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An article by
Kenneth Uptegrove
Edited by Lora
Uptegrove
(((See
Article on election By David Ravenhill below)))
[ In retrospect I wonder how many Christians that did not
vote, or that voted for Obama can now see how foolish
that was. Tell me that McCain would be as
horrendous as this President. We shall now reap what we have sown,
and I would not be a bit surprised if he is not reelected in 2012.
Repentance / judgment is in order. And preparation for the future we are now
faced with is also in order.
Read this article on
the way the Lord called me to prepare (physically, mentally,
and spiritually) years before I ever even heard the name of our new
president. (Author's observation as of March 11, 2009)]
In the
four gospels Jesus did not speak against Rome or slavery, but He did
speak out against the religious leaders of Judea. He said to give
unto Caesar what is Caesar's, meaning taxes even though the tax
was unjust and spent in ways contrary to the will of God. Jesus seemed
to be more concerned with sin in the Kingdom of God than sin in the
kingdoms of men.
From
this line of thought wisdom says we are to fulfill all civic duties
expected of American citizens, which includes paying taxes and voting.
Of course it is legal to NOT vote, and illegal to not pay our
taxes, but I am talking about Christ mandates, not the law of the
land.
There
are no Ronald Reagan's in this election year, but the Republican Vice
Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, is equally conservative.
And lest we forget, all the Democrat candidates are far more liberal
(secular humanistic) than any of the Republican candidates.
Among
the lesser of two evils, ANY choice for president on the Republican
ticket is better than, or not as bad as
Barack Hussein Obama
(who is more socialistic and secular humanist than Hillary).
In a
Constitutional Republic, in the most Christ centered church, and in
any area of life we have only humans to work with. Imperfect
humans! Some are sinners saved by grace, and the rest are of their
father, Satan. And when was there ever a PERFECT candidate for
us to vote for? Ronald Reagan was a Godsend, but he wasn’t perfect.
Consider the options. If we get real cynical and
NOT
vote at all, or vote for a third party (or a write in) candidate we
will thereby
ASSURE
the worst possible result. Third party
votes, write-in votes and no-votes almost always take away from votes
for the Republican candidate, allowing the Democrat to win by default.
Will we vote for the most electable or the most acceptable candidate?
A leader may not be a "godly" man, or even approved by the "religious"
community, but God is able to fulfill His will, is He not?
Some
may argue that true Christians will never vote for “the lesser of two
evils.” They say TRUE Christians can ONLY vote for
committed Christian politicians, acting as if politicians were pastors
and that America is still one nation under God. By this logic TRUE
Christians should not pay taxes (and some don’t). But remember that
Jesus said to, “Pay unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s,” meaning taxes
… and voting. Some Christians are opposed to
allowing a woman to teach or
exercise authority over men (in reference to 1 Timothy 2:12),
and are therefore opposed to Sarah Palin being on the Republican
ticket, even though she seems to be a committed Christian. See this video of Governor Palin give her testimony in her home
church at that time, the Wasilla Assembly of God. Click here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/palins-church-may-have-sh_n_123205.html
to hear her talk about her salvation and water baptism experience.
She has since gone to another church. Here is why that argument is
irrelevant;
that is
acting as if politicians were pastors and that America is still one
nation under God. Remember, Debra was a Judge (second in command under Moses)
working for the Israeli government. Looking past our options and ideals, we can see
the best (or least evil) option left to select from, and that is to
vote for what option comes the closest to our ideals. In a
long hike, walking 9 miles is more ideal than walking 10 miles, an
option we can welcome. Romans 13: 1,2 says be subject to the governing authorities, but whom
puts them into power, either His people or his people. People forget
to read 3,4 Sometimes, however, in punishment for the sins of a
people. or for other reasons known to Him, God allows evil rulers to
have authority for a time, as OT prophets frequently testify,
ideally, God grants authority to serve good ends. Verse 4 when
government officials use force to restrain and punish evil, they are
not doing wrong, Rather, they are God's minister (servant) and are
doing good.
The
notion that we need to punish the Republican Party by showing them
they do not own us is about as futile a notion as I have ever heard.
Our black brethren have learned that about the Democratic Party that
feels they own the black vote. Political parties will not learn a
thing after a dozen losses because Bible believing Christians wouldn’t
back their candidates. They just don’t get it. Conservatives, the
Republican Party, our nation and the world gets more socialistic, more
secular, more anti-Christ (Liberal) every decade, not less. Only the
true church of Jesus Christ stays faithful to Yahweh and His Holy Word
(the Holy Bible),
and I wonder about some Christians sometimes.
Wisdom says…
By
holding to our convictions, Christians in the religious right may very
well —by default— vote
Barack Hussein Obama into office. God forbid! Tell me THAT
is Godly!
