Being Alarmed

Not that I should have been alarmed by the email that a friend sent me this morning from a "prophet" which spoke of the need for the prayer of the righteous en masse for the election of John McCain and Sarah Palin, but I was. We must pray the email read because this is what got "us over in 2000, even though we did not win the popular vote." How about theft? Many believe that the 2000 election was stolen. How might this stink in God's nostrils?

The email goes on to claim that Palin is the modern day Esther who will deliver God's people and that while they too would like to see a black president, it was most of these people who fought against a righteous black Supreme Court nominee, Justice Clarence Thomas. (The "prophet" got this one right!) I called one of my brothers, who is a minister, being utterly disappointed with the friend who sent me the email. How could this intelligent successful woman believe such things?

Here is some of the email:

The scriptures teach that if we choose first to exalt righteousness and turn from evil, God promises to heal our land (see Proverbs 14:34; 2 Chronicles 7:14). It is righteousness that exalts a nation, not wealth, prosperity or armies. If we will finish the process of removing the curses of death and anti-God laws off of America by electing a president that will continue to shift the Court, God will grace us with breakthrough in other areas such as the economy, the war against terrorism, etc.

My faith is not in a person, and certainly not a political party, for the healing of America, but I know God's word and His ways well enough to know that our decisions do move Him to action or inaction. Now to the heart of my reason for writing this letter (I realize I am "preaching to the choir"—most of you who know or listen to me are conservative enough to vote for McCain and Palin.)

It continues:

In August of this year I predicted that September would mark a shift in momentum for these elections. This happened with the appointment of Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential nominee (who is a true Esther in our generation), but when the economy began its meltdown and the media ramped up their unprecedented attacks on Palin, that momentum wasn't sustained.

But we can see it turn again if we approach this battle as the spiritual warfare it truly is and bind the evil forces involved (see Matthew 16:18-19). The reality is that this election can be the breakthrough we need to fully shift the Court (and ultimately our nation) or it will be an immeasurable setback that could take many years to reverse—if ever.

My very wise brother asked one question that spoke volumes. "Hmm? Gay marriage and abortion? Now, how many times do we see these things in the Bible," He asked? I must acknowledge that he personally believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman, though he counsels gay persons. He also does not recommend abortions in most cases, though he has counseled women who have made such choices and those who have such ones to make. Above all, my brother is a believer in the love of God and the perfect law of liberty.

After his single question, he spoke the words of Jesus:

Matthew 7:4

And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye; and look, a plank in your own eye?

Matthew 23:28

Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

I then thought about the words of Paul:

I Corinthians 13:1-2

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging symbol. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love I am nothing.

May God bless America and the countries throughout the world. May God bless Americans and Iraqis, the families of the dead American soldiers and the countless of innocent men, women and children who have died in Iraq during this war. May God bless the heterosexual and the homosexual. May God bless the executive and the employee. May God bless the women who have carried their child to birth and those who have not.

May God bless us all, each and every one.