The people of this nation have spoken.  But what have they said?  They have said, in my opinion, “There is no God, and if there is I really do not have to pay any attention to Him.”

Before I go any further I want to say that I have held off this long before saying this because I have been consulting with my Father about what to say, or if I need to say anything at all.  I am convinced that I do need to.  And if you disagree, see me as judgmental, or as filled with hate, or as bitter, or any of a number of ways you could see me, I am not. 

I love you, I love Obama, I love all but, I love Jesus more.  So for Him I speak. 

It is no surprise that the lost have said there is no God.  That is why they are lost.  I used to believe the same thing.  And when I believed this, I hated you, I hated Obama, and I hated everybody else.  Unborn babies were nothing.  Starving children did not move me.  The poor and needy did not receive a thought.  I was my own god. 

It is a surprise to me that a whole lot of the self proclaimed body of Christ does not believe they have to pay attention to Him.  If eighty five to ninety percent of this nation is calling themselves Christians, (not my statistics), how in the world can a man who believes in the slaughter of the unborn be elected?  And he could not have been without a lot of those same people voting for him. 

I hesitate in the name of love and unity to write this.  But in the name of true love and real unity I must.  The Jesus who snatched me from the jaws of death and hell could not possibly be happy with the choices made yesterday.  If you believe differently, then you do not know the same Jesus.  And I really want you to. 

Understand this.  I am not saying McCain was the right choice either.  In fact, I voted for neither.  And if he had of won I would be writing about him.  The things that would make me believe in his need for salvation would just be based on other issues.

There is a whole lot of angry, bitter Christians out there today.  Then there are a lot of people actually calling for prayer for the new POTUS.  In that I am in agreement.   But not with their focus. 

The focus of the prayers that have been called for are not proper.   J. Lee Grady has tried to give us a list of specific prayers to be prayed here.  My problem with this and many other of the suggestions out there today is that no one is saying to pray that Obama be saved.  On one forum I suggested it and a believer was shocked. 

Why in the world can we not recognize that just because someone declares something, it does not make it true? The Jesus I met and now serve, instilled a compassion and love in me that causes me to feel physically sick over the rampant murder of the unborn.  And I truly, truly, used to not care.  If that is what Jesus makes me feel, then why wouldn’t I believe that Obama does not know Him?

Look at Grady’s 3^rd suggestion and tell me how in the world a man that does not know God can use His wisdom?

We are losing this war because we are not focused on the right things.  Those things are the things of God, and exposing what and who is not of God.  We are called to battle.  Whether we answer the call or not is totally up to us.

If you don’t like any of this or think I am something I am not, then so be it.  I will be in good company.

Because I love our president-elect I will pray for him.  I will pray that he meets Jesus Christ.

Love you all

Tags: Body of Christ, Christians, Death, God, Jesus Christ, Judgment, Love, McCain, Murder, Obama, POTUS, Prayer, Salvation, Self, Sin, starving children, unborn babies, Vote, War

Tomorrow, some of the people in this country will vote.  Whatever candidate wins will bring about a new direction.  He will be placed in office by the ones who bought into his rhetoric the most.  Whoever has motivated the most people to follow his empty promises will win. 

I have not tried to use my space here to push any agenda except the agenda of Christ.  I sincerely do not believe that any political party has His agenda in mind.  And that is okay.  Jesus knew the worldly kingdoms would never seek to merge with the Godly Kingdom.  Instead, He warned repeatedly about the danger of trying to merge His Kingdom with the worlds. 

I do not think that any politician on the national scene is concerned in the least about the things of God.  I wish this was not so.  And I wish the people of God would realize the seriousness of forsaking our mission, which is personal, and relying on government to do it for us. 

Being absorbed with “self” is nothing new.  It was there in the beginning.  But it just seems to be so much more powerful today.  Is there anyone out there concerned with the destination of lost souls?  Is there anyone out there concerned with fulfilling our mission of making disciples?  Is there anyone willing to sacrifice on a personal level instead of relying on government?

I don’t know if I am doing enough.  I surely don’t know if you are.  I am tired of sounding so pessimistic and it feels like all I write is words of warning. 

I watched the people of God for so many years to see the faults, the hypocrisy, and the reliance on anything other than God.  I am now one with you in this great Kingdom.  And I see it as great only because of our King, not because of us. 

I know that almost every election is looked at as the one that is the most important of all time.  This one is shaping up to be that one, for real.  We are either going to vote in a man who will not really get anything done, or we will vote in a man that could take this country further down the path to destruction.  You decide who’s who. 

