FACING PERILOUS TIMES...reacting biblically to the disintegration of our culture

by Pastor Lars Larson, Ph.D.

Introduction:
Not long ago I received an E-mail from one of our church members who expressed many of my own feelings and thoughts of recent months. He voiced his quandary on how he should act and react biblically toward what we are witnessing—the moral and spiritual meltdown of our culture. He also stated his concern and sense of regret for the anger he had toward those whose relentless efforts to de-moralize our nation have gained recent and significant victories. They seem to be gaining ground rapidly in defeating decency, as they lead our society to jettison our traditional moral values and overthrow our historic social institutions. Indeed, there have been recent “victories” by those who oppose historic Christian morality. This is particularly apparent in the matter of homosexuality.

• The Supreme Court overturned a state’s right to enforce anti-sodomy laws.
• Massachusetts legalized homosexual marriages.
• Television programs celebrate homosexual values and behavior and commercials advertising these programs are aired throughout the day.
• An “openly gay” man is a bishop in the Episcopalian denomination.
• State legislatures are outlawing “discrimination” of refusing to hire a transgender person.
• I have read that a California business or non-profit organization (churches are exempted) may be fined $150,000 for refusing to hire a man who dresses as a woman.

Aside from these specifics, we are continuing to witness the general declension of our moral values and cultural institutions. Marriage is viewed only as an option, entered into only after two people live together in sin. To view sexual activity as restricted to the marriage relationship is an archaic idea. Pre-marital sex is the norm. Virginity until marriage is rare. Of course, broken homes, multiple divorce and remarriage, are common. Scarcely can a family be found which as been untouched by the tragedy and consequences of a broken marriage.

Moreover, society in general has become very coarse. Foul language is part of every day speech. Subjects that were once too private and personal to mention, are now a matter of public discourse, talked about and joked about openly. Words and terms that no decent person would have once used in public are part of our common speech and are voiced in our schools to our children. Television programs and commercials display graphic sexual images and themes, and present subjects that would have caused the general public to blush a generation ago. But today they are the subject of sitcom entertainment, soap operas, and trashy “novels” and magazines. In the face of all that we see unfold before us we ask ourselves, what is God doing and how would He have us act and react? How are Christians to think and respond to what we are witnessing? Here are some proposals:

I. First, reaffirm to yourself and to those around you that the Bible, God’s Word, is authoritative and sufficient to guide us through these days. Paul exhorted Timothy that he was fully equipped with the Scriptures to confront and respond to any situation that a wicked world and a corrupt church could pose (2 Tim. 3:16f). We have the same Scriptures given to us by the same God, Who has promised to guide us and help us bear witness of His truth to this fallen world. The Scriptures are sufficient to inform us of what God is doing and what He would have us do in response to what is unfolding before us.

What do the Scriptures teach us about God and His purposes in His world? What should we take special note of as we seek to understand God’s will for us? (1) First, we must affirm the Bible teaches that God is the Sovereign Ruler of history. Even when times are difficult and people are manifesting sin to a great degree, our Lord God is ordering events to further His own glory in history. The sin we are witnessing in society is the result of God’s judicial hardening. Sin is the consequence of sin for sin itself is God’s judgment upon sin. The wages of sin is more sin, which results in death (Rom. 6:23). When sin abounds in a culture, it is certain that God has withdrawn His mercy and grace and has allowed sinful people to pursue their sinful desires, thereby assuring their overthrow and condemnation. (2) Although God is sovereign in His rule over history, it does not negate the free agency of sinful people. Free agency is to be distinguished from free will, as it has been historically understood. The Bible teaches the free agency of people to choose to sin. People make their own decisions about what they believe and do. God is not the author of sin. He does not force people to do what they do not want to do; rather, he overrules the sinful inclinations and actions of sinners in order to accomplish His purposes. The Bible teaches that God is sovereign over sinful men, but that sinful men are, nevertheless, accountable to God for their sinful actions. One day God will judge everyone according to the works each one chose to commit in this life (Rom. 2:6; Rev. 20:12f). Free will, on the other hand, has been defined as man’s innate ability to choose any of all options offered in a given situation—he has the ability in himself to believe and obey God. This is not a teaching of the Bible. God’s Word reveals that man’s will has been so effected by sin that he is both unable and unwilling to live so as to please God. He chooses to sin because he is a sinner; he will choose to do no differently. Only the grace of God in the new birth can change the very nature of a sinner into that of a saint, one who seeks purposely, granted imperfectly, to live in faith and obedience to God. (3) God has called and equipped us for this hour to bear witness of Him. God has placed each of us in His world, in the land in which we are living, and in this time in history, in order to glorify Him before a fallen world. God “has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Act 17:26). God would have us bear witness of His Word to our lost generation.

