POLITICAL COOPERATION FOR CHRISTIANS (Introductory Course 101)

Does politics affect our witness? Is it best to be apolitical? Can Christians with polar political positions do the work of the kingdom together? Let's take a closer look.

For quite some time, many Christians never bothered to vote. They saw politics as a dirty business (you don't need glasses to see that they were right), they believed that nothing would really accomplish the goals of the kingdom of God in this temporal frame. Sl they concentrated on singing "I'll Fly Away" and songs of golden streets and a whole different life. Meanwhile, those in politics were changing the country from one in which God was acknowledged and some moral standards were in place, albeit even the 1950's were far from idyllic, to one in which Christians are the scum of the earth and whatever is the opposite of what the Bible teaches is the thing to do. Stung by the thought of "losing" the country they never possessed, they joined the Moral Majority and other organizations. This was a misnomer, of course, since by that time the majority of Americans were sleeping together before marriage, the Lord's name was taken in vain with impunity, and most young people tried marijuana or other drugs at least once.

The Amish and some others still kept out of the system, but many Christians were determined to make a difference,. This happened on both the right and the left. Parallel with Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Rod Parsley and others were Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Tony Campolo, and Tom Skinner. The latter three told Christians to join the system and be sabateurs, with ideallism breaking the chains of racism and inequality and making us citizens of the world.

Unfortunately, both movements were rapidly corrupted. On the right, the line against abortion and homosexuality was well guarded, but the fight against racism was not on the main agenda until relatively recently. Standard conservative positions on economics and gun rights became just about as sacrosant as being pro-life. The Christian Voters' Guide somehow made the "Christian" vote the GOP vote. While to be sure the Bible teaches capitalism in at least an idealized form, with God rewarding the hard worker with the most and taking away from the unproductive, there is also a strong emphasis on systemic injustice and castigating the insensitive rich. The Bible says that injustice is part of why the poor have so much fallow ground. One could only imagine how our country would have been different had this movement decried shameless conspicuous consumption and worked hard for racial equality as well as holding the line on abortion, homosexuality, sex education, etc. A coalition of white and black and Hispanic evangelicals, Catholics, and conservative Jews would have been hard to beat.

As it was, people were shouting for prayer in the schools. I prayed in school. In fact, there was a prayer meeting before school across the street in a Christian couple's home (great idea, but the way - have a home near EVERY high school in your church open to students to pray.) It was a Godsend in high school. People tell me that;'s when American started going down the tubes - the day Madelyn Murray O'Hare won in court. Well, we did school prayer in Horsham for 4 years. 2 hours once a month. We prayed for the coaches, the teachers, the administration, the students, the teams, the transportation. the curriculum, the book-choosing committees, everything. We have NINE churches and probably 35 was the most we had. More often 8 to 12.
Where were all the people wanting prayer in schools? M.I.A. Despite that, the school had fewer issues, was at the forefront of banning interstate travel to get girls abortion, and having a classroom open for lunchtime Bible Study. There was a community gospel concert (the school district next door didn't want their gospel chorus singing about Jesus), the school plays were decent (another neighboring school district had a gay play which attracted national pickets). There was prayer before basketball games. There was prayer in the name of Jesus at the basketball banquets, Even one of the vilest coaches who loved to use the "F-word" on his players got saved. That was with a tiny remnant. Imagine what could have happened if we had 100 parents interceding in our district AND the neighborhood districts. FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD!

People complain about the neighbors. Do they actually PRAY for their neighbors? Do they check on them, help them, and show the love of Jesus to them? They complain about the culture. Do they go were people hang out and share the love of Jesus and the gospel of Christ? Do they work out the issues with their spouse instead of divorcing just like the world. Others idolized their country. I love my country, but my citizenship is in heaven, and I have more in common with a minister in Tanzania I have been emailing than I do with my next door neighbor in Horsham, PA.

Being prosperity centered, just about as materialistic as the world (10% for God, 90% for me), and in many ways indistinguishable from the world except for a cleaner mouth, slightly better TV and movie habits, and pro-life and anti-homosexual, there is simply a lot to be desired. Many still have racial antagonisms - I STILL here them in 2009. They often have little sympathy for those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. They will give charity, but never enough to solve the problem. PRAISE GOD for those who work to train and actually help people improve their lives, but to most it is simply "work hard", that's how I did it. Good enough for me is good enough for you.

