The terror attacks of 9-11-01, subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with many injuries and deaths, hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and now Rita.

What is God’s purpose in allowing such events? Is he trying to bring America to its knees?

In 1970, I was a 19-year-old interim pastor of a church near Selma.

A large old house was rented by a group of bearded, long-haired &8221;hippie-types.&8220; A sign appeared in the yard- &8221;His House.&8220;

I stopped by to see what was happening. They were &8221;Jesus People,&8220; serious about the Bible and their faith. &8221;His House&8220; was God’s house. Though we dressed very differently, we had much in common.

They asked me if I had read Obadiah 4: &8221;&8216;Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,’ declares the Lord.&8220;

America’s symbol/national bird is the eagle. We were active in space exploration and walking on the moon. Those &8221;fanatics&8220; for Christ suggested that God may have been ready to judge America.

Thirty-five years have passed, a long time for humans, though but a moment in eternity. God has preserved America and continues to bless us.

Is judgment day coming? Oh, yes. How close is it? I do not know.

Is America more godly now than then? No. We accept and give highest viewer ratings for things that used to shame us to blush and hushed whispering &045; fornication and adultery (&8221;shacking up,&8220; affairs, babies conceived out of wedlock, with many aborted as &8221;inconvenient&8220;), perversion (male and female homosexuality) and filthy talk, even in the presence of women and kids, sometimes by women and kids.

Does God send storms as judgment? Yes. He surely has and surely can. Are Katrina and Rita God’s judgment on America? I do not know. I have had neither a vision nor a voice about that.

I know that God wants us on our knees. He wants us to worship him. He wants us to repent and forsake our sins. He wants us to pray.

Bow by choice or bow because of circumstance. America prayed after 9-11, publicly requested on every school marquee.

We prayed before and during the hurricanes and for victims and survivors. God has gotten us on our knees. Will we be genuine with him and truly yield our will? Will we be made to pray or choose to pray on our own?

Allan Murphy serves as pastor at North Shelby Baptist Church in Birmingham. He can be reached by e-mail at mailto:pastor@northshelbybaptist.org