An historic day
Today is an historic day in United States history.
4 reasons I'm glad Barack Obama has been elected our next President . . . regardless of how you or I voted.
1. Racial reconciliation. Perhaps finally, the United States can begin to put behind us our notorious mistreatment of the black population.
2. The American Dream. Once again, it has been proven that anyone, regardless of their origins (Barak was raised by a single mom because his dad bailed on his family), can achieve greatness in America.
3. A global bridge. The perception of virtually every nation in the world is that Obama will bring about needed change in American global policies. (Let's face it, the past eight years haven't endeared us to the masses.)
4. The church will rise to the occasion. As the United States continues to slide in its understanding of truth and morality the church in America will be forced to put up or shut up. Historically, when things were at their worst, the church was at its best.
Issues I will be praying deeply about:
1. The sanctity of human life. I am distressed at Obama's cavalier attitude towards the protection of human life. God will not allow a country to prosper that murders millions of unborn children every year. Not to mention the inherent value of every unborn child's life!
2. Supreme Court Justices. In my opinion, the single most important thing that a US President does is appoint our Supreme Court Justices. In all likelihood, Barack will be our President for the next eight years. Thus, he will, once again, in all likelihood, appoint at least 4 individuals to the Supreme Court. You cannot legislate Christianity but you can legislate morality.
3. A divided nation. The Presidential vote was extremely close. We are a divided country in our views of who should lead us. We must follow the Biblical mandate to pray for those who are in positions of authority. (And remember that our ultimate Leader and Savior is Jesus.)
4. God's mercy. Throughout history God has responded to the cries of His people. As we humble ourselves and repent of any evil in our lives, God will turn His face toward us and bless us as His followers.
4 reasons I'm glad Barack Obama has been elected our next President . . . regardless of how you or I voted.
1. Racial reconciliation. Perhaps finally, the United States can begin to put behind us our notorious mistreatment of the black population.
2. The American Dream. Once again, it has been proven that anyone, regardless of their origins (Barak was raised by a single mom because his dad bailed on his family), can achieve greatness in America.
3. A global bridge. The perception of virtually every nation in the world is that Obama will bring about needed change in American global policies. (Let's face it, the past eight years haven't endeared us to the masses.)
4. The church will rise to the occasion. As the United States continues to slide in its understanding of truth and morality the church in America will be forced to put up or shut up. Historically, when things were at their worst, the church was at its best.
Issues I will be praying deeply about:
1. The sanctity of human life. I am distressed at Obama's cavalier attitude towards the protection of human life. God will not allow a country to prosper that murders millions of unborn children every year. Not to mention the inherent value of every unborn child's life!
2. Supreme Court Justices. In my opinion, the single most important thing that a US President does is appoint our Supreme Court Justices. In all likelihood, Barack will be our President for the next eight years. Thus, he will, once again, in all likelihood, appoint at least 4 individuals to the Supreme Court. You cannot legislate Christianity but you can legislate morality.
3. A divided nation. The Presidential vote was extremely close. We are a divided country in our views of who should lead us. We must follow the Biblical mandate to pray for those who are in positions of authority. (And remember that our ultimate Leader and Savior is Jesus.)
4. God's mercy. Throughout history God has responded to the cries of His people. As we humble ourselves and repent of any evil in our lives, God will turn His face toward us and bless us as His followers.
posted by Greg Nettle at 6:32 AM
12 Comments:
Last night when I got to work, my black co-workers were visibly giddy. It was like for the first time in their lives (they are all in their 60s), they really can believe that anyone can "achieve greatness in America."
But Greg, you say "God will not allow a country to prosper that murders millions of unborn children every year." That seems untrue. America has prospered. And China has prospered and prospered and prospered, not only while performing millions and millions of abortions but also while becoming rich on the backs of millions and millions of what amounts to slaves. Britain and the U.S. prospered greatly by using slaves. I'm afraid your confusing what God expected of Israel and what he told them would or would not prosper them with what the nations at large do. It truly does rain on the just and the unjust. Nations generally prosper by exploiting someone.
I also wonder how far the sanctity of life extends. With the current administration, it seems to end when someone is maimed. Surely God hates war as much as abortion. Surely God hates children in The Sudan dying every day while we stand by. And does the sanctity of life extend to veterans in our VA hospitals living in squalor in many cases. I've been there. I rarely see people ministering to these people.
And please don't confuse America with the people of God. I'm not saying you do but it could be construed that way.
Mmmm. VERY good thoughts. Thank-you for sharing your insights.
greg
I think we all need to consider what "prospering" truely means. Prospering economically is different than building God's kingdom, though it may be in part. Richness in relationships with friends, family, and our Lord can be seen as a country's greatest asset. In that sense, we haven't prospered all that much...