II. Second, of what are we to bear witness? We are to make known to the world the glory of God. To what are we referring when we speak of the glory of God? The glory of God is the truth of Who God is in His Being and attributes. When we say that we have “seen” the glory of God, we are saying that we have come to understand in a measure Who God truly is in the wonder and beauty of His nature and we have come to see His hand in the affairs of mankind. It is the ongoing mission of the people of God to declare the glory of God to their generation. This declaration involves announcing and teaching others where God may be known and seen, what He is doing and what He will do in history.

The Bible tells us that we may see the glory of God through observing His “works”; God is revealed through what He does.

All thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless Thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. (Psa. 145:10-12)

We are to draw the attention of people about us to God’s mighty acts so that they might see His glory. “Declare his glory among the heathen; His marvelous works among all nations” (1 Chron. 16:24).

The Scriptures speaks of various “works” of God by which God has revealed Himself.


(1) God reveals His glory to us through His work of Creation.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (Psa. 19:1-4)

The work of God in creation reveals the glory of God in that He is shown to be a wise, powerful, and good God, Who has created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.

(2) God reveals His glory in His on-going work of maintaining and ruling over His creation. This is what is commonly known as God’s providence. One once summarized providence in this way:

God upholds all things by His power; governs the world by His wisdom; looks down upon the earth, takes notice and care of all His creatures in it, and makes provision for them, and guides and directs them to answer the ends for which they were made; which is the sum and substance of Providence. (John Gill).

God not only created the world, He governs His world through history. King Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan king of Babylon, learned this truth and which resulted in him glorifying God:

I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored Him that lives for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, “What doest thou?” (Dan. 4:34-35)

As people recognize that the events of their lives are due to God dealing with them, whether for “good” or “bad”, they are given a glimpse of the glory of God. It should be our desire and design, therefore, to declare that God is ruling in the heavens and the earth, and that He is the One who overrules the affairs of all of His creatures, whether they are believers or not. God is the Preserver of all life, and He is the Provider for all His creatures through His providence. We are to draw people’s attention to this spiritual truth to the end that they might see His glory, acknowledging Him, seeking Him, and believing on Him.

(3) God reveals His glory through His judgments upon His enemies and the salvation that He brings His people. The great Old Testament event that revealed God’s glory was the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. In this one event God glorified Himself in both judging Egypt and redeeming His people from bondage. The Lord brought the events of the Exodus in order to reveal His glory to the world.

For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until you were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which He dried up from before us, until we were gone over, that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you might fear the Lord your God for ever. (Josh. 4:23f)

God in His sovereignty even hardened pharaoh’s heart more than once so that he would resist releasing Israel’s release, thereby showing the glory of God in the remarkable way that Egypt was overthrown and destroyed. God said to pharaoh, “for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in you My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth” (Exo. 9:16).

(4) God reveals His glory chiefly through His Son, Jesus Christ, Who secures salvation for His people and overthrows the enemies of His Father. John could write of the glory of God in Jesus,

