Our nation, especially in recent times, has felt keenly the absence of morality and values. Since the mid-20th century court rulings that pushed religion out of much public life, the decline of morality, both public and private, has been swift and almost breathtaking. From the open professions of homosexuality (unthinkable only a couple of decades ago), to school massacres (Arkansas, Colorado, Kentucky, etc.), to humiliating sexual escapades of our political leaders, to the conscience-less deeds committed by Wall St. millionaires our nation suffers and will continue to suffer from its own hands the consequences of its secular, amoral, hollow-valued, humanistic philosophy.

What America, and every other nation of the world desperately needs is a return to the values God has given us in the Bible, His word. This relatively brief contribution to thinking about God's moral standards makes no pretense to be comprehensive or complete, but a jumping-off place for personal reflection on a handful of issues of great import to many, if not most, of us. Let the Lord be the guide in all things, because "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands for ever." (Isaiah 40:8, NIV).