A Christian Guide To Voting

    Now at first glance at the title, I know what you might be thinking. It's the same thing I would be thinking if I saw this. Who are you to tell me as a Christian how to vote? Of course my answer would be no one. On the other hand, God is someone to tell the Christian how to vote. And the problem with that is that too many Christians today would rather vote how they want than even listen to God as an option. That is why decided to type this up, knowing that I'm just human and could miss it, knowing all to well that I'm not God, yet seeing a big problem in the body of Christ today.     

    Now there are some people out there who don't know who they should vote for. They're still praying. Then there are others who are just spiritually blinded by the devil and can't see the truth. How do I know this? I've heard to many Christians, including those trained to be in the ministry, say that they are voting for a candidate that is standing directly opposed to the values and character of God and the teachings of the Bible.

    Of course some of my brothers and sisters have the attitude of "I can vote for whoever I want to. It is a free country." And they're right…partially. If they weren't saved, if they didn't call Jesus Christ Lord and Savior (although some of them leave the 'Lord' part out) they would have all the rights in the world to go off and do whatever they want to. However, they gave up their life and every choice when they decided to allow Jesus Christ to be their Lord, their Savior, and the price He paid on the cross and in Hell, to be the price for THEIR sins.

    However, by examining these fellow believers' lives, it is clear to see that they have allowed Jesus to be Savior, but not Lord. They still hold their lives in their own hands, making the choices they want, picking and choosing what to believe and what to follow. By looking at the fruit of their lives, you can see that they are still carnal, fleshly beings that prefer to walk in the flesh rather than the spirit. And for them, it is their choice, not God's. For these people, it is a matter of growing up spiritually, dying to oneself so that not just their vote belongs to God, but their entire lives.

    Then there are other people who make their choice of candidate on issues that have no bearing whatsoever. I was sitting at a youth camp watching kids next to a TV during one of the Bush elections. Sitting in front of the TV was a fellow Christian who was watching coverage of the election on one of the cable news stations. He started talking and sharing his opinions with whoever would listen and said that he would not vote for Bush because he didn't like the man's viewpoint on economic issues. Thus, he was going to vote for the other man.

    Let me remind everyone that Bush has been an outspoken Christian, while both of his opponents have not. Thus, we had a fellow believer running for President and two non-believers (whichever election it was). With this single statement, this man made it clear that 1.) he did not believe in the truthfulness of the Bible and 2.) God was not his source. As Christians, God is to be our source in all things, no matter what—not the economy, not the President, not our jobs or our bosses—no one. If there is someone or something that is your source other than God, it will fail and you will be left wanting. The Bible also states that when the righteous reign, the people rejoice. However, this man decided this scripture was not true and that when the man with the best economic plan reigns, the people rejoice.

    From this example, please take away that God is your source, no man, no President, no economic plan, nothing.

    There are other people, other fellow believers, that decide that they will vote for whoever seems more charismatic, whoever is a better speaker, a certain race or gender, or whoever has a better plan for this or that. When a Christian decides to cast their vote for natural reasons, they are choosing to cast their vote in ignorance, and in contrast to the way God would have them vote. As Christians, we do vote for a person because they are a certain race or gender, because they are a good speaker or charismatic (after all, it is said the anti-Christ will be both of those). We do not vote for them because they will pull out troops no matter how much we miss them. We vote on spiritual principles and by the Word of God and direction of the Holy Spirit.

    I once heard a speaker say that God gave him instructions on how to vote. For those fellow believers that may not even believe God will speak to people in such a way, then you must have a hard time believing you will go to Heaven simply because God came to Earth and died as a man just to reconcile you to Himself. But this preacher said that God gave these instructions on voting. You find out where the purveyors of sin go, those that promote homosexuality, abortion, crime, pornography, etc; find who they back and then you back the guy opposing them. It doesn't matter if the one candidate is actually for those things, but if those who are for the sins do back him, then you back the other guy.

    The Lord said, you vote for the one who will make it harder for sin to take place in this country. Too many Christians just believe in what they see, and don't even think twice about the spiritual world around us. Sure, they'll believe in God and Jesus, maybe even the devil, but not necessarily demons and angels. Many would laugh at you if you said that a demon was helping a candidate to win an election. They would call you a fool for saying a demon was blinding them spiritually so they would vote for who they wanted them to vote for.