The pessimism is not my heart though.  I am optimistic because I know to whom I have given my life.  I have given it to Jesus Christ, my King.  No matter what happens in this nation, in this world, I know my destination.  I am safe, secure and will be taken care of. 

My heart grieves though for those that are deceived.  Those that do think they are voting in a change for the better.  I do not pretend to be prophetic but, I will say this, no matter who is elected tomorrow it will not be for the better. 

Do not rely on this world, or its leaders, or its policies, or its agendas for your joy and peace.  Become a citizen of the only eternal Kingdom.  Then you will have peace.

So, as far as tomorrow goes, vote if you want.  Then let God have it.  If enough are aligned with His precepts and principles, He will work it all out the way it needs to be.  After you vote, let it go.  Don’t give in to letting it become the obsession for the day.  Whoever gets the most votes will win and after you are done voting, you have no more say in the matter. 

So why not give the rest of the day to God and go talk about Jesus to someone rather than talking about Obama or McCain.

Love you all

Tags: Beginning, Believe, candidate, Election, God, Government, Hypocrisy, Jesus Christ, King, Kingdom, Lie, Life, Love, Personal, Power, rhetoric, Self, Sin, Vote, War, warning, Work, world

There was a time not too long ago when I did not believe in very much, especially not God.  I believed in myself and that was about it.  The belief I am talking about I simply define as the ability to trust, and rely on someone or something. 

I did not know it then, but have come to realize now, that we all are missing something.  There is a place in our “heart” that is empty, until we fill it.  That place is meant to be filled with God.  He is what we are all missing until we get on board with Him.

If we do not fill it with Him then we all find something else to replace Him or we just feel empty.  I have been there and you may have also.  The problem is that the things we fill it with are not everlasting.  They will eventually lose the ability to satisfy. 

When I joined the army I found something bigger than myself to fill that place to a degree.  It’s called patriotism.  I gained a sense of pride for and love of the nation I live in.   Emotions seemed to well up in me when the flag was raised, when the anthem was sung, and when patriots were honored. 

Just a few months after I first got saved and joined my church, on Memorial Day weekend, my pastor called up all the veterans in my church and recognized them honorably for the service they had performed.  It was the first time anyone had ever given me an honorable mention, I believe, in my life.  As I have noted before, I was a loner and as such, just didn’t “belong” or “join” in very much.

But that felt good.  The sense of being a part of something bigger than myself gave me one of the first glimpses of how good it was to “belong”.  And I mistakenly grabbed hold of that patriotism again.  I was newly saved but God had not yet filled the empty places in my heart to the limits.  I squeezed a little bit of that old sense of pride in this nation into the recesses, the nooks and crannies where God was not, yet.

But, as anyone who is actively seeking to grow in relationship with God can attest, He will fill and overfill that place I am talking about.  He will squeeze out all of the empty things we try to fill ourselves with, if we let Him.  And when we do let Him, we will be better for it.      

Thinking of all that I just said, I have come to realize that America is not a “Christian nation”, though at one time it may have been close.  A nation cannot be a Christian.  Only people can.  A Christian is simply a member of the family and the army of God.  A nation cannot be a family member.  A nation is simply a place.  And I do believe we should aspire to be a nation of Christians.  A nation of true Christians, as I have been saying, truly could change the world. 

Some think that just because we are not all Christians then we must allow this country to be the change agent.  That somehow a nation, that has no soul, no morality in itself, can affect change.  The people are the soul of the nation.  And that should show us quickly that this is not a Christian nation because it has been quite a while since the people of this nation were mostly Christians.   

America is not a “shining city on a hill”.   We are a free nation and one of the very best examples of freedom in the world.  We should let our light of freedom be a shining example for the entire world.  But never think that this alone makes us good.  The very freedom we enjoy has also led to the very godlessness that we see on display. 

America is not the “greatest blessing God gave mankind”, though it is a great nation, even somewhat worthy, of our conditional adoration.   But we must remember the greatest blessing God gave man was His Son.  And the greatest benefit of that is that we have become citizens of a new nation, a better nation. 

Patriotic sentiment has its place but we mustn’t let it expand beyond its acceptable borders. We mustn’t let a belief that changing laws, changing elected officials, and changing what political party is in control, is actually going to change people.  Only Jesus changes people. 

We are citizens of both a country and a Kingdom.  Born into the USA but reborn into the Kingdom of God.  And that rebirth is the better of the two.  We must be careful not to confuse the one for the other.

