Operation Epic Fury: Was the War between Iran and the US / Israel Inevitable?

It will be a celebration unlike any other.
On Saturday, 4 July 2026, the United States of America celebrates its C. On that date two and a half centuries ago, thirteen British colonies came together to declare their independence from the United Kingdom and HM King George III. They adopted the Declaration of Independence, which highlighted that our rights and freedoms - including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - come from God. They do not come from man.
America’s founders signed the Declaration of Independence at great personal risk. If captured, they could be tried for treason against the King and executed. But the call to personal and national liberty proved to be too compelling to ignore.

• Limited federal government: Big government is costly, inefficient and bossy. Freedoms are threatened when governments grow. National defence and protection of people’s rights are some of the key functions of limited national government.

• Self-government: This simply means that the people govern themselves, often at a state or local level. If people would constructively participate in local affairs, there would be less need for large government.

• Immigration: America has always been a favoured haven for migrants from around the world, where freedom and opportunity abound. My father and all four of my grandparents immigrated to America from the Middle East and thanked God for it. The success of America’s immigration program was the concept of the melting pot: migrants were encouraged to learn English, adopt American values, and basically assimilate into the fabric of American life. Millions have done so already - with enthusiasm. Multiculturalism teaches that all cultures are equally beneficial and equally benign; it discourages assimilation.

• Checks and Balances: The wise founders formulated a system of government that honoured people and their freedom, as we are all made in God’s image. Yet there are ways to curb people’s sinful excesses. Those ways include the rule of law with checks and balances. The President, Congress, and the Supreme Court are the three coequal branches of government. The Electoral College in US presidential elections is another example of checks and balances, protecting state rights while giving people the chance to vote. Without the College, populous states like New York and California would be choosing the President in every election.

• One nation under God: No nation has been more influenced by Biblical Christianity than the United States of America. It was dedicated by early settlers at Cape Henry to the spreading of the gospel globally and continues to be the world’s largest missionary sending nation. Many of the founding fathers were God-fearing men, especially Presbyterians. The ‘checks and balances’ were heavily influenced by the Scottish Reformation two centuries before. Though a constitutional republic, in some ways, America is a de facto theocracy. John Adams said America’s constitutional order of self-government and limited government is designed for moral, religious people. It is totally inadequate for anyone else. That is why the Pledge of Allegiance say ‘one nation under God.’ The presidential oath of office ends with these words, ‘So help me God.’Every American coin and banknote says ‘In God we trust.’ God is very much part of the American story and the success it has become.

American Distinctives

America was born during the Enlightenment, that period in Western history that celebrated human reason as the solution for all problems (which it is not; God is). Yet, not since ancient Greece in the fifth century BC had there been such a concentration of genius as in colonial America among the founding fathers in the eighteenth century AD. 

In addition to the divine origin of ’rights and freedoms principles,’ the founders advocated:

Overcoming Challenges

Throughout its history, America has faced serious challenges alongside success. The most serious was the Civil War (1861-1865). More Americans died in this conflict than in the two world wars combined. Five days after the Union victory, President Abraham Lincoln was cut down by an assassin’s bullet. 

Today America faces serious challenges, some potentially existential. An eye-watering forty trillion dollar deficit, massive fraud and corruption. There are dangerous foreign enemies, the threat of mass casualty terrorism, and the relentless and tiresome culture war.

What can turn the tide? A return to doing the first works in the spirit of the first love, as Christ exhorted the church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:4-5). 

In the 1830s, the American experiment was already considered a great success, and this is chronicled in the two-volume work called Democracy in America by French diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville. He said the secret of American greatness was not its geography nor resources; it was due to American pulpits being on fire for the Lord. De Tocqueville concludes that America is great because it is good; if it stops being good, it will stop being great.

So there is hope. If America returns to its constitutional and spiritual roots, the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 will come to pass:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Do these simple things found in this verse, and God will heal the land. 

Now that’s a promise worth celebrating. 

Happy Birthday, America.

An Interesting Coincidence