CW:
James, I’m going to ask you with a straight faceand i want a straight answer, do you really believe that governor palin with ALL you have seen so far is more qualified than biden, or obama. please be straight!!
James:
Your question implies that you have previously received crooked answers from me (otherwise why would you feel the need to request a straight answer?). However, since this is our first dialogue ever, I doubt that I was the originator of the crooked answers you have apparently received in the past. Christians generally are inclined to forthrightness since this is our duty. There is therefore no need to plead that I “be straight”. Either way, Of course I think Palin is more qualified than Biden. But more importantly, Palin (even with all her imperfections) is more inline with conforming her thoughts, principles and life to God’s word which is by far the most important thing a politician can do.
CW:
You have a true and old name. I have never met you, but you feel
strongly about this topic so I thought I might listen and respond.
Whenever anyone invokes God, I always listen. I try to remind myself
the question “who am I”, and what they make speak may be my salvation.
I am a Christian, but perhaps not as religious as you. Compassion is
something Jesus taught us. If I do anything right, I have made
compassion my daily ethic.
I think Barack Obama speaks truth in a way that we have not heard in
recent times. Perhaps Sarah Palin speaks truth, and I know John
McCain speaks truth. But to me, Barack’s compassion stands out from
the crowd. I would like to see him have a chance.
James:
Firstly, if we would simply give God the preeminence he deserves his followers would not have to “invoke” Him ad nasuem. After all, what else matters apart from Christ?
Secondly, compassion is certainly admirable, but I would argue that the most important thing Jesus taught us is obedience to the Father; compassion without obedience is a dead end, biblically speaking.
Besides, I’m not convinced that Obama is any more passionate than McCain or Palin. He is certainly less inclined to take God’s word seriously which is akin to playing with the fires of Hell. I say this not to incite folks but to underscore Obama’s gross inconsistencies as a self-proclaimed Christian. This is not to say that his counterparts don’t have issues themselves (they certainly do) but their issues seem to pale in comparison to Obama’s.
I still can’t get over how Barack Obama “compassionately” accuses God of supporting slavery and does not think highly of God’s instruction that the Israelites not consume shellfish. Obama as a Christian should submit his thinking to God’s word and yet his administration would effectively promote abortion, homosexuality, a notional separation of church and state, a redefinition of marriage (which has no basis outside of scripture) and alternative lifestyle–sex education, things that God abhors and will certainly judge.
The subject of this email was entitled “Be very afraid” by it’s originator. I think these words are sound advice to a nation that would elect leaders that despise the righteousness of God naively thinking that God will not judge us accordingly. There is no excuse for voting for Obama, however, and ironically, Obama is the excuse for voting for McCain.
Unfortunately and like most Christians, Obama’s claim that he is a Christian is based upon what he believes a Christian should be instead of what God requires of Christians. This mode of thought is precisely the reason why God says that most people are going to hell. And just for the record, I do not think highly of McCain’s walk with Christ either (even though his administration would honor God far more than Obama’s).
Lastly, I would argue that none of the 4 candidates speak the truth and Obama leads the pack in this category. Thus, when I think of Obama, one verse of scripture in particular comes to mind: “(Isaiah 5:20) Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil”
Redeemed by His blood,
CW:
After the past 8 years of a self-proclaimed righteous administration,
I question the direction the country is headed and think a change is
necessary. I don’t agree that Barack is such an evil person. And I
certainly think it is important to consider the scripture you brought
up, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil”.
In WW2, the Germans marched to war with belt buckles that said “Gott
mit uns”. Even such an evil regime thought that God is on their side
in war, it’s human nature. I want to make sure we are nothing like
the Germans during that aweful time of war. Where are the voices of
peace and compassion regarding the war? Is that not something that
Jesus would have spoken about?
Our country should be secure, but a truly righteous foreign policy
would include fewer bombs. Innocent people are dying and this is
something that God will certainly judge.
Just my 2 cents… Thanks for the exchange of views!
