The United States is in "deep, deep trouble" and must repent and return to God in humility and prayer, according to Pastor Jonathan Cahn, a Messianic Jew and best selling "End Times" author who is a co-chair of The Return, a global movement that will publicly appeal to God on Sept. 26 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
"We are in a critical time in America," wrote Cahn and co-chairman Kevin Jessip in a May 21 commentary for CBN News. "We have been warned. God in His mercy has afforded us a time of reprieve to turn and repent for our land to be spared from destruction. It's a Nineveh moment!"
"'The Return' is a chance for America, 40 days prior to our next election, to turn back to God, just like Nineveh," said Cahn and Jessip. "The Return is the gathering to spark a movement to gather, fast, pray and repent for our wickedness."
It is the hope of Cahn and his fellow organizers that The Return on Sept. 26 "will wake up the American people while there is still time," they said. "Our prayer is that our nation will return to the values and the principles upon which this nation was founded."
Cahn and Jessip list 16 reasons why America is in "deep, deep trouble." Some of those reasons include,
-- The national debt under President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s was less than $1 trillion. Today, the national debt is more than $25 trillion. "We have been stealing money from our children and our grandchildren at the rate of more than $100 million an hour, and yet most Americans don't seem to care that we are rapidly bankrupting our nation," said Cahn and Jissip.
-- "In 1956, approximately 5% of all babies in the United States were born to unmarried mothers," wrote the two men. "2008 was the very first year in United States history when 40% of all babies were born to unmarried mothers."
-- "In the early 1970s, well over 60% of all Americans were considered to be 'middle class,' but in 2015, that number dipped below 50% for the first time ever."
-- "In 2001, nearly 16 million Americans could not afford the homes that they were living in, but by 2015 that number had more than doubled."
-- "In the early 1970s, 70% of all men in the United States from the age of 20 to the age of 39 were married, but today that number has fallen to just 35%. Instead of getting married and starting families, many young men are still living at home with their parents."
-- "According to the CDC, 110 million Americans currently have a sexually transmitted disease, and there are approximately 20 million new STD cases in the United States every single year."
-- "Today, there are more than 4 million adult websites on the Internet, and they get more traffic than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined."
-- "In 2007, 54% of all Americans were opposed to gay marriage and only 37% wanted it to be legalized. Today, 62% of all Americans support gay marriage and only 32% are still against it."
-- "Since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, nearly 60 million American children have been murdered in America's abortion mills. Sadly, the number of children aborted each day in this country is roughly equal to the number of Americans who lost their lives on 9/11."
"We are in a critical time in America," wrote Cahn and Jessip. "We have been warned. God in His mercy has afforded us a time of reprieve to turn and repent for our land to be spared from destruction. ... "The Return is the gathering to spark a movement to gather, fast, pray and repent for our wickedness."
To learn more about The Return on Sept. 26, click here.
Jonathan Cahn, raised as a Jew, believes that Jesus Christ is the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. Cahn is head of The Jerusalem Center, Beth Israel in Wayne, N.J. Kevin Jessip is president of the Global Strategic Alliance.