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

The nature of God is best seen in the person and work of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. In Jesus we see God in the flesh displayed before us. The Son of God has revealed to us what God is like and what His will is. In His manner, in His teaching, in His deeds, in all His life through all His person, Jesus revealed the glory of God. Of course the glory of God was most fully manifested in the death and resurrection of the Son of God. In Jesus dying on the cross for sinners, the glory of God’s love, grace, mercy, wisdom, power, justice, and goodness is most fully on display. But Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection also glorifies God in that it secured the certain overthrow of God’s enemies and their condemnation in His judgment. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. He ascended into heaven and He was given glory in that He was enthroned to rule over heaven and earth. King Jesus even now is the Sovereign Ruler of history. Jesus as Lord is ruling over the nations, using His authority to bring salvation to the ones given to Him from eternity by the Father, and to bring condemnation and damnation to those who refuse to believe and submit to His rule. The Apostle Paul expressed this truth in the form of a question toward those who might reject his assertion:

What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory?” (Rom. 9:22f)

We are to bear this message to the world of our day. We are to declare to all about us Who God is, that He is the Creator and Ruler over His creation. We are to make known that God has established moral and religious laws by which He expects all of His creatures to abide. We are to make the world understand that all men and women will stand before God on Judgment Day and be judged according to the standard of His law. But we are also to make known far and wide the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to publish the good news that there is forgiveness of sins and eternal life to be found in Him. We are to tell people that if they turn from their sins, turning in faith to the Lord and Savior, they may experience the glory of God in their own lives, being graciously forgiven of their sins and being transformed into the glorious moral and spiritual image of Jesus Christ.

III. Third, Christians should seek to keep themselves “unspotted” from the world in which we live. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this,…to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). What we are watching unfold daily before our eyes is a great cause of grief and disappointment. As Lot’s righteous soul was vexed from him living in Sodom, Christians are grieved by what they are witnessing in our increasingly godless and wicked culture. But there is more than just grief associated with a Christian living in a fallen and decadent society; there is danger. Lot’s life became one of compromise and loss. His sense of righteousness, core values, and strength of conviction suffered loss in Sodom. Living in a wicked world will take its toll upon our sensibilities and our values if we are not careful and fail to keep our hearts pure and tender before the Lord. Do not allow the world to shape the moral and spiritual values of your family. Do not view the world’s display of wickedness on television and film. Do not regard as entertainment that which God regards as abominable. Either control what comes into your home and heart, or shut off the source. Do all that you can do to preserve the purity of the consciences of yourselves and your children.

IV. Fourth, know with certainty that God is judging and will continue to judge our nation. Some argue, “God will begin to judge us if we do not turn from our wicked ways.” Wrong. God is already judging us. He is turning us over to our enemies in a measure. Granted, He has given us victories. We thank Him for His mercy and plead for more. But we have no biblical reason to hope for the well being of our nation and its citizens as we continue on our present course. We love our country. We are patriotic. We support our military and president. But as Christians we know with certainty from God’s Word that our land will not prosper while our people refuse to repent of sin and seek God. God is the only true source of security in this fallen world. Whether our people want to accept it or not, God has removed in a measure the protection that we once enjoyed as a nation. Terrorists are as much under the sovereign control of God as any preacher or missionary or church congregation. God is using evil, merciless men, as he once used Sennacherib of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to punish evildoers; they are His “servants” (cf. Isa. 7:17ff; Jer. 25:9). Times and events will only grow worse until and unless there is a deep, thorough, turning to God on the part of our populace and our leaders. 911 did not bring this about. Nor will ten more 911s, unless God in His mercy and grace turns toward us and grants His presence and power to save us from our sin, even from ourselves.

V. As Christians we need not despair, but we are to entrust ourselves to our God Who will bring an end to all of this confusion, violence, and vileness, at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Therefore, be earnest and faithful in prayer. Pray for God’s mercy, grace, and glory to be manifested. Pray for our churches. Pray for our political leaders. Seek to influence the passage of legislation. Be willing to suffer humiliation, ridicule, and rejection, for stating the truth before others. Give God glory for His mercy that he has shown you through the Lord Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, although what we see with our eyes is distressing tends to be disheartening, we should not be pessimistic or discouraged. We are living in days in which the glory of God is being manifested in judgment. Praise be to God for the manifestation of His wisdom, power, and justice in the overturning of wicked men. They will not prosper. They are not “winning.” Their acts of iniquity, their revolting against God’s righteousness, their opposition to the people of God, are all sure signs of their certain and impending overthrow by God. As Paul sought to encourage the Christians of his day, we may encourage one another:

