Oh I understand all the arguments and vote-your-conscience pleas, but what I do not understand is the arrogance, judgmentalism, anger and self-righteous tongue-wagging that I have witnessed in the last few days. I hear out of the mouths of liberal reporters (who make no effort to hide their bias), all of a sudden this “concern” they have of a mother of 5 children, one of whom has Down’s Syndrome, and one who is pregnant out of wedlock…how can she possibly have a role in government and mother her children at the same time? What is she doing and who does she think she is and isn’t John McCain a fool for asking her?

And then many anti-feminists are condemning this woman and pointing fingers at her failures as a mother (you know, the pregnant daughter and trying to go to work after giving birth just three days prior, and “she’s not tending the hearth at her home”…) I tell you it feels like the crowd is gathering around and the stone piles are getting higher…and pretty soon the pelting will begin. Or maybe we will just burn her at stake.

I say all of this because this is what I see plain as day. I am disgusted. I looked today at the Constitutional Party website and Ron Paul’s too, to see what the hype is over these people whom so many godly people have flocked to. The Constitutional Party platform is not all that different from the Republican Platform. They claim to be Federalists, but so is John McCain. Ron Paul has some good economic ideas, but he is not that far off from his own party’s platform, either, except that he is clearly a Protectionist, which would be fine if the world weren’t so dangerous. That is kind of like saying it was better before women could vote, which maybe it was, but it is never going back to that, so the godly women had better vote. People are still mad about the Iraq war, and the liberal media feeds that anger, and buddy, it sure works. Let me tell you something. The war has stirred up a spiritual hornet’s nest, but it had to happen. It had to happen because God ordained that it had to happen. Nobody likes it, especially the military families that are making the sacrifices. I am sure the children of Israel didn’t like it when they were involved in so many wars because they are expensive and people die. But I am telling you God has a purpose in it. Do not forget that. And do not fall for the bait when people demonize George W. Bush. He was the ruler that God used, like it or not.

If you had the most perfect President imaginable – just make a list of attributes and ideology and perhaps color in his family and his theological doctrine, you would still have one huge, major problem. Congress. If Ron Paul or Mr. Baldwin were President, they would still have to deal with Congress. And with the liberal majority in Congress, they would not get very far. It would have to be the Republicans doing the fighting, because they have the same values and ideals. Most Democrats do not, excepting a few individuals. Perhaps they would be able to get Roe v. Wade overturned, but then, so could McCain and even more so perhaps with Palin on the ticket because of her raising national awareness. So this notion that Ron or Mr. Baldwin could solve all of your problems and secure God’s blessing on this country better than McCain is probably not sound from a political standpoint. The only way to change Congress is for the people of this country to put so much pressure on them that they force issues to be dealt with. But we are a lazy people. We talk the talk but don’t walk the walk and that is evident when you look at our government. And there are lots of people in this nation who don’t want anything to do with Christianity and don’t want people telling them how to live. They believe in their Constitutional right to worship or not worship as they please. And don’t even start telling them how women are supposed to live, because they don’t want to hear it. The only way you can reach them with any legitimacy is to live the way Christ calls you to live. Try modeling true womanhood instead of preaching about it. You don’t have to tell the world that you are against feminism, just live it. Demostrate there is a better way and do it with the love of Christ.

We need to be praying. If you are not specifically praying for Yahweh’s perfect will to be done, the Enemy might just sneak in and snatch the victory. The Enemy is already stirring people up to bite and devour one another and to quibble over foolish controversies and get totally distracted. I am begging for you all to pray. Get down on your knees and pray if only one minute. Pray for our sister in Christ, Sarah Palin. Even if you don’t like her or don’t think she is biblically qualified to serve in government, pray for her and her family, because of the love of Christ. Stop tearing her down. If God does not want her in office, be assured she won’t get there. But if He does, we need to pray for her and this nation and wake up and get serious about our responsibilities in a modern day federal republic.

Ever since I voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984 (I wasn’t quite old enough in 1980), I have seen the political/governmental scene pretty much in black and white. That is, it is not hard to take a stand on an issue when you fully understand it, have convictions, and can understand the implications. Most political issues are not hard to decipher, and choosing good vs. bad, right vs. wrong, efficient vs. wasteful, etc. is not a difficult thing, except that people make it so. It used to be that governing was fairly simple. Would that we could get back to that as a nation.

