Monday, November 5, 2012

Decision time




“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the Day of Judgment.  For by your words you will justified, and by your words you will be condemned”.  (Matt. 13:36-37).

Hey Gang:  Tomorrow is election day and, frankly speaking, I am in a dither.  I feel deep in my spirit that this will be a mandate from our Heavenly Daddy that will give us a strong message of how really ‘ticked’ He is with our nation.    I vowed when I began to write the morning messages that I would never address the issue of politics but I ran across an article titled Politics – According to the Bible; ‘A Comprehensive Resource”  by Wayne Grudem. It is very objective and food for thought as we prepare to go and pull the lever that will determine the direction our country will travel in the next four years. (Yes, we already did).   
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His first point: Generally speaking, Republicans/conservatives prefer smaller government and more individual freedom, while Democrats/liberals/progressives prefer more governmental oversight of society and the economy.  The Bible does not explicitly endorse either capitalism or socialism. God has given governments the freedom to have as much authority as is needed to fulfill their God-given roles of enforcing justice and building order in society (Romans 13:1-7). . None of those persuasions are inherently evil or ungodly.The argument should be over which system best enables the government to fulfill its God-given role.

While issues such as the size/scope of government and economic systems are not explicitly addressed in Scripture, there definitely are some political issues the Bible does address, such as abortion
 (Genesis 1:26-27; 9:6; Exodus 21:22-25; Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5) and gay marriage (Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9). For the Bible-believing Christian, abortion is not a matter of a woman’s right to choose; it is a matter of the life or death of a human being made in God’s image. Endorsing gay marriage is giving approval to a lifestyle choice the Bible condemns as immoral and unnatural.
Point two: The Bible teaches that a leader in the church should be a godly, moral, ethical person (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9). This should apply to political leaders as well. If politicians are going to make wise, God-honoring decisions, they must have a basic morality and worldview on which to base the decisions they are going to have to make.

Point three:  No matter who is in office, whether we voted for them or not, whether they are of the political party we prefer or not, the Bible commands us to respect and honor and pray for them. (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). . We are in this world but are not to be of this world (1 John 2:15). As believers in Jesus Christ, we are all members of the same political party—monarchists who are
 waiting for The King to Return. (Revelation 19:11-16).

Sooooo, good folks,  Yes ,I am in a dither, but keep  in mind we serve an awesome God, the creator of all things, and if He can create it, He can fix it.  But we must do our part – humble ourselves, pray diligently and put away all the idols that prevent our coming into His presence with a pure heart.  My God is a God of grace and mercy and His will – will be done.  Don’t forget to make you request known – vote!!!!    

 Blessings,

Gramps

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