    But the truth is that the spiritual realm exists. Demons and angels exist. And God has a plan for the country and this world and He is wrapping it up. We are in the end times and God is doing something big and this coming election is a part of it. Do you know why homosexuality is so big in America? Do you know why abortionists continue to kill babies? And do you know why Bill Clinton was allowed to remain in office for 8 years allowing those things to continue and get a stronger, deeper hold in this country? It is because Christians did not pray, did not seek God, and did not do things how He wants us to. And when our day in glory comes, we will have to give a reason why we didn't. You hear many people talk about how this is the most important election in years. Well, it is. But for those who are not Christians, all they have is a vote and a voice to the other voters. As Christians, we have a vote, a voice to other voters, but more importantly, we have an open door to Heaven. God said that we have not because we ask not. So as Christians, get on your knees and seek God, not just for your choice, but for His choice and His plans to be carried out in this election, this country, and this world.

 

God Bless

 

Truth By Whatever Name

    I've been looking at the news lately, mostly political news, and I've noticed something going on in the campaigns. Now, if I sound favorable towards one or the other, I don't mean to. But I've noticed that it's funny when some issues come up that seem unpleasant, unfavorable, disagreeable, make you feel bad, look bad, wrench at your heart, your stomach, your ego; that instead of going at it and dealing with it, you decide to call it something else and push it aside. This isn't just for politics, but that's what I've seen it applied to at late.

    For example, the McCain/Palin side has levied the charge that Barak Obama has associated with terrorists. Of course, it's not just the McCain/Palin side, but also some media outlets. How does the Obama side respond to this? Does he come out and deny the charges and even levy his own charge that their side and the media outlets are liars and should be looked at for immoral accusations? No. Instead, he cries out that they are using smear tactics, muckraking (although I have started to hear that the Obama campaign has started to call them liars now). But for the most part, all we hear are allegations of the other side running a smear campaign. In fact, I don't even think I've heard the Obama campaign give a reason why it might even appear that he associated with terrorists. After all, if you were going to build a lie, you would start it with a bit of truth in it. They didn't state that Obama was a drug dealing congressman. Why? Because there is no basis whatsoever to make the lie out of (that we know of).     

    They say that you can't kill a dog with poison alone. You have to mix it with some steak or something else. That's the case with lies. There's a bit of truth in all of them, if nothing else than the smallest bit of fact (like Obama was in the same city as the person he's accused of associating with).

    Now I've confined this to politics because that's what I've seen it in as of late. But this issue of denial of truth goes far beyond politics, enter the entire world. Truth by any other name is still truth.

    In today's culture, it's popular for relativist to tell Christians, "That's all good and fine for you, but not for me. I can be true for you, but it's not for me." Today, truth is pushed away be one excuse or another. The popular on for those who have grown up in the morally relative culture is that truth is relative and it is not absolute. The only problem is that truth is always absolute. It doesn't matter if you say that "it may true for you but not for me" or if you say "I don't believe that" or if you say you can't believe that, whatever excuse it is, it's just that—an excuse.

    Of course it is one thing if you honestly don't believe in God or Jesus because of 'lack of evidence' and then go and research it, but it's another (and the most common) if you push it off to the side due to some sort of bias. After I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior I decided that I was going to research the whole issue of Jesus' divinity and Christianity's credibility. After much research, I came to the same conclusion mentally that I came to 2 ½ years earlier spiritually.

    Aldous Huxley once said, "I wanted to believe the Darwinian idea. I chose to believe it not because I think that there was enormous evidence for it, nor because I believed it had the full authority to give interpretation to my origins. I chose to believe it because it delivered me from trying to find meaning and freed me to my own erotic passions." Like Huxley, many of us choose to believe or disbelieve in something not because of evidence, facts, or convictions, but because it gives us a reason to do what we really want to do or because it makes us feel bad about what we are doing.

    Truth is not dependent on our likes and dislikes. Truth is truth. It comes from a higher source that neither your likes nor dislikes depend on. And rather you want to accept it, truth is truth and you can't change it by not wanting to believe.