It is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thess. 1:6-12)

Although the destruction of the wicked is certain, let us pray that God’s glory be manifested more greatly in bring salvation to men, women, and children even in these dark days. God is glorified in saving sinners. He is more greatly glorified in saving great sinners. Today, the opportunity for bringing glory to God is perhaps greater for Christians and their churches than any time in recent history. The darker the night, the brighter the light. We have the opportunity before us to manifest the great love, grace, mercy, wisdom, justice and power of God through the salvation of sinners through the gospel, the same gospel that has saved us from our sin. Let us go to sinners, the worst of sinners, as the Lord Jesus Himself modeled for us, and seek to win them to the Savior. May we pray that God use us greatly to glorify Him as we publish the good news that God forgives and saves sinners.

AMEN

AMERICA HAS CHOSEN A PRESIDENTby Dr. Al Mohler

This is simply the best commentary I have read all day from any journalist or Christian leader. 

May I commend highly your heart and mind to the lucid and circumspect words of Dr. Al Mohler. Read it carefully, thoughtfully, thoroughly, and biblically.

Romans 13

Steve

by Dr. Al Mohler

The election of Sen. Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States came as a bang, not a whimper. The tremors had been perceptible for days, maybe even weeks. On Tuesday, America experienced nothing less than a political and cultural earthquake.

The margin of victory for the Democratic ticket was clear. Americans voted in record numbers and with tangible enthusiasm. By the end of the day, it was clear that Barack Obama would be elected with a majority of the popular vote and a near landslide in the Electoral College. When President-Elect Obama greeted the throngs of his supporters in Chicago's Grant Park, he basked in the glory of electoral energy.

For many of us, the end of the night brought disappointment. In this case, the disappointment is compounded by the sense that the issues that did not allow us to support Sen. Obama are matters of life and death -- not just political issues of heated debate. Furthermore, the margin of victory and sense of a shift in the political landscape point to greater disappointments ahead. We all knew that so much was at stake.

For others, the night was magical and momentous. Young and old cried tears of amazement and victory as America elected its first African-American President -- and elected him overwhelmingly. Just forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, an African-American stood to claim victory as President-Elect of the nation. As Sen. Obama assured the crowd in Chicago and the watching nation, "We will get there. We will get there." No one hearing those words could fail to hear the refrain of plaintive words spoken in Memphis four decades ago. President-Elect Obama would stand upon the mountaintop that Dr. King had foreseen.

That victory is a hallmark moment in history for all Americans -- not just for those who voted for Sen. Obama. As a nation, we will never think of ourselves the same way again. Americans rich and poor, black and white, old and young, will look to an African-American man and know him as President of the United States. The President. The only President. The elected President. Our President.

Every American should be moved by the sight of young African-Americans who -- for the first time -- now believe that they have a purchase in American democracy. Old men and old women, grandsons and granddaughters of slaves and slaveholders, will look to an African-American as President.

Regardless of politics, could anyone remain unmoved by the sight of Jesse Jackson crying alone amidst the crowd in Chicago? This dimension of Election Day transcends politics and touches the heart of the American people.

Yet, the issues and the politics remain. Given the scale of the Democratic victory, the political landscape will be completely reshaped. The fight for the dignity and sanctity of unborn human beings has been set back by a great loss, and by the election of a President who has announced his intention to sign the Freedom of Choice Act into law. The struggle to protect marriage against its destruction by redefinition is now complicated by the election of a President who has declared his aim to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. On issue after issue, we face a longer, harder, and more protracted struggle than ever before.

Still, we must press on as advocates for the unborn, for the elderly, for the infirm, and for the vulnerable. We must redouble our efforts to defend marriage and the integrity of the family. We must be vigilant to protect religious liberty and the freedom of the pulpit. We face awesome battles ahead.

At the same time, we must be honest and recognize that the political maps are being redrawn before our eyes. Will the Republican Party decide that conservative Christians are just too troublesome for the party and see the pro-life movement as a liability? There is the real danger that the Republicans, stung by this defeat, will adopt a libertarian approach to divisive moral issues and show conservative Christians the door.