The Christian left did no better. I was a member of the Christian left, so I have first hand experience. I was a subscriber to Sojourners, had friends who took over buildings in the 1960's, and who held candles marching for peace. What was different was that we were all Pentecostals and of course avidly pro-life. Homosexuality was despised by both right and left then, but the Vietnam War was the major issue. While I detested the way it was run, I really felt for the Vietnamese. I detested those who jumped on the anti-war bandwagon saying horrible things like these people weren't worth dying for. Of course they were worth dying for! But fighting a war had to be to actually win. Playing not to lose never works. Further, I believed that war was for non-Christians to fight, as Christians historically were pacifistic. I went to be a Conscientious Objector, but after my number wasn't called, i dropped the appeal as it was moot.

I generally thought most Christians were boobs when it came to politics, and the endemic racism present at the time by so many Christians and support for the status quo simply reinforced it. I had become a VISTA volunteer, been trained in passive resistance techniques by the Quaker Project, and dedicated many years to working in the North Philadelphia Community near Zion Baptist Church. I was greatly accepted by the community because I accepted the community and treated it as my own. One of my fondest memories was tutoring a girl from Deliverance Evangelistic Church who was a Temple student and extremely proud of her black heritage. She had little use or respect for whites and liked to talk about it. One night, she was going through her thing, and stopped. She became a bit irritated at herself, saying "I forgot you were white." It was one of the highest compliments I have received. Isn't that the way it should be going both directions? I noted that most other liberals said all the right things while on the job there, but the true nature came to the fore when with their own. The repeated hypocrisy of people pretending to be one with the people while maintaining a separate identify made an impact. Either we are one or we aren't.

Politics did not seem to make much difference to the human spirit. I admired so much about the black community, and from then on, almost everyone I dated was black. After I started dating Verileah, who is now my wife (whom I was concerned was too conservative), we went together to the "radical discipleship" conference at Messiah College. It was there that I met the core of the Christian left. I did not like what I saw. It was so different from my college experience and my work in North Philadelphia. I remember being in a seminar about righting a certain wrong. Most of the diagnosis was inarguably correct. However, it was all about how the participants were going to change the world. Most of the techniques seemed similar to the worldly left. Someone used the "s-word". Others didn't go there, but weren't exactly speaking in tongues either. These were some hard folks. I remember volunteering the fact that the Holy Spirit was more concerned about justice than they were and we had to move at the direction of the Holy Spirit instead of exercising reflexive worldly techniques. I'm glad I got out of the room alive. That was the last of that.

SInce then, Sojourners has taken their cues from the secular left. Tony Campolo wants Christians to take a different tack with homosexuality, and Tom Skinner is in heaven. Periodically I check them out, but there is no driving force of the Holy Spirit, and they are oh so quiet about core moral issues. They are trying so hard to please their non-Christian peers. Not a plan.

SO, DOES THAT MEAN WE SHOULD BE APOLITICAL? No really. After all I do write this blog and stick it in your email every so often. I avidly follow politics. I am longing for Christians to band together to make for an effective political force. It has happened in other countries, even though the movements there tend to become corrupted as well. I have no confidence in the two major parties today. The Democrat party is monolithic. Pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, naive on foreign relations, immigration, and corruption. It is funny how they always accuse Republicans of being monolithic. They aren't. They have quirky people like John McCain whom NO ONE I knew actually trusted. They have people like Arlen Specter, Susan Collins, and Olympia Snow (or should I say had in the case of Arlen Specter), who was apologizing for their party almost as much as Barack Obama has been apologizing for America. The Hampton set is embarrassed about the pro-life stand of the white evangelical base. McCain's campaign manager and his own daughter are jumping into the pro-homosexual arena. While no one wants to pay excess taxes, somehow the tax cuts weren't as egalitarian as one would have hoped for. I'm not advocating supporting Obama's mad spending and draconian tax increases which have to follow, but there is a balance here.

Whether Christians can impact either party enough to make it the party of choice is an open question. The GOP is a lot closer, but it often treats the Christians as lepers as well. As valid a point as many talk radio hosts make, and believe me, much news would be forever buried without them due to the fawning left-wing media that is totally biased and journalistically dishonest, I don't know one who is an unequivocal evangelical Christian. I don't know one who stands for the absolute authority of the Bible and who rejects the Evolutionary Agenda and the creeping universalistic thinking transforming evangelical educational institutions into me-too colleges hostile to Bible-believers. Bob Casey on the Dem side is still Pro-Life, but it is more personal and the subject of a much needed moral crusade. Joe Lieberman is decent on the war effort, but wrong on most else.

I'd love a third party, that is uncompromising and that takes the Bible as its authority and not the issues or the major parties, but they never win. The GOP was a third party in 1860, and won, but that was about it. Talk to Teddy Roosevelt about he Bull Moose Party. He'll tell you. We will simply have to do our best to be prophets to each party and vote for the people who best exemplify out values.

