FWIW, your post has triggered the following generic exhortive rant . . . not per se to you--just to the situation we all find ourselves increasingly in; and to authentic Christians of all labels.
HOWEVER,
I've been . . . caused to ALSO realize that patriotism is not identical to righteousness.
I remain convinced that the AMERICAN EXPERIMENT is one of the most noble in the history of the earth.
However, through it, God has ALSO DEMONSTRATED that even the best form of government APART FROM HIM leads to death, destruction, selfishness, greed, !!!!CONTROL!!!! based tyrannies of the masses voting themselves increasing seductive goodies out of the public trough etc.
AND that PARTICULARLY AT THIS STAGE--WORKING IN BEHALF OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
IS THE MOST PATRIOTIC THING I CAN DO.
I wish to STAND UP AND BE COUNTED DOING !THAT! above all else.
All else will turn out, in this era, to be chaff and worse than chaff--deception ridden and counter productive.
imho, certainly it is righteous wisdom to be prepared for looming festivities and traumas-in all the ways Holy Spirit leads each individual and heads of households.
AND, it is righteous wisdom to realize that the world has always been and now many times more than ever--TOOOOOO COMPLEX TO BE thoroughly prepared in any realistically comprehensive way.
GOD ALONE WILL TURN OUT TO BE OUR ENDURING, LASTING AND EFFECTIVE REFUGE.
And IF the angel OF THE LORD appears at the door at 0400 and says come, go, don't look back; don't take anything but your shoes, the clothes you're wearing and your coat--or not even that much--we MUST do EXACTLY that.
imho, we MUST be prepared to do prayerful and other kinds of GREAT assertive, enemy conquering EXPLOITS for THE KINGDOM OF GOD as well as to count our lives as nothing to offer up in HIS behalf wholeheartedly in a flash. And, in such regards, to remember that THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE ARE NOT CARNAL. Yet, as with David, God has, on many occasions, used even carnal weapons. I do believe, however, that in this era, the MAJORITY OF THE TIME, it will be DEMONSTRABLY AND WHOLESALE PRIMARILY A SPIRITUAL BATTLE.
AND GOD'S ANGEL ARMIES will be doing the greatest bulk of the physical devastations of the enemy.
WE MUST walk in chronic/constant humility and chronic/constant forgiveness. WE MUST. NO OTHER OPTION is remotely safe.
TRULY WE WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES IN HIGH PLACES. OThuga is just a very demonized, ugly claw on the little finger of demonic globalist forces and schemes.
There will be abundant valleys of the shadow of death. Many tens of thousands will fall on our right and on our left yet it will not touch us--AS WE WALK IN TUNE WITH GOD, FOCUSED ON GOD, IN HUMILITY AND FORGIVENESS.
God may use us to EXECUTE HIS vengeance. We MUST NOT give in to an urge to carry out our own, regardless of how horrid the wrongs against us. CHRIST WAS LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER. HE MAY call on us to be the same. He MAY call on us to find the jaw bone of an ass and start swinging. We are to be instant in season and out of season--ready tools IN HIS HANDS for HIS PURPOSES AND GOALS--NOT OUR OWN.
Not only are the spiritual disciplines of fasting, prayer warfare etc the most powerful weapons--LOVE IS MORE POWERFUL THAN ALL.
Christ Loved us when we were most unlovely. He calls on us to be broken bread and poured out wine as well. . . . Sometimes, not even to achieve a demonstrable evident victory at the moment--but 'merely' to be an object lesson to a watching Creation.
I realize that a LOT of the above may be very counter-intuitive and even AGAINST THE GRAIN of a lot of red-blooded Americans. Yet, even for Americans . . . this world, this nation is not [yet] our [fitting, rightly prepared] HOME. We have been BOUGHT FOR AN INFINITE PRICE--THE BLOOD OF JESUS. We are not our own. We are HIS to spend as HE SEES FIT.
As hard as it may be to conceive of, in realistic aspects, this world, this nation . . . are NOT WORTHY our . . . focus, much less our devotion, our life-blood. Yes, I'm prepared to give my life-blood in behalf of our beloved land and way of life. Avoid getting hung up on hot button words and phrases and missing the point. Scripture is clear that the one that looks back is not worthy of Heaven. That would include looking back even at the flag of the USA.
THIS ENTIRE WORLD AND UNIVERSE--NOT TO MENTION ALL THE NATIONS--IS SLATED FOR REPLACEMENT. Be careful that you aren't left holding onto a bag of ashes, or worse.
IDOLATRY--EVEN OF THE USA, THE FLAG, HEARTH AND HOME, LOVED ONES, OUR VERY LIVES--IS SUICIDAL. GOD ALONE IS WORTHY OUR 100% DEVOTION, OUR ALL.
NOTHING ELSE WILL WORK.
MARANATHA!
me too, the dumb b#$###Ds better realize we got nothing to lose at this point