Others will declare these struggles over, arguing that the election of Sen. Obama means that Americans in general -- and many younger Evangelicals in particular -- are ready to "move on" to other issues. This is no time for surrender or the abandonment of our core principles. We face a much harder struggle ahead, but we have no right to abandon the struggle.

We should look for opportunities to work with the new President and his administration where we can. We must hope that he will lead and govern as the bridge-builder he claimed to be in his campaign. We must confront and oppose the Obama administration where conscience demands, but work together where conscience allows.

Evangelical Christians face another challenge with the election of Sen. Obama, and a failure to rise to this challenge will bring disrepute upon the Gospel, as well as upon ourselves. There must be absolutely no denial of the legitimacy of President-Elect Obama's election and no failure to accord this new President the respect and honor due to anyone elected to that high office. Failure in this responsibility is disobedience to a clear biblical command.

Beyond this, we must commit ourselves to pray for this new President, for his wife and family, for his administration, and for the nation. We are commanded to pray for rulers, and this new President faces challenges that are not only daunting but potentially disastrous. May God grant him wisdom. He and his family will face new challenges and the pressures of this office. May God protect them, give them joy in their family life, and hold them close together.

We must pray that God will protect this nation even as the new President settles into his role as Commander in Chief, and that God will grant peace as he leads the nation through times of trial and international conflict and tension.

We must pray that God would change President-Elect Obama's mind and heart on issues of our crucial concern. May God change his heart and open his eyes to see abortion as the murder of the innocent unborn, to see marriage as an institution to be defended, and to see a host of issues in a new light. We must pray this from this day until the day he leaves office. God is sovereign, after all.

Without doubt, we face hard days ahead. Realistically, we must expect to be frustrated and disappointed. We may find ourselves to be defeated and discouraged. We must keep ever in mind that it is God who raises up nations and pulls them down, and who judges both nations and rulers. We must not act or think as unbelievers, or as those who do not trust God.

America has chosen a President. President-Elect Barack Obama is that choice, and he faces a breathtaking array of challenges and choices in days ahead. This is the time for Christians to begin praying in earnest for our new President. There is no time to lose.

THE PLAIN UNVARNISHED TRUTH...Obama isn't qualified to be President

Iraq Veteran to Obama: "you disrespected us..."

To all Hollywood pretentious types: "shut up and act..."

I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH MICHELLE OBAMA...six seconds of uncommon honesty and insight

BRINGING IT TO BIDEN...Barbara West keeping it real

UPDATE: 

It looks as if the Obama Campaign through political pressure

made the initial YouTube video "no longer unavailable." 

But here is a new post so that viewers can hear this excellent 

interview conducted by Barbara West asking Joe Biden some

spot on questions. He had no idea what just happened. 

Enjoy.

Must view YouTube! There's a chill wind blowin'...

This video offers a sneak peak of how an Obama win would

reshape the media: socialism, the fairness doctrine, and censorship.

Mind your vote.



I greatly admire her courage, her plumb, her anchored demeanor, and her unflappable pursuit for the truth amid the double-speak familiar to most politicians. May her tribe increase.

McCAIN KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK TONIGHT!...at the Alfred E. Smith dinner

These videos are simply brilliant!

John McCain is one of the classiest men in politics... 

Check out his remarks about Obama near the end of this clip.

DEBATE PREP...mind your vote

Questions McCain Should Ask Obama

1. Are you prepared to fire SEC Chairman Chris Cox for his share of the burden for the demise of Wall Street that has impacted us all on main street?

2. Will you call for the resignations of Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd for their misconduct surrounding Fannie/Freddie?

3. Will you repudiate William Ayers and all alliances current or past with him and call him out on his efforts to undermine the security of our nation; and then call for him to publicly repent of his terrorist activity from the past?

4. As a professing Christian in the Lord Jesus Christ, how can you support any legislation and/or practice that takes the lives of unborn children at any stage in their development as a human being? Will you know repudiate the barbaric practice of partial birth abortion and the infanticide of live abortion that you have supported in the past?