That brings us to the crux of the matter. Christians differ. Some believe Obama is the anti-Christ while others stop just short of him being the Messiah. Both can't be right. It is nuts! For too long, Christians have been the biggest proponents of relativism. They formed denominations so they would stop killing each other, but going to the church of your choice is hardly Biblical. We are supposed to have pure doctrine based upon the Bible and not tradition. Baptizing babies and adults can't both be right. Speaking in tongues can't be both of the devil and of God. Evolution and Genesis can't both be true. Christians haven't judged themselves properly, so they are not prepared to judge the world.

I believe that as we concentrate on the unity of the Body of Jesus Christ, and seek to come into unity on doctrine (see my post on my Life in the Spirit blog for a post on doctrine) and unity on practices which Paul taught, we will have the authority that comes from a disciplined, together force. Right now we are fragmented, so of course Christians go the gamut from absurd to crazy in their political beliefs. It ISN'T all right simply to be sincere about what you believe. If two things conflict, one is RIGHT and the other is WRONG. Let's drop the WRONG and hold to the right.

Is anyone honest enough to do this with politics? Can we sit down and go through the party platforms? Can be x-out everything the GOP and the Democrats say that is unequivocally wrong and move on? Can we take what is unequivocally right and embrace it together? Can we take the grayer areas and list the differences of approach and allow each to follow his or her conscience in those areas? It can be a kinder and gentler arena of ideas. But it isn't yet. People are screaming their allegiances. They are assassinating the character of those who disagree. They are calling them vicious names and saying they are unspiritual. Is there really any difference from racists and leftist ideologues? If there isn't, why should anyone listen?

I say we need to work together based upon FIRST ALLEGIANCE to the kingdom of God. I do not underestimate the difficulty of that because I am close to several people who believe the polar opposite of what I do and who refuse meaningful dialogue. I believe that demons are oppressing many who are in intransigent states and who demean others mercilessly. When I see anyone who gets all their news some the same slanted sources, who refuse to consider other points of view (Yikes, even God wrote FOUR gospels to give us different perspectives on the news of Jesus.) When I see Christians captive to ANY narrow political philosophy, or if their loyalty to any person approaches the level of devotion to a cult leader, my antennae go WAY up. That is a shame, because even GOD said, "Come, let us reason together". What do you say? If you disagree with me on anything? Post your thoughts in a reasonable fashion and let's dialogue. God bless you.

REAL TORTURE AND TORMENT

This week, the Obama administration released the details of the torture techniques used during the Bush years. To any WW2 vet tortured in Japan, or later vets in North Korea or Hanoi, they might emit a story of what "real" torture is. To those who were deprived of food and medical attention, severely beaten and not given medical attention, to those who had electrical wires attached to their genitals, medically supervised water boarding or sleep deprivation to a handful of the most hardened terrorists must seem like tame fare. For a wake-up call, read Richard Wurmbrand's book, "Tortured for Christ". Now THAT is torture. Or try the Christians in Eritrea who are placed in metal shipping containers to try to get them to recant or the formerly Muslim children who accept Christ and have unspeakable things done to them. Perhaps consider Thai children sold into prostitution to be abused by Japanese, European, or American men. Or simply read Isaiah 51:23, "I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, 'Fall prostrate that we may walk over you.' And you made your back like the ground, like a street to be walked over.'"

Oddly enough, fully 50% of the intelligence we have on Al Qaeda came from those interrogations, and no further major terrorist attacks have happened on American soil. To stop using those techniques is any administration's prerogative, but telling your enemies what you won't do as well as giving them the blueprint for what proved to be effective techniques to use on captured people that they could try on captured Americans is the sign of a rank amateur with zero understanding of terrorism, which Obama has confirmed many times in his first 100 days. He is an ideologue with no moral compass except himself.

For all the outrage on water boarding (and did you know that 3 Al Qaeda terrorists were waterboarded while 10,000 American soldiers were to prepare THEM for possibly being a POW), the REAL attitude about torture in this administration is chilling. One of Obama's first acts was to put his considerable weight behind the torture of innocent, preborn infants. He has repeated supported not only death, but also the smashing of the skull of a baby and the gory details, which are truly unspeakable violence. Homosexuality itself between men is an inherently violent act, an assault on the human body. As you read this, Obama is in Trinidad and Tobago glad-handing hard left leaders like himself with no compunction about torture - Chavez and Castro. He is more at home with them than with loyal Americans who simply speak their mind. Obama has called for a domestic security force larger than the military that is reminiscent of Nazi Germany's youth movement. There are also concentration camps erected in this country from before his administration but which now seem more ominous with each passing day. Can't you just see the need to put these "right wing extremists" in these camps for their own good, with editorial ascent in the NY Times, the Washington Post, and on CNN?

