There’s a Heart Problem throughout America, says Texas Pastor
As officials and concerned citizens struggle to find an explanation for the crime and violence that’s plaguing the nation, one Texas pastor has an explanation: “There’s a heart problem throughout America”
In a video interview with Fox News, Brackettville, Texas First Baptist Church Pastor YJ Jimenez discussed the tragedy that unfolded this week at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 people dead – 19 students and 2 teachers – when an 18-year-old gunman stormed into the school.
While pundits, politicians, and officials have offered various explanations for the horrific act of evil, blaming guns, lack of mental health care, and a variety of other reasons, Pastor Jimenez says the ills of our society boil down to one core issue.
Jesus said:
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”
– Matthew 15:18
“As I see these things happening throughout the country I think we’re looking at the wrong thing,” Jimenez said. “I look at the Scriptures… When I look at those things, I look at what happens in the human heart.”
“It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles man, it’s what comes out of the heart,” Jimenez continued.
“So I’m looking throughout America,” Jimenez added, “that there’s a heart problem.”
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
– Matthew 15:19
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
–Psalm 51:10
Many of our laws, and indeed the civility in our society, came from ideas originating in the Bible. Supernatural elements aside, the Bible offers sound advice on love, cooperation, caring for others, morality and responsibility.
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment in the law was, he responded:
“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.'”
–Matthew 22:37-40
This has been a cornerstone of “America’s heart,” the idea of loving your neighbor more than yourself. It is what has allowed people from countries all around the world to come to the United States and be one people – Americans.
The loss of America’s “heart” has one undeniable core cause…
The above statement is a harsh one to make, but the statistics show the undeniable truth. As of the latest survey by the Pew Research Center in December 2021, about 63% of the US population self-identifies as Christians – that’s down a whopping 75% from a decade ago. Roughly 1/3 of US adults are religiously unaffiliated. And only four-in-ten Americans consider religion “very important” in their lives. Generation Z, the current generation, is the least religious in history, closely followed by the generation before them, millennials.
The only remedy is a return to God and observance of his word. God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel, and he told the people of Israel that God would restore their blessings if they would return their love to him.
“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,”
– Ezekiel 11:19
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