Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1 NKJV

The keystone was never an option in the construction of stone arches - it was absolutely necessary or the arch could not exist! With its unique shape and in its central position the keystone makes the existence, shape, and strength of the arch possible.

President George W. Bush has been pressing with white hot intensity his "war on terrorism." One rather expensive facet of this war of a different kind is the possible establishment of a new department to be known as the Department of Homeland Security with the head of the department sitting around that special table with all the other boys and girls who meet regularly with the president in his cabinet meetings.

The president's detailed plans for making the USA solidly secure have proven to be quite controversial. Much criticism has been leveled at Bush accusing him of reviving conditions which existed under the tyranny of the likes of Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler!

Suppose the president does succeed, with congressional support, in his goal of establishing the Department of Homeland Security as now defined with mergers of law enforcement agencies, military, "spy on your neighbor" volunteers, and whatever else is deemed necessary to keep the bad guys from doing their thing - will our country then really be secure? The answer is a resounding NO! The reason is simple - the "keystone" has not been factored in as the president constructs his Homeland Security "arch!"

And just what or rather, Who is this "keystone?" None other than God Almighty Himself!

No, you don't have to remind me -- I already know the rhetoric - along with the president multitudes across the country mouth the phrase, "God bless America," while we wave our flags and wear flag lapel pins! Along with this is a false assumption that we are a nation "under God," and therefore we are in direct line to receive abundant blessings from this same God -- it can't be anything else but that, can it?

Anyone who has his/her moral sensitivities honed and sharpened by repeated and concentrated exposure to God's special revelation (the Holy Scriptures) cannot but conclude that this country is highly qualified at the present time to experience the undiluted wrath of an angry God for its massive idolatry, systematic destruction of unborn children, brazen disregard for God's laws concerning human sexuality, massive rejection of those standards He has defined for clear identity as His holy people, and a popular refusal to respect the day set apart to worship and honor Him Who gives to all "life, breath, and all things." (Acts 17:25).

Let's just take one of those major moral crises just mentioned -- are you willing to take 60 seconds and gaze at the little record keeper just below -- each time a number is added means another unborn child has been destroyed in the "land of the free and the home of the brave!" No, don't go rushing off -- stay a little while -- let a few more seconds go by and watch the numbers change!

Unborn Babies Killed since Roe vs. Wade January 1973

Now do you remember how everyone, including the president, really got bent out of shape over the series of sniper killings in the Washington DC area and neighboring areas? Take a look at a victim of a different kind of "sniper" -- the one doing the killing in this instance does so under the blessing of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling of 1973 all properly dressed up in his white coat with his name stitched on left side followed by the misleading letters, M.D. -- in the few weeks that the snipers were on the loose and randomly killing a few individuals, an average of over 20,000 unborn children were brutally dismembered and killed each week during the same period -- somehow the two-faced members of the news culture never got around to mentioning that, nor did the president! Now then -- take a good look at one victim on display here -- would you, or would you not agree that this little one (about 21 weeks old) was the victim of a very violent act of murder? This little one had been living peacefully in its mother's womb -- then suddenly an intruder invaded that peaceful sanctuary -- the intruder did something and you are viewing the gory results -- I ask you again -- is this not a very violent act which has resulted in death? The snipers at this point have been apprehended and no longer roam freely in public to do violence to innocent victims -- but the one guilty of the atrocity you see here not only goes free, but has received big bucks for doing this kind of thing on an ongoing basis!

Honestly now -- just how long do you suppose God is going to let this mayhem continue in a land that hypocritically professes to be "one nation under God?"

So what may we expect under present conditions? In spite of all the elaborate measures taken, we'll never really be secure so long as the hand of God is turned against us! Note the following statements which spell out God's attitude and actions regarding a people who are in a state of rebellion against Him:

But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country....The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. "I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath. I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence." "For though you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would rise up, every man in his tent, and burn the city with fire." "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn at my reproof; surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, they would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil." Deut. 28:15,16,25; Jer. 21:5,6; 37:10; Prov. 1:22-33 NKJV

If, however, there is a genuine move to repent on the individual as well as ALL corporate levels of our nation with ALL political and religious leaders paving the way by word and example, then we can expect the blessing of God to come afresh upon us. Under this condition our enemies are totally helpless in their attempts to do harm and destruction.

Note some statements out of that very radical book known as the Bible:

Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:....The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel. Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor in abundance. And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD; moreover he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah…... And the fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. Deut. 28:1,2,7; 2 Chron. 17:3-6,10 NKJV

However, there is no convincing evidence that this nation's political and religious leaders together with its citizens are much interested in this painful and humiliating experience known as repentance!

Further, as God's chastising actions increase, the most likely question coming out of mouths beginning with the president down to the average citizen of the republic will be, "Why are these things happening - what have we done that God is bringing these things upon us?"

An appropriate reply would be, "You failed to factor in the keystone as you attempted to build your Homeland Security "arch!" And it is a bit ironic that the person who is heading up the homeland security thing at the present time is Tom Ridge who was governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania which is commonly known as the Keystone State!

"And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, 'Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?' then you shall say to them, 'Because your fathers have forsaken Me,' says the LORD; 'they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law. And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one walks according to the imagination of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me.'" Jeremiah 16:10-12 NKJV

It is time for You to act, O LORD, for they have regarded Your law as void. Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way. Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies. Let the righteous strike me; it shall be a kindness. And let him reprove me; it shall be as excellent oil; let my head not refuse it. For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked. Psalm 119:126-129; 141:4,5 NKJV