America's future is in our own hands
Posted: October 31, 2008
1:00 am Eastern
© 2008
As a "Watchman on the Wall," I believe Election 2008 will permanently determine the future path America will take. I fear that most Americans do not understand the true issues they are voting on.
Among other things, this election may determine whether the government will be empowered to forcefully take money earned by some Americans and redistribute it as it chooses to others.
As I have taught before for 50 years, there are certain divine institutions God set forth in the Bible. They are intended for the good and welfare of all mankind. To whatever degree a people honors these institutions, they will be blessed, preserved and prospered.
First, the institutions of freedom to choose one's own destiny and the "sanctity of life" – these were enshrined in the U.S. Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
We are given by God, not our government, the freedom to choose our own destiny and to pursue a career that brings prosperity and happiness. Our forefathers knew only too well that a government that is powerful enough to confiscate and redistribute wealth is also strong enough to take away your freedom to choose and pursue happiness.
Thomas Jefferson clearly warned us about this: "Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have." In this election, we are making a choice – either continue to pursue our own destiny and well-being, or give the government the power to establish a "welfare state" in which it slowly takes over our basic freedoms.
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James Madison, considered the father of our Constitution, wrote, "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." John Adams also spoke along these lines, "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. … Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
As you prepare to vote, remember what made this country great and what has kept God's protection over her. Another Founding Father and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush, summed it up well:
"By removing the Bible from schools we would be wasting so much time and money in punishing criminals. … Take the Bible out of our schools and there would be an explosion in crime."
Look at what's happening in our country today. We have driven God and the Bible out of our schools. Now, we don't have enough jails to hold the criminals. We kill our children by the millions through abortion. There are those standing in this election who favor the right to destroy babies born ALIVE during an abortion. So much for the sanctity of life!
Some call ours a "negative constitution" since its authors devoted more effort to "limiting government" than they did to "empowering" it. The Bible does not teach that governments should have the authority to seize the fruits of one's labor and give it to others. It encourages us in every way to voluntarily give to the poor and give them a hand up, not a hand out.
The great patriot Patrick Henry warned of this when he said, "Now what liberty can there be where property is taken away without consent?" There is another issue in this election that will be decided directly in some states through ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments.
On the national level, it will be influenced by the beliefs and promises of the next president. Society's sanction of homosexual marriage presents a direct attack on the divine institution of marriage. The Bible teaches that God created woman to be a "compatible companion" and "intimate mate" for man. Woman's very physiology shows that she was created physically to correspond to man in an intimate sexual relation that would result in perpetuation of the human race.
This election – at both the state and federal levels – will determine the path America takes. We will choose either to sustain that institution or abandon it. Of course, marriage is critical to the health of the family, which is the most basic foundation of society.
In whatever society you find strong families, you will find a strong nation. It's there that children are to be trained in love, honesty, integrity, honor and self-control. When this duty is sabotaged by ungodly unions or is assumed by the government, the society begins to fall apart. Both of these threats to the family are emerging in America. We destroy God's institutions at our peril.
As conscientious citizens and Christians, we need to vote for those candidates who most aspire to biblical family values. And we need to vote for those initiatives and amendments that reflect God's intent for our society. I challenge you to vote. Do not be influenced by tricky polls designed to discourage you from voting. And when you vote, vote your conscience and your values.
You owe it to God and our forefathers who sacrificed to give us this freedom to VOTE. God can only use your vote if you cast your vote. Take the time to study the sample ballot and weigh the issues against biblical principles. Weigh the character of the candidates. Heed the exhortations of the godly Founding Fathers of our great country.
Patrick Henry wisely said, "Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom." Godly morality is important.
Thomas Jefferson also advised, "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of the laborer the bread he has earned. This is the sum of good government. …" Government must not be put in the place of God. At best, it is created to enable each citizen to pursue his or her own destiny. By all means, pray for God's guidance and vote your conscience.
This election may determine our country's continued blessing or its decline. May God bless America.
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1 comment:
Lines From Daniel's Den
The letter I am relaying to you below is so important. I encourage you to email it to every believer you can think of in the next couple of days. Consider printing it out and giving it to friends you see at church tomorrow. I agree with the introductory letter below. The body of Christ will determine this election and the future of our country . . . one way or another. Will Christians first make a concerted effort to vote and secondly will they vote in alignment with God's Word or will they vote to move our country toward socialism? Historically if you look at every country that has embraced socialism it is not a pretty picture. There is more at stake in this election than any previous election in the history of this country. Please do what Dutch Sheets exhorts us to do in his letter. Pray fervently for the body of Christ to wake up and for God to move upon the millions of undecided voters in the both on Tuesday to vote for McCain/Palin.
