Wow, it's time to take a break from politics... Think again.
I am of course very concerned by the election of Barack Obama primarily because he has refused to (easily) produce a certified copy of his Hawaiian birth certificate for some reason (along with keeping many documents sealed from Harvard, University of Illinois, his wife's thesis, etc.). Perhaps because of his paternal grandmother's claim that she ...was in the delivery room in [Mombosa,] Kenya (making him not qualified to be President), when he was born Aug. 4, 1961. But I will be following that more in the future. See the latest about this situation in the article: Obama and our Coming Constitutional Crisis by Ellis Washington (professor of law and political science at Savannah State University)http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80435. Also see the latest on the lawsuit at: www.obamacrimes.com. Understand, this truly is a big deal.
Involve yourself in politics at the local level and you will quickly realize why most people have no interest in pursuing it as an occupation or a hobby. It takes at least three things that most of us are in short supply of; time, money and thought.
There is a fourth thing that I have come to realize it takes and it is the one thing I believe we've been missing. It's also the one thing that will keep me involved beyond today and probably at a whole new level of conviction. Care. Care is the fourth thing that can trump the other three things it takes to involve yourself in politics. Call it love for others if you want. Call it love for your country or like in my case all of that plus more importantly love for my family's future... concern for my children and their children's country. For of all the things I have come to realize over the past two years of campaigning and working within the party politics, this one thing is true: I believe that if I (and everyone else) do not remain involved between elections, our country is lost. If we just vote and wait for the next election, we will keep getting progressively worse candidates, guaranteed. Do you want that? I don't.
Now if you are one of those that believe that it really doesn't matter or that God is through with our country, stop reading and move on. All others consider a few things please.
It is true: God is in control and He raises, removes and controls leaders. However, most Americans, (especially Christians) have not been taught that the ultimate "authority" in the American Republic was "We the People" based on our Constitution. This was intended by the founding fathers expressly because of the evil nature of man and Satan's working through people down through history. It was also not the founder's intent that Americans only concern themselves with politics at election time. The one thing that the founding fathers were certain of was that power placed in the hands of men and left unchecked for any amount of time would always lead to despotism. It always has in every society throughout history. Yet today's Americans, including the church in America seem to believe that men can be trusted after we elect them. After all, isn't Roman's 13 permission to not question government? It's almost as if many believers think we live in some extension of the Roman Empire of Paul's time. This lack of historical context is why America and America's churches are where they are and headed where they're headed. We go to church and we go to work, maybe vote once every couple of years and then we let the "rulers" rule us... and we complain about it because "if you vote you have a right to complain."
The founders with the support of the minister's of the time gave us the gift of self government born out of resistance and ultimately rebellion to tyranny. They truly believed that they "must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29) and that meant that there was a point at which you must stand up to human "authorities".
More importantly we still have the responsibility and ability to influence and correct our government and policies. America is alone in history and in the world as the one time and place where Christians have and still do enjoy liberty and freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of worship and freedom to spread the Word. But that is being slowly eroded generation after generation in such a way that few have recognized the complacency that allowed it. We vote and feel empowered while America is squandered by corrupted politicians that we elect as the "lesser of two evils". That is the choice only because we refuse to be involved as a body continuously between elections.
It's time for God's people to realized their birthright in America and reclaim it through participation BETWEEN elections. It is our right and responsibility to vote but it is even more our responsibility to confine our government to the Constitutional constraints placed on it to ensure that our Republic remains the light on the hill of the world. That light has all but gone out and If we cannot get other Christians to educate themselves and realize this, and to realize that we can do something in addition to pray and wait for the rapture, America could be the foundation for an Antichrist system like the world has never seen. If that happens, I believe a century of Christians are at least partly to blame because of our actions and inaction that has contributed to the slide into despotism. We must act according to what we understand God's character is, not what we think the "end time" time line is.
That all being said, Christians are the only Americans that truly have the hope to offer the world. But that "right" and responsibility is very close to being lost. If it is taken it is our own fault believers. Liberty and freedom are at much greater risk of being lost from within than from a foreign threat. We can use our unique position and authority over our government to recreate the free republic that the founders gave us or we can allow it to fade into tyranny like all civilizations before. This hope is what should give us the resolve to pick up the pieces and rebuild our country for God. There is ultimate hope in Christ but we must share it and defend it for the world as the salt and light that we have been called to be. But Jesus said if the salt loses its flavor... it is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. That is where we are today.
Please get involved now in local politics where you are at some level. That is the only way to fix things in America. If you do not know what to do, ask me and I will be more than happy to tell how you can join the fight for our nation.
Troy Perkins
