The Election Is Over. 4 More Years. Now What?…

After many months of campaigning, countless mudslinging television, radio and internet adds and well over one and a half Billion dollars raised by the two candidates, the 2012 presidential election is over.

The Democrats still have the majority in the senate, The Republicans still have the House, and much to the disappointment of many evangelicals, Obama is still the commander and chief.

Many hoped for a turn around, many prayed for “new” change, many Christians were optimistic that Tuesday November 6 2012 would bring a president into the white house whose values were more closely aligned with scripture. The truth is, not much has changed. So what does that mean for us? What are we as believers to do over the next 4 years? Here are a few things that we MUST do…

1.     We MUST place our trust in God

Proverbs 3:5-10 says:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.⁸ It will be healing to your ^[c]body And refreshment to your bones.⁹ Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce; ¹⁰ So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine”

V5…out trust MUST be fully in God…not our understanding

V6…we MUST put Him first in every area of our lives, and trust in His guidance

V7…God is the one we fear…let us turn from evil and self wisdom

V8…we MUST trust God for our welbeing

V9…We MUST honor God with our wealth

V10…We MUST trust in God for our provisionV5…out trust MUST be fully in God…not our understanding

 

2.     We MUST respect our leaders

Romans 13:1-7

• God is the one who appoints All Leaders

Rom 13:1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

• We Are To Be Subject To Them, or face judgment

Rom 13:2-5 “Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.”

• We are to pay our taxes

Rom 13:6-7a “For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed,”

• We are to respect and honor them

Rom 13:7b “respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”

3.     We MUST NOT be politically or religiously complacent

• in Luke 20, the Scribes and Chief Priests sent out spies to test Jesus and cause him to say something by which they can accuse him. They asked him it is lawful to pay taxes unto Cesar to which he replied in verse 24-25: “²⁴ “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

• The implications of this passage are clear. As citizens of our earthly country we have certain responsibilities to that country. We are provided land, protection and other services and we are thus obligated to pay taxes, obey the law (as long as it doesn’t contradict scripture) and be politically involved i.e. Vote!

4.     We MUST Praise our God regardless of circumstances

• The prophet Habakkuk was utterly discouraged that the people of Judah had completely forsaken God. Wickedness seemed to permeate every area of society, and God’s Law was made a disgrace. If this weren’t enough, when Habakkuk cried out to God about the wickedness in the land, God informed him that He was about to raise up the most wicked nation on earth(Babylon) to bring judgment to the wicked nation of Judah. While the situation in Habakkuk’s country was far more dire than ours, he was still able to say the following:

• Habakkuk 3:17-19 “though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no ^[o]fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls,¹⁸ Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.¹⁹ The Lord ^[p]God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.”

5.     We MUST remember who our God is

Regardless of what happened on November 6 2012,, regardless of what happens in the next four years, regardless of whether America recovers or collapses, our God is in control. As I was dwelling on these truths the morning after the election, the following thoughts came to mind:

• He is bigger than big government,
• HIS care is better than obamacare,
• Our sin debt that he cancelled is larger than 16 Trillion dollars (for which we are forever grateful),
• He is the only one in which we can safely place our HOPE,
• HE is the only one who can bring about CHANGE, in individual hearts and nations.

In whom will you place your trust? Did the results of the election cause you to fear? Remember, Kingdoms will rise and fall, as will governments. Our trust must ultimately be in God. “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4

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Martin Luther King Jr. Had A Dream…

50 years ago next August, at the height of the American civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed over 200,000 people in Washington D.C. from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The speech lasted for about 17 minutes, and will go down in history as one of the most monumental speeches of the 20^th century.

It was in this speech that the famous phrase was uttered…a phrase that will live in infamy. It was on that warm August day that King said: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

This dream set forth by Dr. King is certainly a noble one. We understand, just as our forefathers did, that all men are created equal. This belief stems back to the fact that man is created in the image of God (Gen 1:27), and the fact that all races derive from one (Acts 17:26). Therefore, since this viewpoint is a biblical one, we as believers should also strive to not judge others based upon the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

But as we approach another presidential election day, the question must be asked: Did this really happen four years ago? Was our current President voted in based upon his character…or his skin color? Were people more excited about what he stands for…or about being a part of voting in the first black President? As believers, it is vital that we vote not solely based upon hype.

