1. GUEST COMMENTARY
- "Christians Will Decide Nov. 2!"
(By Rev. Rob Schenck, Missionary to Capitol Hill)
I am boldly asking for you to forward this critical message to every person you know that cares about the future of our American civilization--especially anyone who lives in the crucial states of Ohio, Pennsylvania or Florida.
From what I see and hear in Washington, from my conversations with pollsters and political experts, and from my travels around the country, I am now absolutely convinced that God's people have been entrusted with making the decision of who will be president for the next four years. Consequently, they will also decide who will sit on the U.S. Supreme Court for the next several decades. These federal judges will hear future cases on everything from partial birth abortion to same-sex marriage, to whether we remain "One Nation, Under God."
That's how high the stakes are on Election Day, November 2!
Why do I say this?
Because the number of Christians who didn't vote four years ago prove it.
If Christians show up at the polls on November 2 (or if they're diligent in sending in their absentee ballots ahead of time), there will be one result; if they don't show up (or they don't send in those absentee ballots), there will be a different result.
It's clear Christians care most about three very important things: The Sanctity of Human Life, the Sanctity of Marriage and the Family, and the Public Acknowledgement that there is a God to whom we are all held accountable.
The two candidates are crystal clear on these three issues. One stands for them, the other stands for the diametric opposite.
So, if Christians vote their principles on November 2, there'll be one result; if we're not there to vote our principles, there will be a different result--and these results will last for the next 50 to 100 years because of judicial appointments and their resulting legal precedents.
You see, this is how it works: A president appoints judges and Supreme Court justices who last 20, 30, 40, even 50 years before they retire or die. During those decades, these judges and justices make decisions that set precedents that other judges after them will follow, until a rare and extraordinarily courageous judge starts things rolling towards changing those precedents. But even then, a U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturns a bad decision of the lower courts requires at least FIVE such justices! That may or may never happen in American history.
Well, there you have it: Christians will, simply by our numbers, determine the course of things. And that makes sense because Jesus said, "Occupy until I come." To occupy means to be busy--to BE ABOUT BUSINESS--to be responsible--until he comes.
You and I will either be about this business or not on November 2.
Tell your family, your friends, and your fellow church members: "It's all in our hands. God has appointed us for such a time as this."
Then, organize: Offer college students and senior citizens a ride to the polls. If your friends talk of being out of town around Election Day, ask them if they've sent in their absentee ballots. And, make your own plans. If there's any chance you'll have to work late on November 2, vote early in the morning. If you have to, take a personal day. It may be the most worthwhile day you give up. If you have to take the day without pay to ensure you'll vote, think of it as a contribution to the spiritual, moral and physical well-being of your children and grandchildren.
This IS the moment of truth. In several states, the decision could be made on vote numbers equal to the size of your church congregation. (Maybe even the size of your Sunday school class!)
Let's be about business; let's OCCUPY until He comes!
Your grateful (and hopeful) missionary to Capitol Hill,
Rev. Rob Schenck
Missionary to Capitol Hill
"Bringing the Word of God to bear on the hearts and minds of
those who make public policy in America."
Faith and Action in the Nation's Capital
www.faithandaction.org
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2. DO YOU KNOW...?
(by Tim Ewing, Publisher)
Do you know that our nation's Founding Fathers specifically chose to base our country's government and laws upon Christian-Biblical principles? If so, how then do we reconcile this fact with politicians who today claim that they can't impose their personal religious beliefs on their public-policy decisions?
First, we must understand why the Founders chose Christian principles as the foundation of our governing bodies. Thomas Jefferson explains, "The precepts of philosophy, and of the Hebrew code, laid hold of actions only. He [Jesus] pushed his scrutinizes into the heart of man; erected his tribunal in the region of his thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountain head."
The Founders realized that Christianity accomplishes what no other belief-system can, that is to change man's heart. The Founders understood that a FREE society can survive and prosper ONLY if it is grounded upon the unchanging moral ethic found in Christianity. Laws, like most religions, attempt only to control man's actions. Christianity focuses on preventing lawless actions by changing man's heart through the redemptive power of Christ.
In a free society, We the People hold the power to change law and adapt public-policy according to our beliefs. The Founders entrusted this Great Experiment in Freedom only to a government and nation that would function within the guidelines of Christian principles. They understood that mankind was sinful and would tend towards self-centered public-policy if there was no absolute standard of right and wrong, as defined in the Bible, that grounded our nation.
It has been said that a democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.
Voters who selfishly allow for loose fiscal policy or who approve of loose laws that allow for obscenity and immorality (in the name of freedom) will doom our nation. Only by electing leaders whose hearts have been submitted to the Lordship of Christ can a nation have a hope of not succumbing to the greed and selfishness of mankind's unredeemed sinful nature--thus the value of a Representative Democracy as opposed to a pure Democracy. It is crucial that we elect representatives who hold to the Biblical standard of right and wrong.
Christian politicians are not perfect, but they do acknowledge God as the highest authority, both personally and professionally. Our nation must return to this most fundamental principle that our Creator God superintends over our nation and we are accountable to Him for our actions as individuals and as a nation. Only with our hearts (and our public-policy) submitted to His authority can the freedom that our nation enjoys continue as a blessing rather than transform into a license for immorality and lawlessness.
The myth of separation between church and state is very dangerous because it causes uninformed citizens to question whether it's okay to allow Christian principles to influence our public-policy. It also gives politicians the leeway to deceptively play both sides of an issue, for example, when they claim their personal (religious) beliefs are opposed to abortion or same-sex marriage while using the separation myth as justification for their support of public-policy that favors abortion and same-sex marriage. This is a thinly-veiled guise which should be recognized for what it is. One's actions reflect truly what is at one's core. Don't be misled by words that aren't backed up with consistent actions.
As we make our voting decisions in the coming weeks, think about which standard your candidates subscribe to personally AND professionally: The standard that allows We the People and/or a few unelected judges to define what is truth and what is right and wrong, or, the standard of the Founders that is based on Christian-Biblical principles. The choice is in our hands to elect leaders who will follow one standard or another. Only one belief-system will prevail in America--which do we choose?
"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." (John Jay, appointed by President George Washington as our nation's first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court)