Be Passionate for Jesus! . . . Be The Bride!
Daniel Rydstedt
author of the Be The Bride! series of books
Get your special edition of Be The Bride! Vol 3
at http://RaptureBride.info
Here are the letters . . .
Dear praying friends,
We are forwarding this letter as individuals and not as representatives of any ministry with which we are involved. We are asking you to pray for our nation.
Dutch Sheets is a well known prophetic intercessor. We encourage you to consider the practical suggestions at the end of his letter. We believe that the Lord has said that the election is in the hands of the Christians, i.e., those who will pray persistently and according to the Lord's will. We are a praying remnant minority, but our prayers will make a critical difference. Follow 2 Chronicles 7:14 and remember that the Lord wants to heal our land more than we do. He wants to restore our nation to its destiny as a vessel for the end time harvest more than we do. But He will not do it without us. So He is calling us to pray. He is calling us to take authority in the name of Jesus, who is King of Kings and Lord of the nations. And then watch for His miracles!
In Jesus,
Tammy and Dale Scheusner
Letter from Dutch Sheets:
Due to IRS rules, this letter is from me personally and is not from any of the ministries I am associated with. (Also because of IRS rules, I cannot send it to my ministry database and therefore need your help in getting it out.) Do with it as you see fit, but my desire is that you forward it to as many praying friends as possible.
October 20, 2008
Dear Praying Friend,
In 2000, I wrote the 2nd most important letter of my life—a call to prayer for the elections of that year. I'm now writing what may be my most important letter. I knew the importance of those elections in 2000 was beyond any in my life up to that point and that the spiritual warfare surrounding them would be unlike anything any of us had ever seen. That letter was read by millions of people and I believe millions of them responded by praying. I also believe the prayers turned the tide.
You may question whether President Bush was the right choice; obviously, he has made some blunders in his tenure as president. But two of his decisions alone left no doubt he was God's choice: Roberts and Alito.
These two Supreme Court Justices have proven critical in the process of breaking the hold of humanism, death and anti-God agendas that have ruled the Court for 50 years. I assure you that more devastation—the shedding of innocent blood, immorality, decay of the family and an erosion of our godly heritage—has flowed into our nation through that institution than any other door in America. Many times more. The poison allowed into America through their decisions is beyond any of our abilities to articulate.
The reality in America is that you don't need to control Congress or the White Hose to rule the nation. You only need 5 people – 5 out of 9 on the Supreme Court. And for decades those who disagree with just about everything you and I stand for have been in control!
In Bush's two terms, the process of turning this around began with the appointments of Roberts and Alito. Now, we win some cases 5-4 and lose some 4-5. (We barely outlawed partial birth abortion. The vote of one judge saved thousands of babies from this horror.) We need one more conservative Justice for a consistent majority, then more to build a strong majority.
In Obama's own words, "the next president will appoint at least one, perhaps two or more Supreme Court Justices." He's right. Almost certainly two or more older, liberal Justices are waiting until after the elections to retire, in hopes of Obama winning and appointing more liberals to replace them. And he certainly would. He voted against the confirmation of Roberts and Alito. So did Biden. And Biden led the fight against Justice Thomas several years back, another of the 4 solid conservatives. Make no mistake about it, the two of them do have a litmus test for Supreme Court Justices, and a major part of that test is Roe vs. Wade. McCain and Palin, on the other hand, both have very strong pro-life positions. This alone makes the choice for President simple. To vote for the 2nd and 3rd most liberal senators (Obama and Biden), both of whom are firmly and blatantly pro-abortion, would be unconscionable. Obama has actually said that if he wins, he would like his first action as president to be the signing of the Freedom of Choice Act, which would eliminate every other law against any aspect of abortion (partial birth abortion, parental notification, etc., etc.). And with a democratic majority in the House and Senate, pretty much any legislation he and Biden want to pass will be a slam-dunk. There are many other unrighteous positions they hold but this position alone makes the choice easy. If they win this election, it will set America back decades in the cause of life and the restoration we seek.
