In view of our concerns about the direction of our culture and of our public policies, it is essential that we come together for a new Great Awakening in America. To that end, each step of the following strategic plan is essential to achieving the National Restoration that we so urgently need.
1. Remembrance: We must know where we came from in order to know who we are and where we are going. We have a rich Judeo-Christian heritage in America, and we must keep that flame of faith and freedom alive. (Ps. 105)
2. Repentance: As Israel did so often (Ps. 106), we too have disobeyed God in many ways. So, like them, we too must humble ourselves, and pray, and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways, for only then will God hear our prayers, forgive our sins, and heal our land. (II Chron. 7:14; Rev. 2:15)
3. Revival: Just as the two Great Awakenings in the 18th and 19th centuries were spiritual events that stirred Americans toward freedom from British tyranny and from the shackles of slavery, so we too must have a spiritual revival and a Third Great Awakening that returns us to our Godly heritage.
4. Righteousness: The Bible contains 515 references to “righteous” or to “righteousness”. It makes clear, for example, that “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Prov. 14:34) And it reveals the secret of happiness in a nation, for “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people mourn.” (Prov. 29:2) It calls us to “love the good and hate the evil”, and for “righteousness to run down as a mighty stream”. (Amos 5:15 and 24)
5. Resist, Reprove, Rebuke, Reject, and Repeal: With hearts revived and on fire with righteousness, a confrontation with evil is inevitable. Just like Joshua at Jericho, by marching with our pastors and soldier/legislators, “We the People” can help bring down the strongholds of evil. And just as the prophets of old resisted evil kings, the Reformation reproved a corrupt church, Jesus cleared out the temple, the Founding Fathers stood up against tyranny, and abolitionists led the charge against slavery, so too must we now stand up and speak out against evil in our culture today and shine as lights to a “wicked and perverse nation”. (Joshua 6, Eph. 5:11; Philippians 2:15; II Tim. 4:2)
6. Reform and Rebuild: Like Nehemiah as he worked to repair the broken-down walls of Jerusalem, so too must we all work together to rebuild America on its Biblical foundations as “One Nation under God.” Moral and political reform will inevitably follow throughout our culture to protect the sanctity of life, to strengthen the institution of marriage, to safeguard our freedoms, and to restore virtue in our culture and in the halls of power. (Nehemiah 1-13: 13 “P” Principles of Leadership)
7. Restoration: As George Washington emphasized in his Farewell Address, religion and morality are indispensable supports for our political prosperity. On those two great pillars, and in response to God’s call on us for obedience, He will purge us and restore us as at the beginning, and as He promised Isaiah, we will then be called “The City of Righteousness”! (Isaiah 1:26)
8. Rejoice! When this goal of National Restoration and Renewal has been achieved, we can praise God for what He has done, reflecting the words at the top of the Washington Monument: “Laus Deo”! And like the people of Israel at the dedication of the newly rebuilt wall of Jerusalem, we can celebrate with great gladness so that our joy is heard around the world! (Nehemiah 12)