So what should guide our voting decision this Tuesday? Certainly we desire to have a genuine born again believer in the White House who will uphold biblical principles. But is this really a possibility this year? Let’s take a look at our options:

1.     Obama

 

 

 

 

 

Ø  Our current President talks about his “Christian faith” but is he truly born again? In an interview with Cathleen Falsani in 2004, Obama makes some telling statements.

¨       When Falsani asks Obama the question: “What do you believe?” he replies with the following statement:

“I am a Christian. So, I have a deep faith. So I draw from the Christian faith. On the other hand, I was born in Hawaii where obviously there are a lot of Eastern influences. I lived in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, between the ages of six and 10.My father was from Kenya, and although he was probably most accurately labeled an agnostic, his father was Muslim. And I’d say, probably, intellectually I’ve drawn as much from Judaism as any other faith. So, I’m rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people.”

Ø  Clearly by his own admission, Obama while he calls himself a Christian, is actually a Universalist. By his own admission he flat out rejects one of the most fundamental truths of Biblical Christianity…the exclusivity of Christ for Salvation (John 14:6). You can read the entire interview here.

 

2.     Romney

 

 

 

 

 

Ø  So what about Romney’s beliefs? Romney claims to be a Mormon. Here are just a few points of what Mormons believe about a few key doctrines, from the website of Christian apologetics and research ministry:

¨       The book of Mormon is more correct than the Bible, (History of the Church, vol. 4, p. 461.)

¨       God used to be a man on another planet (Mormon Doctrine, p. 321; Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 613-614; Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 345; Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 333).

¨       “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as mans…” (D&C 130:22).

¨       There are many gods (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163).

¨       “The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood – was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers,” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115).

¨       “One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God; that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation,” (Miracle of Forgiveness, by Spencer W. Kimball, p. 206).

Ø  While these doctrines alone are enough to prove that Mormonism is far from Biblical Christianity, you can read about other doctrines of the Mormon Church by clicking here.

So, it is clear by what each of the political candidates believes that there is no way we will have a truly Christian President in the Whitehouse this Tuesday. So…do we as Christians simply not vote? That can be answered with an emphatic NO! in Luke 20, the Scribes and Chief Priests sent out spies to test Jesus and cause him to say something by which they can accuse him. They asked him it is lawful to pay taxes unto Cesar to which he replied in verse 24-25: “²⁴ “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The implications of this passage are clear. As citizens of our earthly country we have certain responsibilities to that country. We are provided land, protection and other services and we are thus obligated to pay taxes, obey the law(as long as it doesn’t contradict scripture) and be politically involved i.e. Vote!

Since we do not have a Bible believing Christian as a candidate to vote for, how do we make our selection this Tuesday? We MUST vote for the candidate whose political views and policies most closely align with God’s Word.

Jeanine Larsen Murk put it well in a little post that has been circling around Facebook over the past several days called: “Who will I vote for??” Murk writes:

• I will vote for the most pro-life candidate, because God hates the shedding of innocent blood (Prov.6:17).
• I will vote for the most pro-Israel candidate, because God blesses those who bless Israel and curses those who don’t (Gen.12:3).
• I will vote for the most pro-debt reduction candidate, because the borrower is servant to the lender (Prov.22:7).
• I will vote for the most pro-work candidate because God says if a man does not work, let him not eat (2 Thes. 3:10).
• I will vote for the most pro-marriage candidate, because God is for marriage as defined in Genesis 2:24.
• I will vote for the candidate who most closely believes government’s purpose is to reward the good and punish the evil (Romans 13).
• I will vote based as close as I can on God’s Word (2 Tim.3:16), knowing that whoever gets elected, God is the one who puts all men in authority (Dan. 2:21).