James:
You mentioned the following, “Our country should be secure, but a truly righteous foreign policy would include fewer bombs, Innocent people are dying and this is something that God will certainly judge.” I do not understand the relevance of fewer bombs but I do think that God is going to judge the folks that could have intervened but yet stood by and did nothing. Consider the following verse:
Proverbs 24:11-12 KJV
(11) If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
(12) If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
For further development read (1John 3:16-17)
Do you (especially Christians) think God would approve of us standing by idle while innocent people are massacred when we have the ability to stop it? No, we don’t need permission from God to do this. We only have to ask ourselves the question; given the moral understanding we have about right and wrong, especially in light of what we know about God and Scripture, is this action justifiable? That’s all we have to answer. We don’t need wait for God to speak from the heavens when he has already commanded us to protect the innocent in the Bible. I just like most folks think that war is terrible and I look forward to the biblical consummation (the removal of the curse and the restoration of all things) when God says there will be no more war. However, and until that time, war is a reality. The American people (both Democrats and Republicans through their congressional representatives and the president) decided to go to war and now they want out; completely understandable, after all, in a war people die; expectations that do not include a death count are thus unrealistic.
“But what about the folks in Sudan/Darfur, how come we aren’t rescuing them?” As long as we have the military might and resources to carry out multiple missions, there is no reason why we shouldn’t help them by ending the atrocities that are currently the result of Muslim terrorist (incidentally, most terrorism in the world today is perpetrated by people that identify themselves with Islam).
“But innocent civilians will die!” How many times have we heard this? My answer to that is very simple. Yes, they will. That is always the case. But civilians will die if no action is taken. Peace, defined according to the democrats, is the view that we don’t suffer any casualties, not that people won’t die. Prior to the Iraq war this notion of “peace” lasted for the 12 years (of restraint and diplomacy) and this “peace” cost tens of thousands of lives at the hands of Saddam Hussein. During the time of his power, estimates range from 250,000 to over 1,000,000 dead through torture, execution, mass murder, rape and genocide. Where is your bleeding heart for those casualties? The sooner we win this war the fewer people will die.
Sometimes war is unavoidable, in fact, many times in scripture, God leads the Israelites into battle against pagan nations in righteous war. Some may consider this (Iraq) war unrighteous and certainly one can debate this claim back and forth but please be not disillusioned, there is a time for war (Ecclesiastes 3:8). In fact, Jesus comes with his saints (rapture-d Christians are included in this army) to fight all the pagan nations gathered against Israel in the last days before the end of this earth (Revelations 19:11). The Christian rapper Shai Linne refers to this when he says: “what’d you know about a rowdy gospel clique, rejoicing at the judgment when the wicked get their waffles split.”
Furthermore, in the thirteenth chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul gives one and only one purpose of government. He writes: “He [the ruler] is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoers.” Paul does not regard government as provider of income, health care, education, national parks, money, or any of the other services common to our modem welfare states; its function is quite simple: to punish wrongdoers. Exactly which wrongs to punish and which punishments to impose must be settled by appeals to other Biblical texts, but it is clear that Paul does not have our current socialist-leaning government policies in mind. The fact that many governments may not perform this purpose (or may perform it unjustly) does not detract from the fact that this is government’s only prescribed purpose according to scripture.
Regarding your comment about the Nazis, I should mention that I have always maintained that to use the word “God” nowadays without context is absolutely meaningless. It is obvious that Hitler’s god was not the God of the Bible. In fact, Hitler’s fascination with Darwin’s ideas (about the “survival of the fittest” and “the preservation of favored races”) make it abundantly clear that Hitler’s god was really Darwinian evolution (which incidentally is the only religion allowed in America’s public schools). Hitler was really a persecutor of Christians (e.g. Bonhoeffer) and there is no basis for coupling Nazisim with Christianity beyond the superficial usage of the word “God”. For more information please visit: (http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/263)
This brings me to the final point. Gods has certainly said that the things Obama’s administration would support (abortion, homosexuality, a notional separation of church and state, a redefinition of marriage (which has no basis outside of scripture) and alternative lifestyle–sex education) are evil so I think you may have to take up your disagreement with the Almighty.
P.S. (http://www.defendchristians.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=45184) check out the following video “7 reasons why Obama is not a Christian.”
The Christ Plus Zero Movement 