Tuesday Brief
General Superintendent Max Edwards & Judy
September 29, 2026 “My People Have Stubborn and Rebellious Hearts” The Unites States of America was founded upon patently Christian ideas and principles. It would be hard to dispute in the face of statements such as these by our founding fathers: Thomas Jefferson (writing in his “Notes on the State of Affairs in Virginia” - 1781): “By our own act of assembly of 1705, if a person brought up in the Christian religion denies the being of a God or the Trinity, or asserts there are more gods than one, or denies the Christian religion to be true, or the Scriptures to be of divine authority, he is punishable on the first offense by incapacity to hold any office or employment ecclesiastical, civil, or military …” In that same work, he wrote: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.” George Washington wrote in 1783 that “… we can never hope to be a happy nation without imitating the divine author of our religion.” (Circular letter to the states). Washington later noted in his Thanksgiving address in 1789: “Nations have a collective duty to acknowlege the providence of Almighty God.” Benjamin Franklin (at the Constitutional Convention in 1787) declared that “God governs in the affairs of men,” as he advocated for daily prayer in the congressional halls.
But it seems clear that we have fallen from any widespread corporate state of reverence for God, His statutes, and His Word. We are a nation obsessed with sexuality, self-satisfaction, and personal hedonistic ambition. Our social media outlets are brimming with it. It is impossible these days to scroll through my facebook feed without being assaulted by scantily clad purveyors of lust and lewd behavior. Current television shows are terrible. Even many advertisements are unsuitable and offensive. A University of Georgia study indicated that fully ¼ of television ads use sexual imagery and content to sell. I’m surprised the percentage isn’t higher than that. Judy and I often discuss the blatant rise of vulgar language in video and print outlets. The prophet Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord, notes that in deep depravity, His people “don’t even know how to blush” anymore. We ought to be ashamed of these things, but instead, we accept and promote them.
America - more specifically, the church in America - needs to repent. “Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set. But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me.” “Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!”
Jeremiah 5:21-23, 6:15 nlt