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Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Post-Election Comments - Presidential Race and Proposition 8

To follow up with my thoughts on the presidential election results, I couldn't agree more with what Dr. Albert Mohler has written on his blog, "America Has Chosen a President," posted Nov. 5. At the risk of appearing to merely parrot the ideas and words of others, I'll refer you in this case to his article. He's a great Christian thinker and a great writer. I could not express my own thoughts any better. It's worth reading.

The bottom line is this: God is still in control. The Lord still reigns and rules from heaven, and He always will.
  • "The king's heart is in the hands of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." - Proverbs 21:1
  • "The authorities that exist have been established by God." - Romans 13:1b
  • "The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths." - Psalm 135:6
Jesus is still the King of kings and Lord of lords, our only hope for healing. Neither Barack Obama, John McCain, nor anyone other man or woman can bind up the wounds of individual lives, nor heal this land.

Now, more than ever, I believe the call rings out for God's people to truly "humble themselves and pray and seek [His] face and turn from their wicked ways." Then we will also experience the blessings of God's promise: "Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

I've also been checking to see what the status is on the Proposition 8 vote in California. Though supporters have claimed victory, not all votes are in yet, so I will hold off for now on saying this is a major victory.

The sad truth is, as a commenter on yesterday's post said, that this issue of legalizing same sex marriage even appears on the ballot at all. And even if Prop 8 wins, you can see how evenly divided that state remains. No doubt, the fight will wage on.

Gladly, in the two other states in which this issue appeared before voters, Arizona and Florida, the sanctity of marriage was upheld by voters who said they wanted a ban on same sex marriage in their constitutions.

You have to wonder what's in store for America. For some reason, God has chosen to withhold a major windfall of His wrath against the sins of our nation. But to some degree we're already experiencing His judgment.

When you read Romans 1:18-32 you can easily see this country described as the ones who have "exchanged the truth of God for a lie." We're seeing God's wrath being revealed in the way that He has "[given] them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another."

We're seeing God's wrath being revealed in the way He has "[given] them over to shameful lusts." To the extent that He gives us over to our own wicked and shameful desires is judgment enough! How much more to come! The parading of sin and unrighteousness in this land and the approval of such wickedness reveals that to a certain degree God has already given this nation over to her own ways. And that's the judgment we're experiencing.

Read Isaiah 3 concerning the Lord's judgment on Jerusalem and Judah and see if their situation doesn't mirror ours today. "The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves" (Isaiah 3:9).

In the rampant atmosphere of sexual immorality, in the killing of the unborn, in the oppression of the poor, in the greed of man, in the misdirection of our guides...the wrath of God is already being revealed from heaven. And beyond what we're already experiencing, Paul says this in Romans 2:5: "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentent heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed."

Friend, don't let it be so for you. Return to the Lord and receive God's forgiveness and mercy offered to you through the blood of Jesus. God demonstrated the boundless depths of His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). Receive Jesus by faith, for as many as receive Him, to all who believe in His name, God grants that we may become children of God (John 1:12).

And let us pray for our President-elect, for the choices and decisions he makes in selecting his leadership team, for guiding and signing national policy, for the example he sets and the direction he leads, that wisdom from heaven will prevail.

Let us pray and plead for God to move and act for His own glory through His church on behalf of this land.

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