The Bible describes the torment that Lot felt in Sodom with all the wickedness around him, and Christians are tormented by the open evil all around them that is now OFFICIALLY government policy - homosexual perversion is exalted and all those who oppose are now EXTREMISTS. Those opposing the horrible torture and murder of abortion are now EXTREMISTS. Those opposed to a wholesale destruction of the economy with unsustainable spending (the fact it is hugely wasteful makes it even worse), are now EXTREMISTS. Those wanting their constitutional right to bear arms, which is in the Constitution to help prevent an oppressive government from remaining in power, are now EXTREMISTS. The Patriots of the American Revolution were all EXTREMISTS, I suppose. No armed citizenry has ever lost their freedom. The plan of hard leftists such as Obama is to DISARM the citizenry so in later phases of their plan they have no opposition. This is the long executed plan elsewhere, and the media conveniently ignores the fact that Obama TAUGHT Saul Alinski's "Rules for Radicals" on how to take over. His campaign mirrored that book (Mark Levin did a masterful job precept upon precept). Now THAT is what extremism is truly all about.

His crony Janet Napolitano issued her hatchet job to seek to marginalize the moral people of principle whom he really wishes to ultimately destroy. Does anyone really doubt Obama's true intent? He sat under leftists Jeremiah Wright for two decades and has been close friends with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayres and others. Wright and Ayes had the same middle name - "Hate". Obama disparaged the economy at every opportunity, resulting in catastrophic results. He now disparages his own country at every opportunity while giving the true tyrants a free ride. His radical policies when enacted would easily result in the total collapse of the economy - which is what the game plan WANTS and NEEDS! American HAS to fail for his plans to succeed! It is no big mystery!

Why can't people connect the dots? It is all right there in front of them. Obama refuses to produce one shred of proof he is even qualified to be President by hiding his birth certificate. That means that the Constitution is no longer the ruling document. He was a very corrupt Chicago politician. He supports the corrupt ACORN. He supports corrupt Unions. He supports corrupt foreign leaders. He treats Israel with hostility and her enemies with compassion - all part of the upside down world of the modern secularist. Obama pressed the limits by voting for infanticide more than once. He is more Arab than Black, holding more of their harsh values than the conservative social morality of Black Americans, and yet seeks to play the race card when convenient. He says he is a Christian when everything he has done to date is the OPPOSITE of everything Godly there is. He seems far more at ease in the Muslim community than the Christian community, and is trying to get a lot more Muslims into the government while making every effort to ensure that no true Christian has any political power. He is mindlessly reversing everything George Bush did as a reflex action, not through thoughtful deliberation. He never ran any business, yet he wants to run and control every aspect of everyone's life. It is like a college kid being put in charge of a big corporation without any real-world experience. Only this time, he has surrounded himself with the same kinds of people who are hopelessly inept and impractical as well as similarly corrupt. (Why is it that those wanting to tax everyone else rarely pay their own taxes?)

Back to torture and torment. Is it always wrong? No! Read the Bible. A time is coming when all those who reject the Lordship of Jesus Christ will be tormented in hell forever. God's penalty for unrepentant terrorists is not to give them a lawyer. It is to cast them into a lake of burning fire. In fact, the penalty is the same for murderers, rapists, and greedy people - sinners of all types. I wonder what sinners will say when they enter God's torture chamber?

Romans 13 teaches us that the government does not bear the sword in vain. They are God's ministers. What our government did is well within Biblical parameters. Death was Biblically justified for all of them. The job of the President is to protect the citizens of his country. We are decidedly less safe now than we were last week because of this blunder, and our soldiers are likewise less safe.

Torture has never really been repudiated. The thing is, people tortured Christ. They still try. The same people who call us extreme in the media and the movies blaspheme God at every single opportunity. They secretly relish it when radical Muslims torture Christians. My friends, there is a spirit of hate that has been loosed against the church and against all decent people who maintain any moral principles derived from the Bible. It is coming from the very top. The tragedy is that without Christian support, this regime would never have been elected and could not be doing the things it is now. Many Christians are totally ill informed and form their opinions based upon information given by people who pummel Christians and Christianity day after day. Why should they be the slightest trusted? The Bible prophesies that people will turn against their own families, and in fact will turn in fellow Christians. Jesus said in Matthew 24:10, "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other." I have been disheartened by the Christians who uncritically accept everything Obama says and does and who ATTACK believers who are sticking with the truth. This passage applies not only to the fall of Jerusalem, but has unfortunately happened since and will continue to happen. If we wish to end this nightmare, we must stand united against the expanded slaughter of the preborn, against perversion of all kinds, against injustice, against calling good evil and evil good, and against a departure from everything right and decent.

