, Georgia, where I was hosted by Todd Friel of Wretched Radio and TV. The next day was packed with radio and TV interviews and recordings. In the evening I presented four lectures before a live audience in the studios. These, along with the question and answer discussion times that followed, were filmed and these will be edited into programmes for broadcast.

Truths that Transform
From Atlanta, I travelled through to Fort Lauderdale for ministry with Dr. Jerry Newcombe of Truth in Action Ministries. This involved recordings for TV for the Kennedy Classics and on radio with Grace Net. The New Presbyterian Church also invited me to give a presentation on the Persecution of the Church in North Africa and what we can do to help serve the suffering.
 
Virginia
In Harrisonburg, Virginia, I had the privilege of ministering at Providence Baptist Church as a guest of Pastor Lloyd Sprinkle. Pastor Sprinkle has been in the ministry for over 50 years and runs a publishing house re-printing great classics from previous centuries. After three services on Sunday, I flew to Phoenix, Arizona, to be welcomed by my parents-in-law, Rev. Bill and Harriett Bathman.

America Must Return to God
That evening I addressed the Red Mountain TEA Party rally on: America Must Return to God. The next day, I was reunited with my beloved daughter Andrea and her husband, Hunter. Andrea is in her fourth year of Journalism studies at Arizona Christian University and is a straight 'A' student. Her husband, Hunter, is studying at Theological Seminary and continues to maintain straight 'A's in all his subjects. Andrea and Hunter are definitely the academics in our family.

Understanding Islam
At Arizona Christian University, I was invited to give lectures on Slavery - What You Have Never Been Told, and Women in Islam. It is always a joy to see Christian Universities which are not afraid to tackle the tough and difficult issues of our time with Christian conviction and with a thoroughly Biblical worldview. That evening, I had another opportunity to give a Missions Report at the mid-week service of Grace Bible Church.

Reformation FIRE
The next day I flew through to Sacramento in California, where Dr. Jay Grimstead of the Coalition on Revival had organised a Reformation FIRE Conference. It was my privilege to share my room with respected Theologian, E. Calvin Beisner, who dealt with Environmental issues and Stewardship of the Earth, and Historian Dr. Marshall Foster, who along with Kirk Cameron, produced the Monumental film on America's Christian Heritage. With roommates like these, one does not get much sleep, as there is so much to discuss! My presentations were on The Church Council and History Revisited, The Church's Great Global Task and its Need for Reformation, How the New World Order is Hijacking Civilisation, and Resisting Babylon and the Beast. 
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Christian Youth Revolution
On Saturday evening, I sat down with a group called the Christian Youth Revolution and answered three hours of questions in a time of open discussion. This gave me a sense of hope for America, that it has dedicated young people like these. If only the average youth group in America could have such depth of understanding of Biblical doctrine, history and of current affairs! However, unfortunately, these young people are now the exception, rather than the norm.

Congregations with a Missionary Vision
On Sunday, I had the privilege of ministering with a dedicated Presbyterian congregation. My message was on Christian Courage. The fellowship at the pastor's home carried on until late that night. During the next week, I had numerous home fellowships and church services with Russian, Ukrainian and Romanian Baptist Christians. On every occasion, the times of questions and open discussions went on for hours after the meetings. One Prayer Rally was packed with enthusiastic young people dedicated to praying for Revival.

History Conference
My final commitment was at The Old Paths Christian History Conference, where I ministered on Rediscovering the Christian Work Ethic, Learning from Switzerland, Modern Idols for Destruction, and The Battle for South Africa. The fellowship was great. If only more churches were as dedicated as these believers!

Praying for Reformation and Revival in America
America needs our earnest prayers. It is tragic that such a great Christian nation has been hijacked by secular humanists and perverts. Without a major Holy Spirit inspired Revival, the country seems doomed. Pray for those faithful believers and dynamic ministries which are striving to win their country back to Christ. Let us be Faithful to the Word of God, bold in His service and fervent in our intercession.

Yours for the fulfilment of the Great Commission 
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Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.frontline.org.za
See also:
An American Perspective on the War in Syria
A Warning to America from Russia
A Tale of Two Islands
A Christian Response to the American Elections
American Foreign Policy Affects the Persecuted Church
How the New World Order is Hijacking Civilisation