America is not.  It is not going to make you happy.  It is not going to give you peace.  It is not helping you prepare for eternity.  It is not going to get your child, your grandchild, saved. 

America is not. 

Love you all

Tags: America, Belief, Believe, Christians, Church, Eternity, God, Good, King, Kingdom, Law, Lie, Life, Love, Rebirth, Self, Service, Sin, Trust, Worth

There was once a group of people that were led by a loving, just ruler.  He had their best interests at heart and He provided for them in all ways.  Materially, physically and spiritually.  He was stern at times but always quick to dispense mercy and grace. 

But the people were not happy.  Their ruler was not like the rulers that surrounded them in other kingdoms.  Their ruler was never seen and chose to give out His instruction through other men and sometimes directly to individuals.  And His main goal for His people was to spread the knowledge of who He was, all of His love, mercy, grace, provision and instruction, to all people. 

This ruler was the perfect ruler but He was not good enough.  The people He tried to lead wanted something else.  They wanted a king that was a man from among themselves.  This ruler, who by now you know was God, warned them that it would not work out the way they wanted.  But He gave them what they wanted.  He gave them Saul.

From that very first earthly king, things never went the way they should have.  There were a couple of good kings to the Israelites, but none of them ever came close to keeping them in proper relationship with God.   

This post is my response to the questions I put forth on Tuesday.  And for all who responded I seriously thank you and value your input.  I am not being pretentious in saying what I am about to say.  These are new thoughts for me, after spending lots of time in prayer over these issues of voting and the choices laid out before us. 

We are ambassadors of our own King if we have chosen to be a part of the Kingdom of God.  We are supposed to serve Him and His Kingdom.  But instead we seem to think it is the Government of the United States job to uphold our ways and laws.  We seem to think that it is actually the reverse of the way it is.  That this country and its rulers are the ambassadors.  Jesus told us that we are of another Kingdom.  And He told us, while we are here to give to this kingdom what belongs to it but to give to our Kingdom what belongs to Him. 

As Shelly said, even the rulers we think are the right ones turn out to be something other than what we perceived. 

We happen to be in a country where we have been given the “right” to vote.  This “right” has been given by the Constitution, not God.  There is simply no justification that I can find for anyone saying that we are obliged to vote.  God allows it but would not require it. 

And this is the most important part of this post.  If we are going to exercise our “right” to vote, then we better vote for that person that lines up mostly with the heart of God.  If we do not, then we will be held accountable for that vote. 

But as for the question I proposed, I do not believe a person of another faith, even if that person might not make it to eternity with us, cannot have a heart closer to God than someone who declares themselves Christian.  And surely they might be better able to run this country.  

And if you haven’t seen what I am implying yet, I am not sure we should even be concerned with voting.  And know that I expect to get some flak from this.

We have a King.  And instead of listening to Him and doing as He says we waste, yes waste, our time in all the intricacies of the political process. 

Just answer this.  Have you spent as much time talking about Jesus as you have talking about McCain or Obama?  Have you spent as much time reading the bible as you have reading the reports on either of the candidates?  Have you spent as much time seeking Truth as you have the latest sound bite or lie about any politician?

When God calls someone to do something, He knows they can get it done.  Not necessarily that they will.  There is no way in the corrupt system we have now in the US of A, that a politician can be Holy and be an effective leader of this nation at the same time.    Therefore I do not believe God is trying to put any of them in the position.  And He really does not have to. 

God anointed Saul as king.  He anointed David as king.  Then He anointed Jesus as King.  We do not need another. 

I wish these facts were not so.  I wish we could vote the right candidate in and all of the terrible things going on in this nation, which grieve and anger our Lord, would be made right.  But even more, I wish that we would try to start doing what He wants us to do.  Then we could change this nation.  It is never going to be up to the elected officials to bring about the Godly change we need.  It is going to be up to us. 

2Ch 7:14  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

The people of God must do these things.  Not the House, or the Senate, or the Judiciary, or the President, but only the people of God.  We want to blame everybody but ourselves.  And like when God called all the people to clean themselves up and come up the mountain to meet Him, we want someone, maybe another Moses, to do it for us. 

God help us and have mercy on those we have failed to reach.

I love you all so very much

Tags: Believe, Bible, Eternity, God, Government, Grace, King, Kingdom, Knowledge, Love, Mercy, Perfect, Prayer, Value, Vote, Work