It is ideal biblically for righteous men to rule countries. It is preferred that every family would have a godly husband, a godly stay-at-home wife, and a full quiver of believing children. It is prefered that there would be enough income for the wife to hire household help or a cook or an assistant or a gardener so that she could devote more time to educating the children, or more time to running her business from home. It would be nice that the godly man could be independently wealthy enough so that he could hold political office and see to it that his city, state, or country is being run in a righteous manner and in a way that would secure God’s blessing (Proverbs 11:12). Would that all of us could live like that, right?

The truth is, not enough of us do live like that. We might have the ideals or the structure, but not the income. Perhaps there are a lot of godly men that would like to run for office, but they feel they can’t leave their jobs or businesses to run a campaign. Or they don’t want to put their family through the trouble. So the good men sit out of the game, while the lesser men get to play, and make up the rules the good men then have to live by. It doesn’t matter if they make bad rules, the good men can’t do anything about it because they can’t make the sacrifices that are required to challenge them. And some good men try to run for office, but they are never serious contenders because they have tried to make a party (a team if you will) that isn’t even good enough to get in the game. Other times it just takes time and several elections before a man can get elected. But the truth is, most irresponsible and down-right wicked legislation have come into being in the past, because the righteous were not paying attention, and were not involved politically when they had the chance. They were sequestered in their churches, distracted with trying to earn a living, worrying about taking care of their children the way the humanist experts were telling them they had to, and looking forward to when the kids were out of the house and they could retire and travel or have an easy life to do what they wanted to do. Somewhere along the way, humanism and socialism crept into the Church and the Government, and the average common man and woman decided politics was dirty and that he or she had no real say anyway. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that pre-born babies did not have any constitutional right and under the “right to privacy” a woman could abort her baby legally for any reason, at any time. No one noticed that women’s lives were being wrecked, leaving a blood trail that led to, well, the Church, for its failure to speak up for the innocent without a voice, and to those that had appointed the Justices, as well as those Justices that were sitting on the Court. Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty was not only not being won, but was sending the country spiraling into a black hole of debt. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s temporary social programs to help get the country back on its feet after the Depression in the 1930’s, had taken hold on the U.S. Treasury like a malignant growth that would only spread and never go away. The lie of evolution and atheism flourished in the 1960’s and the educational system has never recovered. Even worse, it bred a generation of skeptics that now teach that skepticism in universities across this country. And by the late ’70’s, we realized that thanks to Jimmy Carter and his wisdom, women began wearing combat boots which caused a whole new world of problems, the effects of which would not be fully seen for another decade. At the same time, a new big threat to our country in the form of the massive Soviet Union, was hovering over our debt-laden, ill-prepared, morally- depraved country. Our military had become so weak, beaten down and ridiculed by the spoiled hippy generation and their Marxist leaders in Congress that there wasn’t a whole lot of enthusiasm on the part of young people to serve in the Armed Forces. I honestly believe that if Ronald Reagan had not run for President and put forth some sensible values and ideas that resonated with the majority of Americans, this country would have been on the verge of destruction. This is when some conservative Christians began to wake up and get serious about trying to shape policy in Washington, instead of being shaped by the policy of a minority of Marxist politicians. If you think Marxist is too strong of a word, do a little research and you will see how liberalism is Marxism re-heated, warmed over and microwaved. It is anti-God, anti-family, anti-capitalist, and anti-liberty, with the notion that those elitists ruling over you know what is better for you than you do, hence, you don’t need liberty – you just need them. So if you don’t think we have done enough wrong in this country to provoke the judgment of God, think again.

So enter John McCain and Barack Obama. I guess you could say enter Bob Barr, too, and whomever is the Constitutional Party candidate, and Ralph Nader, and anyone else that just thinks it would be cool to be on the ballot. I think that although any party that wants can run for President, it is really only a choice between 2 parties for the actual winner. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way, but that is the way it is. You can vote your conscience anyway you want. I heard Glenn Beck tell Mitt Romney that he didn’t have to vote either Republican or Democrat, that he could vote a third party like Bob Barr. He said, “It is not a wasted vote if you vote for something you believe in.” I think it depends on what implications a vote for a third party candidate will be. In 1992, Ross Perot received almost 19% of the popular vote. Bill Clinton won that election with 43% of the vote. Ross Perot’s presence in that election very likely threw the victory to Bill Clinton, when otherwise, Pres. George H.W. Bush would have won. People that voted for Ross Perot, and many I know were Christians, helped get Pres. Clinton elected. Pres. Clinton appointed 2 very liberal Supreme Court Justices.