Just as many of you do, I too, want to see a first black President, but not Senator Obama. To allow that noble and godly desire, the economy or one's position on the war to trump this issue of life and death for the innocent unborn is simply wrong. The Scriptures teach that if we choose first to exalt righteousness and turn from evil, God promises to heal our land (see Proverbs 14:34; 2 Chronicles 7:14). It is righteousness that exalts a nation, not wealth, prosperity or armies. If we will finish the process of removing the curses of death and anti-God laws off of America by electing a president that will continue to shift the Court, God will grace us with breakthrough in other areas such as the economy, the war against terrorism, etc. My faith is not in a person, and certainly not a political party, for the healing of America, but I know God's word and His ways well enough to know that our decisions do move Him to action or inaction.
Now to the heart of my reason for writing this letter (I realize I am "preaching to the choir"—most of you who know or listen to me are conservative enough to vote for McCain and Palin.) I have not written any appeals for prayer concerning this election because:
1) others have, and
2) I believe our movement has matured to the point that the prayer base of the Church is already praying.
But I now feel the need to raise my voice. I am appealing to you to pray for these elections the next two weeks like you've never prayed for any in the past. Faithfully. Passionately. Boldly. Ask God for His mercy and grace. We deserve His judgment for removing His influence and authority from our government, schools, homes and businesses; for the killing of 50 million babies; for leading the world in the consumption and exporting of pornography; for passing laws to reject His; etc. But mercy triumphs over judgment and in His wrath He remembers mercy. In 2000 we actually lost the popular vote and won the election—talk about grace! Please pray for this grace to be released again.
But I am also asking you for something more than normal prayer. For those of you who understand spiritual warfare, I am asking you to also include this aspect of prayer. There is no doubt that we have entered a Daniel 10 moment in time: "Then he said to me, 'Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia'" (Daniel 10: 12-13 NAS).
The spiritual warfare in this election is incredibly fierce, and just as it was in Daniel's day, is all about the restoration of a nation. And also like Daniel, we must keep praying until we win the battle in the heavens.
In August of this year I predicted that September would mark a shift in momentum for these elections. This happened with the appointment of Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential nominee (who is a true Esther in our generation), but when the economy began its meltdown and the media ramped up their unprecedented attacks on Palin, that momentum wasn't sustained. But we can see it turn again if we approach this battle as the spiritual warfare it truly is and bind the evil forces involved (see Matthew 16:18-19). The reality is that this election can be the breakthrough we need to fully shift the Court (and ultimately our nation) or it will be an immeasurable setback that could take many years to reverse—if ever.
Please understand what I am saying: if we engage in this battle and do what I am asking—in mass—we will win; if we do not, we will lose. I, for one, don't intend to allow the latter. I am in Washington, D.C. now (October 20-22) with Lou Engle and a team of prayer leaders from around the nation to war for this election.
Join us! Lose some sleep, miss some meals— pray! Pray like never before for these elections. And as you do, involve yourself not only in petitioning prayer but also in spiritual warfare. Use your
God-given authority over the plans and strategies of satan's kingdom. Bind all witchcraft that is working to control the outcome, including occultic powers that are suppressing truth. Release Christ's Kingdom rule in every way the Holy Spirit leads you.
Don't be deceived and don't lose hope (if you have to, turn off the TV.) It is not too late to turn these elections. God is plenty powerful enough to do so. The real question is will we rise to the level of prayer and spiritual warfare necessary to release that power. And remember, we don't need a majority of Christians who are willing and able to do this—only a praying remnant. We can do it!
Here are some practical suggestions to consider:
1) Fast (a meal a day; a day a week; a Daniel fast; 3 days; 10 days; TV; etc.) and spend the time praying.
2) Agree in prayer with someone everyday for God's will to be done.
3) Form/participate in prayer groups regularly. Churches could pray everyday.
4) Take time in every gathering to pray. (Take 15 minutes in every service to pray for the elections. Turn an entire service to harp and bowl style intercession—worship and prayer combined.)
5) Join 2 or more on a conference call and pray for 15, 20, or 30 minutes.
6) Pray on the way to work (and on the way home).
7) Pray before you go to sleep.
8) Pray before church services.
9) Ask God to give you His strategy—He will!
In His grip,
Dutch Sheets
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