5. Will you reject any and all ties to ACORN and call for a nationwide investigation of their fraudulent conduct of voter registration?

6. Will you return all PAC money you have received from the lobbyists for Fannie/Freddie?

7. Will you permanently sever all ties to Rev. Wright and his views; to Louis Farrakhan and his views; and from Franklin Raines and his political and economic connections?

8. Why didn't you work with the Republicans in the Senate to pass legislation concerning the danger of sub-prime mortgages instead of simply writing a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury? Did you vote "present" again?

9. Will you undeniably pledge full support of Israel? 

10. Will you release your records from Harvard Law when you served there and submit yourself to careful scrutiny as to their contents?

11. How will you protect the borders of the U.S. from further immigration violations; and work toward deportation of all illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. in sanctuary cities that are in violation of the law?

Obama voted present on Fannie/Freddie Reform
Wright 101
Obama's Abortion Extremism

ACORN REGISTERS MICKEY MOUSE TO VOTE...another failed Obama alliance - he has much to explain

UPDATE: Stanley Kurtz at National Review Online has an excellent article on Obama and his alliances concerning the election. Obama funded extremist Afrocentrists who shared Rev. Wright’s anti-Americanism and as Kurtz said, "it looks like Jeremiah Wright was just the tip of the iceberg." IT IS A MUST READ.

<----------------------->

Just when you thought you could trust voter registration organizations to really vet out those "signing up" to participate in the upcoming Presidential election - this kind of blatant fraudulent activity takes place. But Mickey Mouse? The world's most famous mouse WAS actually registered to vote in Florida this past summer. (Personally... I always liked Daffy Duck better.) I guess community organizers DO have something to answer for...

Initially, I thought this was political satire or spin; but no, it is the real thing. Read about it here. This does bring into question again Barack Obama's full on endorsement of ACORN and his $800k that he gave to them to register new voters before the primaries and his legal defense of them several years ago. It is no surprise that ACORN has fully backed Obama for President and it has been suggested by some pundits that they don't register Republicans. Barack has tried several times to Nashville two-step his affiliation with ACORN. The Maverick must confront him at the debate tomorrow night on this issue. If innocent of any conflict of interest, then Obama should be able to give the American people a reasonable defense of his involvement with them and publicly decry such practices as this.

Agreed?

OBAMA at a Heartland Democratic Presidential Forum on December 1, 2007 referring to ACORN when he said:

Yes. But let me say that before I even get inaugurated, during the transition we're going to be calling all of you in to help us shape the agenda. (cheering) We're going to be having meetings all across the country with community organizations so that you have input into the agenda of the next presidency of the United States of America!

Anyone getting just a little bit nervous yet?

Last evening on FOXNEWS, Greta Van Susteren did a powerful interview with a representative from ACORN. With only three weeks to go till the election, this is potentially catastrophic in determining the next President of the United States. This concern is dramatically compounded especially when considering early voting taking place in several key battleground states. Regardless of who wins this election, the integrity of the voter process must be guarded and protected.

Romans 13

Campi

HT: DRUDGE

OBAMANATION...our future national anthem. is this man really qualified to be President of the United States? watch and think.

HT: Glenn Beck

DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW...have the presidential campaigns run out of energy?



SARAH BARRACUDA...hockey Mom checks liberals hard - and does it with a smile. Obama and O-Biden have no idea what just hit them!

This is a must see. If you missed this historic speech - here it is. 

If you are a Christian and are neutral on the issues facing our nation today and have no fire to vote this coming election... then your wood is too wet. Here is the new face for family values in the conservative movement and it's a faithful, savvy, unintimidated, down to earth, family centered, Christian, authentic, pro-life, powerful one. 

Money line of the night: SP - "what's the difference between a Hockey Mom and a Pit-bull? Lipstick!"

Enjoy this folks - it doesn't get any better than this during election season.

AND HERE IS RUDY G'S SET UP TO PALIN. HE WAS BRILLIANT!

