Anyone watching Monday night’s NFL game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills was shocked by what happened. It wasn’t an anti-American protest or some other left-wing outrage that is so common these days.

Sadly, Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed suddenly after he tackled Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. This wasn’t a typical injury. Hamlin’s heart stopped on the field. And he laid there appearing lifeless as fans in the stadium watched medical staff perform CPR for nearly nine minutes.

Hamlin was rushed to a Cincinnati hospital. He was sedated and remains in critical condition. The prognosis for his recovery is unknown.

What happened on the field during those tense minutes was incredibly moving. At almost every NFL game, a few Christian athletes will kneel in the end zone and pray before or after the game.

But Monday night, dozens of athletes from both teams joined hands in one of the largest prayer circles I have ever seen. They were asking God to save the life of their fellow player who was grievously injured.

I believe there is a message here for America.

As a nation, we are grievously injured, too. America is also in critical condition. The heart of our nation has always been the rich heritage of Judeo-Christian teaching. But now that heart is being ripped out of our chest by militant secularists.

I hope and pray that Damar Hamlin survives his close call. And I hope Americans get on our knees in prayer so that we turn back to God before it’s too late.

The health of our nation is more than just our economic success and military strength. Our spiritual strength matters, too. And America will not thrive without God.

Our founding fathers certainly believed that. In fact, in his farewell address to the nation, President George Washington declared:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness…

"And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education … reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

The Kids Are NOT Alright

Two articles over the weekend, one at the Wall Street Journal and one at the Federalist, caught my attention. The latter piece particularly brought to mind a great New Year’s resolution for 2023 — take your children to church again!

Ask them to bring a friend. Find a child you know in your family or neighborhood and tell them how God loves them.

The research increasingly shows that faith in America is declining with each generation. Fewer Americans are going to church or synagogue. At the same time, mental illness and other social ills are exploding among our children.

Boys are completely confused about what it means to be a man because of confused societal messaging. Meanwhile, 25% of teen girls have suffered “major depression.” Social media is poisoning our children.

By virtually every measurement, our children are in trouble. But the research suggests that regular church attendance has a huge correlation with positive social outcomes and health. That doesn’t surprise me at all.

At a time when individual self-esteem and “affirmation” are considered essential to well-being, it can only help children to know that they are loved by God. Instead, they are being taught that there is nothing unique about them and that they live in an evil country. The miracle is that far more of them are not confused and depressed.

Our children need to hear that each and every one of them has dignity and value because they were created in the image of God.

Graham’s Warning

Over the weekend, Reverend Franklin Graham warned that the year ahead is likely to bring more of the same tragedy and travails that defined 2022.

From the war in Ukraine to senseless violence across America, “the world we live in seems to be imploding,” Graham wrote, adding that we will see more socialism and more attacks on faith. He urged Christians to be ready, to be involved and to be bold.

He’s absolutely right!

There are powerful forces that want to make government bigger and God smaller. That is the inevitable interaction between God and government. As government gets bigger, God gets smaller in people’s lives.

That’s what Nazism tried to do. That’s what communism continues to do. And we certainly saw it during the pandemic when Big Government leftists tried to shut down our churches and synagogues.

It is a perfect summary of the battles we are fighting in Washington, D.C. We are trying to defeat the neo-Marxists who have already taken over one political party, and defend religious freedom, our right to worship and the freedom to spread the Good News.

Everything else stems out of that battle. It’s all related to limiting the size of government and expanding God’s role in our lives.

Al Qaeda Threatens New Attacks

As Americans were celebrating the new year, Al Qaeda issued a new threat against the United States. It vowed to target commercial aircraft once again using “new techniques and tactics.”

Meanwhile, the Air Marshal National Council is furious that Joe Biden keeps transferring air marshals from domestic flights, where they are supposed to stop another 9/11, to the southern border, where they are acting as a concierge service for illegal aliens.

Gee, what could go wrong with these two things happening at the same time?!

In related news, a young man believed to have been radicalized by Islamic extremism attacked two New York City police officers on New Year’s eve.

This will not surprise you, but it will infuriate you: He was on the FBI’s radar because his own mother reported him!

Once again, we’re learning that these Islamic “lone wolves” are in fact “known wolves.” But their attacks are rarely thwarted by “the feds.”

Perhaps these lapses with Islamic extremists are related to the FBI working overtime to censor free speech on social media while investigating pro-life activists, MAGA supporters and concerned parents at school board meetings.