So who will you vote for this election? Don’t let popularity drive who you vote for, Rather vote based upon God’s Word. Don’t elect (or reelect) a President based upon the color of his skin, but rather based upon the content of whose beliefs and values align most with Biblical truth.What are some things that you have found helpful during this voting season? Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us!

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Why Did God Choose Barack Obama for America?

In the last post we established that God is the one who in his sovereignty appoints leaders, and He is also the one who can remove them as well. We also looked at the fact that biblically, although we may not agree with what are leaders believe and do, we are commanded to honor and obey them as unto the Lord. This is no different with our current president.

We have established that God is the one who allowed Obama into office…BUT WHY?? This is the question. While I cannot and do not claim to ultimately have the answer to this question, I believe that we can get an idea of why by looking at the state of this country, as well as a very key passage of scripture. Read Romans 1:18-32 and look at the downward progression of what happens when an individual (or a nation) rejects God’s truth and exchanges it for a lie:

Romans 1:18-32

• God’s Wrath revealed (against who?):

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

• God Reveals himself to all (How?)

Rom 1:19-20 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

• Ungodly Men Exchange God’s Truth for a Lie

Rom 1:21-23 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

• God Gave them up to the penalty of the actions! (To what?)

Rom 1:24-27 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

• God Gave them up even further! (To What?)

Rom 1:28-32 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Look at that downward progression! When a person or nation exchanges God’s truth for a lie: God reveals himself to all through his creation (v19-20). God’s truth is suppressed by the unrighteousness of ungodly men (v18). Because they do not glorify God, and worship God’s creation instead of the creator God himself (v21-23), God gives them over to the lust of their flesh (v24-27), and eventually to a debased mind (v28-32).

One of the depraved actions that Paul lists as a punishment for exchanging God’s truth for a lie is homosexuality (v27). Paul also says that God gives them up to a debased mind, and lists 21 bad character qualities in verses 28-32, one of which is murder. It takes a debased mind to justify the killing of millions of unborn babies.

America as a nation (though not all her citizens) has been exchanging God’s truth for a lie and worshiping the creation instead of the creator for a very long time. Is it any wonder that we now have serving in office the most pro gay, pro abortion president that this country has ever seen? This should not come as a big surprise.

It should not surprise us that redefinition of marriage is a mainstream issue when we in the church are doing such a poor job of showing the world how good God’s design for marriage (one man and one woman) really is. The divorce rate within the church is just as high as that of the world. So many of the remainder of Christian marriages that don’t end in divorce are characterized by husbands not taking the lead, wives trying to control, husbands forsaking their families for their hobbies, wives emotionally turning away from their husbands to depend on their children emotionally, two people living separate lives, with separate finances, bound by vows but viewing their marriage as more of a joint venture rather than a biblical marriage. It’s no wonder the world doesn’t see one man one woman as the only option for marriage if this is what we show them.

It shouldn’t surprise us our prolife Christian views are laughed at by the world when much of what they see is Christians holding up signs in front of abortion clinics picketing and chanting “stop killing babies! Stop killing babies!” instead of lovingly confronting people with God’s truth about the sanctity of life, or offering free sonograms to mothers considering abortion.

So What Do We Do?

• Step up and vote!

We live in a country where our voice can be heard! We can make a difference by casting our vote and electing officials, both state and federal, whose views align with scripture.

• Write those in office!

When we see anti-biblical legislation in the senate and congress that is up for vote, write our representatives about where we stand on the issues!

• Run For Office

While not all of us are up to this task, we need many more bible believing Christians (who cannot be swayed by the bribes of lobbyists) willing to step up and run for office themselves, whether it be city, county, state or national.

• Work On Your Own Marriage

While we should NOT be in support of redefinition of marriage, and we should to whatever we can to support legislation that protects and defends the traditional, biblical view of marriage (one man, one woman for life), it is just as or even more important that we work on our own marriages so that they are strong, Christ-centered, God-honoring examples of what traditional biblical marriage looks like. Perhaps if this were the case, the idea of redefining marriage may not look quite so viable.