PART ONE

PART TWO:

PART THREE:

ANOTHER EVANGELICAL PASTOR TURNS PRAYER INTO A POLITICAL, ECUMENICAL, AND SOCIAL KUMBAYA

Since Wednesday evening I have had a terrible bout with food poisoning. Though I didn't sleep at all Wednesday night, I finally got a few hours of needed rest last evening. But I am still very weak, physically drained, massive headache, and by God's grace - have passed out only once briefly due to uncontrollable vomiting.

But in spite of having a nonstop case of the Montezuma's revenge and a horrendous case of projectile regurgitation, nothing that I have spewed from my body smells to high heaven with the putrid stench like these words from pastor Joel Hunter of Northland Community Church spoke at the end of Barack Obama's acceptance speech last evening. When are pastors in today's evangelical world going to have the "ecclesiasticals" to honor the Lord Jesus Christ in the prayers that they give at political rallies? It's as if they forget their biblical moorings, their biblical convictions, and the Christian faith altogether in order to please the gathered hoi palloi with their own brand of fatuous sucking-up to the popular political candidate and their respective media sycophants of the hour.

I have ministered in Joel's church before and that is what makes this post doubly hard. Clear and simple: he should know better; but he is easily swayed by popularity, the pressure of the crowds, and the need for self-validation. In the spirit of postmodernism's false sense of unity he now believes that "people with differing views can work together and can ultimately further their agenda without compromising their core moral convictions." Spoken like a true servile flatter. (At this point you will want to begin singing "We are the Word" and tear up by last chorus).

Hunter's risible prayer and convoluted, multicultural,

ecumenical, universal "amen" at the end

is nothing but sheer spiritual treason...

Hunter is not only a ministerial coward,

but he should be removed from his pastorate

as one who has abandoned the sacred charge

given to all pastors in 2 Tim. 4:1-5.

Watch and listen to another "pastor" compromise biblical truth in this little rant he calls a prayer. AND, do not miss the ending - it is the most poignant and saddest commentary on the current state of Christianity in this country to date.

DO YOU SPEAK OBAMA?...ba dee ba dee ba dee, that's all folks!

HT: Littlegal

RICK WARREN AND THE SADDLEBACK FAITH FORUM - POWERFUL AND REVEALING...Obama was Postmodern; McCain was Presidential

In some past posts I have been very critical of Rick Warren for aspects of his Purpose Driven Life campaign; his environmental climate initiative, thinking he can cure world hunger, his convoluted 2006 conference on AIDS, and his more pragmatic approach to evangelism. BUT, when he gets it right I am not afraid to say so; and this past Saturday night he really got it right!

Rick Warren was absolutely brilliant. He was lucid, inviting and incisive in how he worded the questions; probed in follow up inquiries; and he kept the evening civil, uniform, and on point. I agree with Charles Krauthammer that this was the best political forum of two Presidential candidates that I have ever witnessed in any venue in recent American politics. The voters on both sides of the aisle were given an honest view of each candidate. I also appreciated that Warren allowed each candidate the freedom to express their convictions without he as the moderator coloring their respective ideological platforms to suit his own political views on the same issues he was asking. IOW, Warren purposely kept himself out of the way and let the candidates have their say. (PMSNBC, CNN, FOXNEWS, CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS were you going to school?)

My conclusion of the faith forum outcome? McCain knocked it out of the park (which I wasn't prepared for) and Obama was more the empty suit than I ever could have imagined. This was a clear case of truth over nuance. McCain was commanding, Obama was conversational; McCain was Presidential, Obama was post-modern; McCain knew the issues, Obama needed his TelePrompTer.

This post could be one of the longest I have ever written. But for the sake of time and thoughtfulness for you the loyal and discerning reader at COT, I have chosen instead to feature below two video segments from the faith forum - one from each candidate. And if you missed this forum, here is the transcript for your further perusal.

Be sure to VOTE; but then accept the results from the only true Sovereign God who is the One who will set men in places of power and leadership over the affairs of men for His own purpose and glory. Amen?

The Cross Waves Higher Than the Flag
Steve
Romans 13:1-7; 1 Tim. 2:1-4; 1 Peter 2:13-17


Obama was nuanced, postmodern and charming




McCain was straightforward, commanding and Presidential