Obama said we are no longer a Christian country - he is right in that we don't act like it, but he is very wrong in that the legal foundations of our country are Christian. He has made himself a god, because he views his opinions as superior to God’s, and has placed his own ideas above God’s. Not a plan. To the extent we depart from God as a country will be the extent we are tortured. The flames will be hotter for Americans because to whom much is given, much is required. Won't you pray and preach and work to assure that the least possible number of people is tortured in hell forever? And while you are at it, pray for us as the church to survive the torment of living among evil people who think only evil continually. We can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us.

ARE THE ATHEISTS RIGHT?

It is Easter, the ultimate day of defeat for Atheists. The devil, who for real is no atheist since he used to live with God, was defeated on the cross. Yet he gets quite a few folks to believe what he knows is false - that there is no God. In that sense of course, all atheists are wrong, but that doesn't mean they are wrong about EVERYTHING. If you peruse the websites of atheist organizations (and since we are in a war of the ages we had better know what our enemies are up to), you will sometimes see fear of Christians taking dominion in government. Is this fear well-grounded, or is it simply the ranting of people who believe they are marginalized already in a "Christian" country? You might be interested to also know that some atheists are not particularly concerned. The disunity they have seen makes them believe there really isn't much to fear. I know many who talk much of "ruling and reigning". It might surprise you to know that I am probably MORE scared about that than many of the atheists are.

You see, Christians have not done a particularly good job of ruling and reigning. We have failed to keep our own houses in order. Even in the New Testament church, Gnosticism and all manner of other perversions quickly entered the church. Anti-Christs abounded. Even the Apostle John said that "many" Anti-Christs have gone out from among THEM. When Constantine supposedly converted and persecution stopped, so did ardor and fidelity to the scriptures. Much compromise ensued.

When the church did have political power, it became as corrupt as the worldly powers had been. Truth became in short supply as power corrupted and absolute power corrupted absolutely.

In Europe, religious persecution by those taking serious stands for scripture was almost an intolerant as that by the statist churches. In America, the Puritans and others were merciless in their rulership and reigning. Can anyone imagine where we would be today if the Native Americans had been treated consistently with fairness and respect and if slavery were not permitted? The church has not done well against injustice and greed over history.

In more recent times, Christian leadership could not be readily distinguished from the GOP on specific political goals not strictly tied to scriptural mandates. Mega-churches and televangelist ministries appeared to have the same material goals as the world. Hardly the Saboteurs of the Kingdom Tom Skinner used to preach about.

We as Christians cannot agree on even the most basic scriptural principles. Even though God wrote on tablets of stone with his own finger that the rule of the Sabbath was based upon a six-day creation, most Christian colleges deny that truth and consider it irrelevant. No wonder Evangelicals are jettisoning key Christian doctrines and distinctives faster than the lower stages of that North Korean rocket.

Even though abortion is killing life that God created for his pleasure, I hear Christians call that a "symptom" and vote for people determined to expand abortions, force taxpayers to pay for them, and even try to force doctors who believe they are immoral to perform them.

Two major pastor figures in American, first Joel Osteen, and now Rick Warren, tell Larry King the unbelievable. Joel seven times refused to stand for the requirement that salvation is through Christ alone. Larry kept asking because he could not believe it. Jews are not dumb about what Christians believe. He was flabbergasted. Then, just a few days ago, Rick Warren said he wasn't campaigning against gay marriage and had apologized to his homosexual friends for supporting Prop 8 in California. What on earth? The videos proved he was totally inconsistent in what he said. Seems like these two are more into crossing the aisle than the disappointing John McCain was. Except crossing the aisle in opposing the counsel of God is far more devastating than a Democrat agreeing with a Republican or vice versa. Many aisles are meant to be crossed and then eliminated. Aisles of "race", caste, economics, denomination, etc. are in that category. However, aisles of principles and basic moral values cannot be crossed without losing our Christian identity. Christians are not called to simply rule and reign. They are called to rule and reign WITH CHRIST. Unless Christ and ALL he stands for is in our party platform, the results we can expect will be more than disappointing.

I read this quote at a coffeehouse this afternoon from Martin Luther...
"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefields besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."

We cannot compromise with the devil. Do you know why? The Devil NEVER compromises. He sticks to HIS plan. If you think you are compromising with the devil, you are in reality selling out to him and losing EVERYTHING. Back in the 60's, I minored in sociology. In one of my courses on urban power structures, we learned that the power of a community is only proven through confrontation. People may THINK they have power, but the only measurement comes when it is tested. The same is true with the NCAA Basketball tournament. I filled out a bracket like millions of others, but only in the playing of the games was the champion determined - and it wasn't the overall no. 1 seed - just as often is the case. You simply do not know the power of God unless you are tested, and no matter how much you win in life, it matters little once you lose.

