Many bloggers, including myself, have been pouring ourselves out trying to do all we can to save this nation. We have written articles that identify our problems; offered solutions that the average American can embrace; and have exposed those who claim to be our compatriots but have shown by their actions that they are not. Although many readers have accepted my posts very well, I have failed. I have failed because all this education and motivation has begun at step two – assuming that step one should have been obvious. I’ve now realized that it is necessary to state the obvious.

A spiritual sister of mine said it best. I first met the Rev. Dr. Gloria Harris several years ago when I was interviewing her for an affiliate of Focus on the Family. The Rev. Dr. Harris is a one of the most inspiring woman I know. She is an inner-city pastor who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, did missions in Haiti and Nigeria as well as the good ole USA, and has preached the Word of God to whoever will listen. She has seen “strange fruit” hanging from trees and experienced bigotry at levels some of us cannot imagine – and yet, she can look upon my white face and return the love of God to me that I have for her – without reservation and without preconceived prejudices. When I interviewed her, I learned that this woman had been able to positively affect the finances and family values of her congregation in ways that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have never attempted, dreamed, nor seemingly desired. When I asked her how she achieved this, she responded: “…I teach my congregation, and anyone who will listen, that they are not victims-they are victors!“ Therein lies step one.

The handwriting has been on the wall for years. Those of us with eyes to see know that America is in decline in almost every way imaginable. God has done his part. He has raised up an army of trumpeters who are sounding the alarm from nearly every mountaintop and every platform imaginable. The problem is that many Americans have preferred self-imposed deafness, while others who have heard the trumpet ran into a comfortable corner and pulled a blanket over their heads. They have chosen to be victims.

From victims…

Unfortunately, we have become a country filled with victims. Some became victims because they have believed the lie that they can be nothing other than a victim. Some became victims because they have allowed hate mongers to capitalize on their circumstances in decaying urban cultures. In still other cases, some became victims because they allowed themselves to become increasingly dependent on government entitlements, which drained them of their hope and self-sufficiency. In all these cases, good decisions could transform them into victors, but they fail to realize that the decision is theirs to make.

But there are others. There are others who have heard the trumpet sounding and have risen to their feet. They are willing to stand, but upon standing, they don’t move. They have chosen to be victims none-the-less. Still there are others who hear the trumpet but interpret the tune to be something that inspires dancing rather than action.

America has many victims. What America needs is victors. Victors are patriots who hear the trumpet’s call, rise to their feet, put on their armor, and look for where the nearest battle can be found. They are active; they are committed; and they don’t retreat when all the voices around them scream defeat. By choice and by decision, they only hear the voice of the trumpet. They would rather die than hide in a corner somewhere with a blanket pulled over their head while our country is torn apart by sweet-talking would-be slave masters.

…to victors

Christopher Gadsden’s “Don’t Tread On Me” flag, the unofficial symbol of the Tea Party movement. Photo: User VIkrum/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported License

Victors are average men and women that refuse to be victims. They are teachers, and students, and janitors. They are doctors, and lawyers, and taxi cab drivers. They are neighbors, and friends, and family members. And our best hope is that they will rise up en masse and lock arms with us as we go forward to fight the enemies of freedom. They have made the decision to rise to the call of the trumpet and engage the enemy. They will either die fighting or they will win because they will never surrender this country or voluntarily become victims.

Whether consciously or unconsciously, they have passed step one. They have made a decision – a decision to stop being a victim and start being a victor. That, my friends, may be the most obvious step of all that somehow we have managed to overlook. For surely, this battle for the soul of America will not be won by people who sit in corners with blankets pulled over their heads. It will be won by those who rise to the trumpet’s call and spring into action. They are the victors that this nation needs. They are the victors that God is calling to action. You can be one of them. It’s time to rise to the trumpet’s call, put on your armor, and find the battle that has a spot reserved just for you. Victim or victor? The decision is yours, but make no mistake about it; it is a decision.

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