• Lovingly Confront Those Who Support a Pro-Death Viewpoint With God’s Truth

Instead of picketing in front of clinics (which makes us look as laughable as Fred Phelps and his family out in Topeka Kansas, or the crowd at occupy wall street), we should support legislation that protects the life of the unborn. Also, we should lovingly share with people the truth about the sanctity of life as shown in God’s Word. Another way to help in this cause is to financially support various ministries that offer free sonograms to mothers considering abortion, and offer council to women who have gone through with having abortions.

Let’s stand up for what God values! Exercise our rights to vote for what God values! And live lives based upon God’s values! In doing this let’s not forget to honor the leaders that God sets up as his Word tells us to do.

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Barack Obama Was God’s Choice for America

I know you are probably wondering what on earth this post is about. Is Striving For Wisdom a “liberal” blog sight? Like the title of this post, I do believe that Barak Obama was God’s choice for America at least between 2008 and 2012. If he is for any longer has yet to be determined.

So what do I mean by this? Do I mean that our President’s political views closely line up with scripture? To that I can say an emphatic NO. In fact, I believe that his political views on marriage, abortion, healthcare, redistribution of wealth and other areas are clearly anti-biblical. However, these political viewpoints are not what is in question here.

The fact is that in November of 2008, Barack Obama was voted into office as the President of the United States of America. This is a fact that we cannot deny. Seeing as this is the case, there are a few biblical principles that we must look at in relation to our attitudes as believers towards him.

Romans 13:1-7

• God is the one who appoints All Leaders

Rom 13:1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

• We Are To Be Subject To Them, or face judgment

Rom 13:2-5 “Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.”

• We are to pay our taxes

Rom 13:6-7a “For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed,”

• We are to respect and honor them

Rom 13:7b “respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”

Some may say: “oh, but that only applies to God-honoring leaders”. Well, let’s think about who it was that Paul was writing to…the believers in Rome! The Roman government in 1^st Century AD wasn’t exactly known for being friendly to Christians. They were known for quite the opposite. In fact, that’s exactly why Peter wrote his first epistle…to encourage and instruct the believers who were scattered abroad because of the ongoing persecution by Rome. It is in this letter that Peter pens these words:

1 Peter 2:12-17

• Our Conduct is a testimony to others

1Pe 2:12 “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

• We are to be subject to Human Government

1Pe 2:13-14 “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.”

• Why we are to be subject to them

1Pe 2:15-16 “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

• We are to give honor to the one(s) in Governmental authority

1Pe 2:17 “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

Peter tells the early Christians to honor the emperor, and that in doing this; we will actually by our good conduct silence those who bring accusations against us. Wow! What an incredible testimony we can have by honoring those who God has ordained to govern our nation!

But who did Peter have in mind when he told the believers to “honor the Emperor” in verse 17? Well, we must look at who was the Cesar of Rome that the time…Nero! Nero went down in history as one of the most evil emperors to ever persecute Christians. It would turn the stomachs of most to go into detail about how he would torture Christians. And this is who Peter had in mind when he wrote this letter.

So what does this mean for us as believers in 21^st Century America? Does this mean that we are to agree with and support everything that our President does? Certainly Not! However, there has been much name calling and character bashing from Christians (myself included) about our president ever since 2008. While we should NOT agree with his anti-biblical politics, and while we should use our right to vote to help elect officials to office whose views do align with scripture, every time we name call and character bash, we are not only being a bad witness of Christ, we are also giving occasion for the world to make accusation of us. Let’s put them to silence by our godly attitudes instead!

So I have shared from scripture that God was the one who allowed Barack Obama to be elected President, and that biblically we are to respect the office even if we disagree with his politics. But why did God allow him to be elected? While I cannot claim to have the answer dogmatically, seeing how no man can fathom the plans and purposes of God, I do believe there are some principles from scripture that can give us a clue as to why. Don’t miss the next post when I share why God may have allowed Obama to be elected.

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