When there are no good options left, then only undesirable solutions are left. The lesser of two evils is our only option in such times, and it seems to me that we are now in such a time. The argument that, "To vote at all is to condone the evil that pervades all government," ignores the wisdom to use the strategy to at least slow down the run-away train before it wrecks. A few survivors is better that (not as tragic as) no survivors. I am not going to campaign for any candidate in 2008, but I will vote for the Republican ticket (as I have for 40 years) in order to slow down the impending Socialist train wreck. God will not hold me responsible for the sins and error of whoever wins the office, or give me any rewards for any holy or righteous deeds that president might perform. God only holds me accountable to be a responsible citizen and vote, and apply the wisdom invested to me through maturity and living a Godly life. I am not a Republican or Democrat or independent, I am a Bible believing conservative who identifies with the religious right. But: Even in the religious right our social, political, and theological views are very diverse and at odds with each other. Despite all our self-righteous rhetoric, we are one in name only. We do not have one spokesman or voice. So I am forced to more specifically identify myself as a Bible believing, Christ centered Christian. But even there we have diverse Christian groups making the same claim. Again, no single spokesman or organization represents us. Where are our spiritual leaders today? Praise God, we have Jesus! Even so, there is a good reason for every conservative and Evangelical Christian to vote Republican these days, no matter how poor our choices seem to be in this election cycle. No matter which Republican candidate were to win, he would not be very likely to veto any legislation that conservatives got passed in the Senate. Barack Hussein Obama would veto any conservative legislation in a dragons breath, and would do all he and his ultra-liberal cohorts can conjure up. A ten-to-one chance is better than no chance. The fatalists … the defeatists (who are sure nothing can be done) seem to be in a rush to embrace the inevitable. But if it is inevitable, why not waylay the “inevitable” for as long as we can? Why not redeem the time left to us by evangelizing, raising our children, and having more time to prepare for the future physically, mentally, and spiritually? For those who say Christians should not be involved in things of the world, meaning politics and government in this case, let me point out that there has always been a lot of politics in religion and a lot of religion in politics. If we could get the politics within denominations removed, and the politicians who are Reverends saved (Huckabee being an exception), then we could walk our talk. Our responsibility as Christians is to proclaim and perform the will of God to the best of our ability. That means to speak out against evil, and to be a part of any positive area of ministry we can. Heal the sick, raise the dead, comfort those who suffer loss, feed the poor, proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ...and vote for the best outcome that is possible. If in dire times the only food available at the grocery store was bread that was one-week old, two weeks old, and three weeks old, I would pick the one-week old bread. I do not enjoy old bread, but I won’t starve either. Not getting any bread because all the choices are bad is a sure road to hunger and starvation. I think we are approaching dire times. What do you think? I hope this is an encouragement to us all to vote, and put our vote where it can count the most to keep Hussein Obama out of the Whitehouse. at spiritually and gives a people the leader they deserve. We must decide to engage ourselves in the right of collective self-defense against unprovoked aggression from the anti-Christ system in America. The election outcome will reflect the spirituality of the religious right. There is no social, economic or political solution to the ills of society. Christ is the only solution, so my advice is to urge all Christians to pray for our nation and our churches, asking God for His will to be done on earth (in America) as it is in heaven. We need to employ wisdom in this season, and understand what is happening around us. Our nation is in a precarious time; to be swayed by emotion could bring us results we would be sorry for, for some time to come.
How will you vote? As a Christian, it is as much your civic duty to pray for those in authority as it is to vote! By the way, God can use the worst candidate by calling the nation to pray for them. If we are to "Sing the Swan Song" let us be cleaver like a fox and write ourselves four verses to sing, not just one or two! Let's not take the loser mentality, but put on the Mind of Christ. Jesus is our hope, or Lord, who takes us through all hardships and hard times. I read the last page in the Bible, and it says JESUS WINS! PRAISE THE LORD!Are you praying for the candidates and the nation?
What are your thoughts about how Christians should vote?
Strength in (Small) Numbers Although lesbian, gay, and bisexual activists are among the most vocal of any special interest group, they are also one of the smallest. Far from the 8-10 percent figures that some cite, the number of homosexuals in America is only 2.9 percent of the 18 and older population, according to researchers from Hunter College. One author of the study, Professor Patrick Egan, says that the media typically cite the number of homosexuals based on voter exit polls. That's a mistake, Egan insists. "Exit polls are based on the people... who show up at the polls. Gays and lesbians vote much more consistently than the general population," Egan concludes. Although homosexuals may be in the minority, they have a "disproportionate impact on the political process." In almost every political category, they outwork the average citizen. They volunteer, write letters to the editor, contact government officials, and protest more than most Americans. That feat is even more impressive when you consider that not everyone in that 2.9 percent is an activist for homosexuality, meaning that an even smaller fraction of homosexuals is forcing its agenda on the nation. People who say they are Christians and are opposed to special rights for the gay crowd make up over 50% of the population, but what percent of them/us vote and speak out on social issues?
Get Thee Behind Me Satan! By David Ravenhill www.davidravenhill.net
If
you are unfamiliar with the words of this title, let
me remind you that they were spoken by Jesus in
response to Peter's rebuke of him. Ahh! Now you
recall the incident. Jesus has just asked the
disciples what people were saying about him. "Some
say you are John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or
one of the prophets…" they explained. Jesus went on
to tell them that he was going to Jerusalem where he
would suffer many things, including the fact that he
would be killed. Peter immediately rebuked him for
his 'negative confession'. After all, this was the
last thing the disciples had in mind for their
beloved master and potential King.
We chose to be a non-tax exempt ministry so we can be free to speak out as God directs S
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