People who have fought hard and learned lessons through the crucible of life make the best leaders. Often they are the "little people" behind the scenes who pray hard, work hard, and who learn from their mistakes. These are the ones who are truly qualified to rule and reign. However, just like the world, the church often promotes the tallest, the handsomest, the best spoken, and the most successful-looking to do the ruling and reigning. Often money, power, or sex (or even all three) is their undoing, as we have repeatedly witnessed over the years. I have no confidence in these folks changing the world for the better if they are put in charge. Neither am I confident in the bold "prophets" who declare all manner of things to folks that are not the least based upon the word of God. Deviance from sound doctrine, even when there is moral purity, can be even more dangerous than the Elmer Gantry types. It seems so spiritual, but can we have men or women ruling our nation who are their own authority and who believe what comes out of their mouths is equivalent to the constitution of the church, the Holy Bible?

Saying all that, I say this. God has said that we will rule and reign with Christ, and frankly, I believe him. Just as Christ was the stone that the builders rejected who ended up being the chief cornerstone, so do I prophecy to you that those whom the world has forgotten and despised, but who are precious in the sight of God, people of singular integrity and purpose, people who pray without ceasing and who put the Word of God above all human ideologies, will change the world through there witness and their testimony. Paul was a short man whom people called "unimpressive". He couldn't "preach" and he put people to sleep - even having at least one fall out of a window. Yet God raised him up to change the world. Stephen was relegated to "waiting on tables" by the then haughty disciples, yet he accomplished more than most of them in standing firm for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of God’s choicest servants were not regarded by those in authority, but God is the one who has appointed them.

I have ZERO confidence in changing the world with the current crop of wealthy and worldly Christians who layer their own ideas on the gospel and who in some cases side with die-hard enemies of the cross. If that were all we had, I would agree with those atheists who have no fear of Christians changing anything and who treat them as the gang who couldn't shoot straight. However, if leaders are chosen the way God has ordained they be chosen, and if it is a BODY leadership as opposed to individual ego-centric ministry, then all those atheists who fear Christians should be afraid, VERY afraid. The world would change. The bars would go out of business as they did in Wales in the early 1900's. Prostitution and drug abuse would be distant memories of an unfortunate past. Homosexuality would not be something to be proud of, and abortion would be rare. Filthy reading material would no longer be on students' reading lists. PG-13 and R movies would die at the box office because people would not be so tolerant of spending their money to pay people to profane the name of the precious Lord Jesus. Scientists would be free to proclaim the creation of God instead of the failed ideas of men.

Atheists hate the idea of a truly righteous country. Are they right in that fear? It all depends on whether we fulfill our scriptural mandate or simply proceed with "spiritual" business as usual.

THE PERFECT STORM

There seems to be a diverse opinion in terms of whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic concerning the state of our nation. Some see ominous signs that started long ago, but which have accelerated due to the sudden increase in the breadth and depth of government, with Mark Levin's NY TImes Best Seller LIBERTY AND TYRANNY being the point document du jour. Meanwhile, other conservative intellectuals such as Bill Bennett see cause for optimism and that despite the current excesses, everything can be fixed, because after all, "This is America."

My thesis to you today is that the current state of affairs is unique and that it is not foreseeably fixable no matter who is in power. I call it "The Perfect Storm". We have to know history in order not to repeat its mistakes. How far shall we go? Somewhat arbitrarily, I'll go about 50 years - say 1960. After all, many compare Barack Obama to JFK (and Michelle to Jackie O).

JFK and Jackie were built up to be Camelot. Youth, glamor, and a huge contrast to the prior Eisenhower administration put excitement in the steps of many. Young and old thronged to see JFK. He won by the thinnest of margins, thanks given by many to corrupt Chicago mayor Richard Daley where there were well-documented voter irregularities. After victory, the country united behind an inspirational speaker who seemed to have the world in the palm of his hand. However, there were two storm clouds that compromised his administration. One was the Cold War and Russia's quick move to test the very green new president (deja vu with Russia's current pronouncement to the similarly very green Obama to put bombers in Cuba). Except then the press screamed about it and now the press buries it. The Bay of Pigs was a defining moment of his adminstration. Thankfully his backbone honed during his years on PT109 was strong enough and the Russians backed down (yes I know about the hidden parts of the deal). The Berlin moment for JFK showed the best of America while encouraging Europe to go beyond where they had been. Unfortunately, the European tour of Obama was filled with apologies, a lack of belief in American exceptionalism which has long been an inspiration to the world, and unbelievably naive statements on disarmament while North Korea was launching a missile. If JFK would have spoken with such weakness and failed to understand that there is evil in this world that has to be defeated, evil that negotiates only with the weak for the sole purpose of gaining further advantage, his presidency would have been a complete failure and we might be speaking Russian today. JFK's second challenge was that both houses were controlled by Democrats. Many Democrats then were opposed to civil rights. Remember that it was the GOP that made the civil rights act possible. School desegregation was also the work of the GOP, as was the freeing of the slaves in the days of Lincoln. Kennedy could not get passed the legislation he championed, though his steadfast efforts resulted in his visage being a fixture on the walls of so many African-American homes. The Civil Rights Act was passed after JFK's death.

