Kudzu has been called “the vine that ate the South!” It was brought to our country from Japan in 1876 and was used in the South as a ground cover to help stop the negative effects of erosion. The problem with this vine is that during summer months, it grows up to a foot a day! The uncontrolled growth of kudzu has led to the destruction thousands of acres of forests and farmlands. And interestingly enough, this vine is notoriously difficult to kill!

What an apt illustration of our federal government! Something that grows exponentially by the day and is difficult to kill!

T.M. Moore writes, “When government becomes a law unto itself, making itself the final bar of appeal in matters of public policy, it breaks the bounds of its proper confines and, forcing its ways on every other area and aspect of life, it smothers and chokes everything it touches – values, institutions, establishments and entities – and replaces them with itself.”

We see this today in the rapid spread of the secular State in America. The federal government, like kudzu, is spreading to every part of our lives through oppressive taxation and the government’s regulation of nearly everything.

When God and His law are disgarded, the State becomes “god” by taking the authority that rightfully belongs to Him and to Him alone. America must return to God before our kudzu government suffocates our nation!

America is truly at the crossroads as a nation. The choice before us is clear:

Will we be ruled by God and the principles He has established in His Word or will some other person, party or ideology rule in his place?

You see, government neutrality is really a myth. Someone’s ideology will inform both our government and the laws we pass. It is impossible to be truly neutral. We must choose God or we will end up following the mere ideas of men. And the record of history is painfully clear: to reject God is to embrace tyranny.

That’s why I love the following quote by William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania:

“If thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God, and to do that, thou must be ruled by him…Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.”

The “safe” leader is the one who has submitted personally to God’s rule in his/her own life. Since they are under authority, they are, therefore, qualified to exercise authority. If we refuse to submit to God’s law, we fall prey to the law of the jungle, where those who control the power make the rules. Eventually, someone like a Hitler, Stalin, or Mao arises and the liberty of the people is trampled.

So this election season, ask those running for office an important question:

“Have you submitted your life to Christ and are you living under His authority?’

If the answer is “No,” then please beware. You might be looking into the face of a tyrant.

This Sunday at our Living Stones Crown Point campus I will begin a two-part series entitled, “Transcendent Truth & Tyranny: America at the Crossroads.” I will be discussing the importance of keeping God and His Law as the foundation of our public life. I’ll be showing what happens when the State usurps the authority that belongs to God alone. The result is always tyranny and oppression.

I believe America is at a profound fork in the road. Which direction will we take – truth or tyranny?

Thomas Jefferson, the Founding Father the secularists like to use as their poster child, made the following observation. He asked,

“Can the liberties of a nation be thought to be secured when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that they are gifts of God?”

Jefferson knew the lessons from history and he experienced, first hand, the tyranny and oppression that gave rise to the American Revolution.

I believe we are on the verge of another Great Awakening in America. I hope you’ll come out Sunday to join the revolution!