Once the nation of the United States of America was established, what role did religion play in the years following? Was there a wall of separation between religion and the state? Many believe that the Founding Fathers delivered the nation from the influence of religion and the Bible. Let us examine the facts.

Last night I was watching a baseball game on television and decided at 9 pm to quickly turn to Larry King Live on CNN to see who his guests would be for the show. Instead of Larry I found Wolf Blitzer delivering a breaking news story about a disaster in Minnesota.

A powerful military establishment, a booming economy, food in abundance, healthy citizens, prosperity abounding – all that any nation could want or hope for.

But then a prophet of God sends a message to the leader of this blessed land which said in effect, "Because of your arrogance and pride and your failure to give credit to God, your mighty nation shall loose its blessings. You are cursed. Your nation shall be brought down, to become the lowest nation on earth, and foreigners shall rule over you – from now on!"

On this mid-August morning, as I'm writing, I can look out my home-office window and see dead yellow leaves falling from the trees in the yard. That's not supposed to happen in North Carolina until late September or October!

As we opened the car door, the invigorating smell of mountain air filled our lungs. The sun was already setting behind the peak and the chill of night was beginning to envelope the cabin. A warm fire was in order for this, our first night away from the pressures of the everyday routine in quite a while. We needed this!