"Do not trust in the lying words [of the false prophets who maintain that God will protect Jerusalem because His temple is there], saying, 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD" (Jeremiah 7:4 Amplified).

"Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in Mount Samaria, notable persons in the chief nation, to whom the house of Israel comes!" (Amos 6:1).

Our nation has been living in a spirit of pride believing that we are invincible to attack, that our economic prosperity will go on forever, that the greatness of our nation will never falter. In an instant of time we have seen how vulnerable we really are.

This same spirit of pride has been in the church. We have grown complacent and apathetic because of pride. Our attitude has been one of invincibility. We have been living with a false sense of security and comfort. Because we have supported missions for so many years; because we are a nation of freedom; because of our intercession; because of our mega-churches — God will never judge us. We have been self seeking and self serving blinded to the real purposes of God for His church. The Israelites thought they were secure because they had the temple and the law and the priesthood. But God was saying that none of these things will keep us as long as we are living in sin and neglect of God. The church cannot live at ease as long as we are in a world that lies in wickedness. We have said in our hearts, "'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing." We build big buildings, bring in multi-thousand dollar offerings, have all of the amenities the world has to offer, bring in professional worship, gather great crowds of people. But God looks at us and says, "you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked." The church of America has been living at ease with a false sense of security in our prosperity and seeming success. But the truth of the matter is we are spiritually bankrupt and blind to our redemptive purposes. The most recent Barna report found that 95% of born again Christians have never led one soul to the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is time to wake out of sleep and move out of our comfort zones. It is time as Joel declares, to "Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." "So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm." "Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"  (Joel 2)

There is a trumpet sounding in Zion. God is calling us back to Himself in humility and surrender. It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to rise out of its prostration of complacency and ease and to take its place of glory. It is time to humble ourselves under His mighty hand and recognize our need of absolute dependence on His grace and mercy. We must remember the words of the prophet, "For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape."

In the days of Amos, the Israelites lived in a time of unprecedented economic and political prosperity. They were the best days since Solomon. And yet the Lord used Amos to denounce the people for neglecting God's word, social injustice, pleasure seeking, self indulgence, and gross idolatry. They were setting themselves up for the judgment of God. And when they refused to repent God brought sudden destruction. We have the same problems in the church of America today. We have embraced the same sins and forgotten the Lord our God. God is showing us that in one moment of time everything of the world that we have trusted in is subject to failure; in one moment of time peace and safety can be removed from our midst.

God is preparing America for revival. With every crisis, with every natural disaster, with every evil turn of events, with every drop in the stock markets, God is preparing the hearts of men for salvation. The church must get ready now while it is yet day. It is time to seek the Lord as never before, to humble ourselves before Him, to give Him the preeminence in our lives that rightfully belongs to Him as our Lord and our God. It is time to recognize that we have been bought with a price, that we are not our own, but bondservants of Jesus Christ to do His will.

God is making a sound in the earth. It is being heard around the world. It is the trumpet of God. Return to the Lord your God. Take with you words of repentance and return to the Most High God with all your heart. Let us heed and obey and gather together as the people of God. Let us begin to stand in the gap for our nation and the nations of the world. Let us prepare the way for His glory upon this earth.