But back to Barack Obama and John McCain. Folks, we are running out of time. Perhaps in 30 years, after everyone with large, homeschooling families have raised their children and their children have children that are of voting age, perhaps this country will be able to elect only godly men to political office, and make over this nation in the image of its Founders to whom the godly mandate to subdue the land and pursue life, liberty and property ownership was the essence of their vision of a free nation under God. But if Barack Obama is elected and able to put into practice his policies which are guided by principles he learned being a disciple of Saul Alinsky (who by the way dedicated his book, Rules For Radicals to Satan), then that opportunity likely will never come to godly families in this nation. His policies will set this nation back so far it may never recover. Furthermore, is not the voice of millions of aborted babies’ blood crying out to the Lord from this nation? Would we not be guilty, those of us who vote for Obama or a third party candidate who hasn’t a prayer of winning, of having blood on our hands? Are we going to get so hung up on finding some kind of fault with Mrs. Palin or Mr. McCain that we abdicate our responsibility and give the enemy an opportunity to take some more blood? Can someone please, anyone, give me the wisdom in this?

As for Mrs. Palin, a Christian woman, a mother of 5 children, a wife who admires her husband more than anyone else in this world, well, is it just possible that she is doing the will of God? Let us look at Judges 4 and 5 at the account of Deborah. As a general background, the book of Judges records the accounts of Israel’s deterioration after the death of Joshua and its failure to complete the conquest of Canaan. During these times the people go through cycles of oppression and deliverance, lack of faith in God and lack of obedience to Him and drift eventually into moral depravity. The male leaders are failing to lead the nation, and allow compromises and adopt the pagan practices of Canaan. The judges are the military and civil leaders during this period, and Deborah happens to be one of them. How she got to her position we are not told. We know she is a wife, and we know she is a mother. Here is an example of how God used a righteous woman to move reluctant men to obedience to His commands, for the sake of the nation. Read Judges 4:1-9:

“Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. And the sons of Israel cried to the Lord; for he had nine hundred iron chariots and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for 20 years.
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging at that time. And she used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgement. Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Behold, the Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Napthali and from the sons of Zebulun.
And I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon; and I will give him into your hand.’” Then Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go: but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.”

The story continues with Deborah and Barak (interesting that this subject happens to have the same name as Sen. Obama, isn’t it?) and the troops went to face the army of Sisera. During that battle, the Scriptures say that the Lord routed Sisera’s entire army “with the edge of the sword before Barak” (vs. 15), and Sisera jumped out of his chariot and high-tailed it away on foot. Barak took off after the chariots and the army and wound up slaying Sisera’s entire army. Now let me back up to vs. 11 which says. “Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.” I will finish out the story giving you verses 17-24:

“Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kennite. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. And he said to her, “Stand in the doorway of the tent and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ that you shall say, ‘No’.
But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.
So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. And the hand of the sons of Israel pressed heavier and heavier upon Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin the king of Canaan.”

You may wonder why I include these gruesome verses. I think if you understand the times that Israel was living through, it seems apparent that Deborah was used to stir up the men to their rightful work. Even so, Barak was unwilling to go and do the rightful work unless she went with him. It appears that he was actually afraid of going without Deborah. That cowardice insured that he would not be the hero to actually snag Sisera, but rather a woman would do it. And we would see that a woman actually had the courage to see to it that Sisera would not get away. It is good to read the Song of Deborah and Barak in chapter 5, but there is one verse I want to note. Judges 5:7 : “The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel Until I, Deborah, arose, Until I arose, a mother in Israel.” Did you see that? Deborah defines herself a”mother” in Israel. I don’t know if she had young children at the time or older children, but she must have had some children to call herself a “mother.” This was the title she cherished. It is the title Sarah Palin cherishes.

I think at this time in our nation, we need more good leaders, but until we have enough righteous men doing the job, we have to accept righteous women. There is too much corruption, too much wickedness and too much apathy in many of our elected leaders. There needs to be term-limits in Congress, but Congress doesn’t want to limit itself, because the members there don’t want to give anyone else the chance to do the job. As a result many people become entrenched and corrupted, and deceived by their own deceitfulness, and making up their own rules to satify their lusts and wicked agenda. There are a few good people doing an excellent job, but not near enough. And as wonderful as this country is, and as blessed as we are, if we do not humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and turn to Him and beg His forgiveness for our complacency and take seriously what doth He require of us, then we could be at risk of losing our blessings and freedoms. May God help us do the right thing.

“And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

~ II Chronicles 7:12-14