In Proverbs 14:12 the Almighty warns: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but that way leads to destruction.” To which I add “every time.” Why does man think he’s smarter than God? Because Satan has convinced him of that “truth.” Without exception, every time man does what seems right to him rather than what God tells him in His Word, man falls on his face. Man’s ideas look good on paper and make for great sound bytes, but the outcome is always the same–failure. Current examples of this truth can be found in such enlightened nations as Cuba, Afghanistan, the United Soviet SOCIALIST Republic and North Korea. But the nation I want to focus on is currently going belly up for all the world to see–Venezuela.

Venezuela was at one time one of the world’s most prosperous nations. Capitalism was the economic structure under which she operated. Then Cesar Chavez convinced the hard working, self-reliant people that he had a better idea–Socialism. All went well for a while. Then reality set in when he began robbing from those who produced the nation’s wealth and giving the fruits of his thievery to those who consumed it. This took away individual incentive to work hard, save, invest, etc. To support the massive welfare state, tax rates began to sour, forcing the nation’s producers to give up more and more of their hard-earned money for the sake of an ever-increasing non-producing populace. Eventually the truth behind former British Prime Minister Margaret Thrasher’s verbal gem came to light: “Socialism is wonderful, until you run out of other people’s money.” Venezuela’s receivers began to run out of her producers’ money. Before long the Venezuelan government had to do what all “worker’s paradises” do: nationalize private industry. Soon the people were working for the government, which gave those in power total control over the people. Today the people of that once great nation are literally starving. Chavez’s successor, Sr. Maduro, will not allow the international community to bring food into the country, even going so far as to burn food that has made it across the border. People by the thousands are risking their lives to flee from that “paradise on earth.” Does Cuba ring a bell?

Economic systems operate under natural laws much like physics. For example, what goes up must come down; a hand placed in fire hurts, etc. The place to learn the fundamental laws of economic life are in the Lord’s Word, not from the likes of Chavez, Maduro, Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro and Marx. But a large segment, perhaps more than half of the American public, simply cannot learn the lessons of the past and present. The left believes that Socialism is the wave of America’s future. For them, reality is whatever they want it to be. There is a reason for this national lunacy. This ministry is tasked with bringing that reason to light. Simply put: AMERICA HAS REBELLED AGAINST GOD.

Just how flawed is the leftward leaning mind of American liberals? For over 200 years the people of this nation have lived in an economic system that has done more to eliminate poverty and generate wealth than any other system in the history of mankind. Yet the nation is turning toward Socialism–an economic system that has failed everywhere it has been tried. This “Nation Under God” in Whom “We Trust” is joyfully giving up His tried and true way of economic life and heading pell mell toward legalized theft as a national ideology. Why will the nation not believe the Biblical God with Whom some 70% claim a relationship? True, the free market system under which America has operated is not totally aligned with God’s way, but it has proven to be far superior to anything Socialism, Communism, feudalism, stateism or any other “ism” has to offer.

Socialist governments carry out their system of legalized theft by taxing producers anywhere from 60 to 90%, then assume the responsibility for distributing the money and benefits to the people they want to receive the fruits of their legal thievery. God’s system operates on a 10% flat tax. But half of the American population has a better idea, one that will produce the votes that will keep the overseers of governmental theft in power. God’s response to man’s superior ideas: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man …. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in Him” (Jer. 17:5,7). America is cursed by God. Her leftward lean is one of many symptoms of that curse. This once-blessed nation has sown the wind. The whirlwind has arrived in the form of liberalism.  L.J.