Ironically, Democrats give the better speeches (remember Mario Cuomo's stemwinder years ago?), the policies have consistently hurt minorities. The policies of the "Great Society" resulted in a drastic break-up of the Black family. Proportionally more Blacks moved into the middle class in the 1950's than in the 1960's, when poverty was widespread. The single biggest indicator for economic success is an intact nuclear family. Today, with cultural decline causing that across the board, that is the biggest reason that people of all hues are struggling mightily. We'll touch on how Obama's educational policies disproportionately hurt Blacks in a moment.

Let's go to Jimmy Carter. While the GOP is comparing Obama to Carter, and perhaps in terms of extreme weakness in foreign policy there are unfortunate similarities, there are a host of differences. For one, Carter was perceived as a conservative, Southern Democrat. He did not become ultra-liberal until after leaving office. Liberals did not trust him while he was president, and the press was merciless against him, while the vast majority of Americans are clueless about Obama's beliefs and policies because of a press that is 98% in his corner, serving as cheerleaders for his every word. Carter's failure in Iran was a fixture in the press. His Southern Baptist culture was derided and the cartoons abounded. Many forget that many Democrats have changed over the last 30 years. Al Gore used to be pro-life - he was considered too conservative to win as a Democrat! My, how times change.

Moving on to Clinton, he won with a moral cloud which soon exploded into a media soap opera. His first two years were a disaster. He came out of the box with "Don't ask, don't tell", hardly the priority of the hour. He raised taxes and the people rebelled. It was only with the GOP ending 40 years of Democrat control of the house, and recapturing the Senate which had also been Democrat except for 6 of the Reagan years, that the economy recovered, the taxes were stabilized, and people were happy. Clinton got the credit, but control of the Congress was the only variable here. Obama has come out of the box with a plethora of actions overturning perhaps every moral issue to an anti-Christian viewpoint. He now has a 61% difference in approval rating between Republicans and Democrats. One wonders what that would be if the press actually reported even a few grains of truth about Obama's actions that counter the stated beliefs of Americans in even a remotely impartial manner.

We could also deal with the judiciary - a problem for over 50 years - making laws instead of interpreting them; giving rights to criminals that EXCEED the rights of victims. It has been blatant and we would laugh if we were not crying. Obama's FIRST judicial appointment is David Hamilton to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. This judge in his current position said it was illegal in Indiana to pray publicly in the name of Jesus, because that was "Sectarian". Yet he said it was fine to pray in the name of Allah because no one would mistake the intent. His logic gets an "F". My friends, this is the FIRST nomination. A man called unqualified by the American Bar Association, an ACORN fundraiser and connected with the ACLU. Hey, I agree with the American Bar Association. What can we expect next from a President where ideology and the agenda trumps the Constitution, Freedom, and no-so-Common Sense? Exactly where a Marxist mentor in Frank Marshall Davis, a radical mother, a liberal Education taught by liberal professors in a liberal environment would lead a person, and an apostate Pastor who cursed his own country and endorsed Homosexuality. There never was any balance in his life to help him come to an independent thought process. Everything worked to reinforced a single, radical, world-view. Unfortunately, that is what is happening with kids raised by TV, Internet Porn, movies, teachers, peers, and professors. Some have some Christian influence from some quarter to balance things, but many do not.

Of course, there is the economy, undoubtedly made worse by the down-talking of it. The press ignored the simple fact that the meltdown happened after the Dems took control of Congress in 2006. All the warnings were pooh-poohed by the likes of Barney Frank and Maxine Waters. The 5 trillion in losses by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac triggered this mess. Now the ones that caused it are getting BIGGER bonuses than the clowns at AIG and Barney Frank is acting like an expert while sounding like a buffoon. We have the steep rise in taxes during a recession, removing incentives from small business to expand and hire people. We have proposed environmental controls and the desire to raise energy prices through mammoth taxation which will greatly reduce the amount of money people have to put into the economy. Norway has $12 per gallon gas and it is an EXPORTER! Norway is energy independent, yet the government taxes it mercilessly. That is the only way for wind and solar to be competitive. If you think $500 per month heating bills are too much, what about $2,000 ones? The decisions being made are all about control and NOT about what is good for the nation. We have no checks and balances. It is a runaway train that once it picks up speed is almost impossible to stop. France and Germany have tried to pull back. Ask them how hard it is. Unemployment in Germany is almost 50% higher than here. With rising US unemployment, the government will put more and more people on the dole (READ that in the euphemistically titles "Stimulus Package"). Incentive will be dropped, and all of government will be in the same or worse boat as Social Security and Medicare. WHo will have the courage to bite the hand that feeds them? Not GM, not the banks, not the people taking the easy way.