I was very disappointed that Obama won the presidency. If I sit awhile and think about it, his viewpoints, plans, predictions are all very different than my own and, if I let it, it can scare me...make me afraid for the future. However, I heard on the radio the other day the following 10 points that genuinely soothe me and make me remember who's really our leader:
10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the November Election
1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.
How is it not okay to take an unborn child's life, but nothing is mentioned about the lives lost with war and poverty? You pray for Barack Obama because you say his attitude toward the protection of human life is cavalier, but you only reference this in terms of abortion. I strongly support the President-elect because I feel that he does support the protection of human life in a lot of ways...lets put an end to the unnecessary killings of war, lets make peace with each other, lets love each other and reach out to those in need.
Yes, I agree that God values ALL human life and so should we!
In the U.S. alone, there are 4,000 abortions EVERY day. That translates into 1.4 million per year.
I have to agree with Anonymous #1. If, Greg, you're talking about nations prospering, I think in the Bible, specifically the Old Testament, conditions about prospering were spoken to the Hebrew nation, generally meant financial prospering and not a spiritualized prospering and cannot be translated to America or any other present-day national entity.
And so, to Anonymous #2, while it may be true that prospering can have many meanings, I don't think your analysis fits in this case. Also, I'm not sure that I can share the gloom you project about present day poverty in relationships with family and friends.
It is true that nations tend to prosper on the backs of others.
In all of this, I wish the American Christians would put their time and money into churches that are making a difference every day and less into political action. The early church changed the world in a relatively short time. That is remarkable when you remember that they were not even allowed to be citizens and for the most part, were under constant persecution.
Infants were regularly killed, often abandoned to the forces of nature, in the Roman empire. Indeed the legend of Romulus and Remus founding Rome is based on them being abandoned to die. This practice was only outlawed in the year 374 A.D. when the empire was ruled by a Christian emperor.
So why was there no mention of this in the New Testament, no condemnation of it? Because the early Christians new that moral and political change came through making disciples. And that's what they did.
Is that to say we shouldn't be involved in the political process? Of course not. But it is to say that we shouldn't see that as our primary method of transforming society.
Outlawing abortion will undoubtedly reduce the number of abortions. But it will not reduce the reasons for a high demand for abortion. That's where the church must work primarily.
I believe that the huge shift in the latter decades of the 20th century of one political party claiming Christianity for its own--AND for a large number of Christians to wholeheartedly have embraced a political party--I believe that it weakened the American church's effectiveness. When the church thinks its power to change society comes from the laws of men, it has ceded its true power to men.
When a high profile American Christian like Jerry Falwell said that the greatest person he ever met was Ronald Reagan, and when you think about the amazing Christians he must have met in his life, it makes you wonder what his idea of greatness was. What is ours?
Do you think this election is part of the great deception in Revelation? So many "so called Christian" people fell for Obama's agenda. According to data, 20% of evangelical Christians voted for him. In light of his liberal agenda and especially his stand on abortion and Israel, that figure blows my mind. Are these people deceived, or they just don't know their Bible? Also, a comment about war. Correct me if I am wrong. My husband served in the war. He choose to fight for his country. He said if we weren't fighting overses we would be fighting on our home land. Better to meet the enemy over there. That is quite different than murdering innocent, unborn babies. Babies have no choice. Grown people make choices to join the service. The thing that scares me the most about this election is God's judgment on America. He will not turn his head forever! God have mercy on us!
GROWN women make decisions to have abortions.
The real issue is not "grown" but rather, responsible or mature.
g
I am new to RiverTree and like most of what I've experienced so far. However, the thoughts on abortion here concern me. I am a christian and I am Pro-choice. Like others who've commented, I too believe the answer will not be found in making abortion illegal. Education is key. As a society and especially as christians, we need to focus on bringing about positive change. We need to take on this issue at the beginning rather than attacking the end result. A more positive message and a pro-active rather than reactive approach from RiverTree is in order here if you're looking to bring the flock to the fold...
America is prospering right now?? The Federal Government logged a record number of bankruptcies this year already (and the year isn't even over yet). GM says if they don't get their money, they'll go under by the end of the year (that's next month). The housing market crashed. The banking industry has tanked. I don't see prosperity when I look around, that's for sure.
Yes, the prosperity messages of the Bible were meant for ALL Christians (Israelite nation or non...that's in the NT)...but prosperity has nothing to do with material wealth at all.
But regardless, I hardly see how socialism is the answer to America's problems. Modern history has quite enough to say on that subject without my elaboration. Sadly, though, I don't think many people know (or don't care) about the Russian Revolution or Hitler's rise to power or other such nightmares. So it's true what they say, "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it."
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