There is another cloud, though, which goes way beyond politics. In our nation, there has been an unprecedented decline in moral, cultural, educational, and religious values. People routinely live together before marriage, and rampant divorce has resulted in the families that do exist often being complicated with step-everyones and ex-everyones. It is hard enough to keep a family together without those distractions. Homosexuality has been increasing in terms of influence on the culture and acceptance, even by those whose sacred texts forbid it. Culture has become so degraded it is almost impossible to watch TV unless you go to Hallmark, FamilyNet, or a few others. Movies consistently push the anti-Christ agenda by degrading his name almost every minute like clockwork. People with no moral values and no understanding of God and certainly no allegiance to the Bible have taken over the educational systems. From Kindergarten through University, children are progressively indoctrinated into a skeptical, negative, and pagan world view. The tug of the flesh and the devil of course loves this, so it is not reversed by simply changing our political, educational, and cultural system, even if by some miracle it could happen overnight. This has occurred whether Republicans or Democrats have been in power, because it goes beyond politics. It goes to the soul of our nation. The pagan values of the current administration are simply the result of what happens when a full-time practitioner of these inculcated values comes to power. The educational establishment endorsed itself when it endorsed Obama. The anti-Christian mainstream media endorsed itself when it endorsed Obama, and Hollywood endorsed itself when it endorsed Obama.

For things to change, it is not a matter of the GOP purging itself of GOP-in-name-only people such as Arlen Specter and Olympia Snow and taking control of Congress in 2010. It is not a matter of mustering 40 votes on Card-Check and the absurd "Cap and Trade" debacle. It is a matter of REAL change in America. It is a matter of the GOP standing up to "Log Cabin Republicans". It is a matter of Jews demanding that Israel's favored status as the keystone ally of freedom i the Middle East be aggressively maintained before the world (incidentally, did you know that the proportion of Muslims in Israel is 16 times that of the USA? - yet those Muslims are not attacking there own country - there is ultimately more respect for the Muslin in Israel than for the Jew in Muslim countries - check it out). It is a matter of African American Christians demanding that their favorite son champion their values of the sanctity of life and the uniqueness of heterosexual marriage. If it weren't for American Americans in California, Prop 8 would have failed. 70% voted for it, yet I do not see any concerted effort to get Obama to stop his crusade to promote Abortion worldwide and his moves toward the "normalization" of Homosexuality - exactly what they overwhelmingly voted against in California. I do not see a flood of letters and emails to Washington on his proposed repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act that Bill Clinton signed, or the trashing of the voucher program in Washington DC that not only saved millions of scarce dollars, but resulted in significant academic gains by minority children in a failed school system. It IS a matter of Preachers standing for the Bible 100% and not backing off to gain or to retain members. It is a matter of the people resisting evil and following God no matter what the society or its leaders say or do. It is putting God above personal preferences and not selling your soul for a morsel of bread.

This perfect storm -

1) Control of all branches of government - President, Congress, Judicial, made worse because the control of Congress is not by a couple of seats, but such that even one or two GOP defections can result in a virtual rubber stamp, and also that the current Congress, unlike that of JFK, shares the President's values.

2) A press which is more captive to the White House than Pravda and Investia were to the Kremlin, a press which offers zero public vetting. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

3) A society which is morally weak and already under the wrath of God, a society where our future leaders are being raised in a totally secular, self-centered, and leftist manner.

4) A society where the church for the vast majority of people has lost its savor and is considered a quaint relic, partially due to the greed and attitudes that mirror the society rather than contrast with it. The Kingdom of God is not promoted, but rather a Christianized adaptation of the Kingdoms of this World.

5) An economy where the new taxation will lead to huge additional job losses, contraction, and misery, with a bloated government taking so much and still not having enough. The debt added will take decades to repay, and when it can't the Chinese will likely call the loans and we will all have to learn Chinese to survive.

So my friends, I say to those who think the GOP or a new Conservative party that is financially responsible, ethnically diverse, and spiritually sound could get us back, "Think Again". We need a new Revolution that will overthrow the slide into Sodom and the decline into Gomorrah. We need all Americans to turn to God and to stand against oppression. What we face today is probably MORE oppressive than what King George III put on our plate. It will require nothing less than a new "Great Awakening" and a whole new way to live. Will God give us that chance? It is something well worth praying for.