‘Christianity, government and reality’


From http://conservativebyte.com/2014/01/want-hillary-elected-president/#

 

COGwriter

A reader sent me the following:

Christianity, government and reality

July 25, 2015

Many, if not most, conservatives think a person who is a pro-life, anti-gay, pro-traditional marriage Christian would make a good president and solve all our ills. The late Charles Colson saw both sides of the presidency as an insider during Nixon’s tenure and as an outsider who spoke for conservative Christian causes after his conversion. He said in his book “Kingdoms in Conflict,” “To suggest that electing Christians to public office will solve all public ills is not only presumptuous and theologically questionable, it is also untrue.”

When Christians become aligned with a candidate or party, Colson continued, the church “gives priority to the compromises and temporal successes of the political world rather than its Christian confession of eternal truth. And when the church gives up its rightful place as the conscience of the culture, the consequences for society can be horrific.”

Despite campaign promises, the president does not have sole authority to pass laws; he has to work through Congress. Many conservative Christians believe a Republican president will align with the Republican Congress to pass laws that will “Christianize” our government. It seems this is their only criteria for judging a candidate’s worthiness. The president’s duty as a private citizen, however, is to ensure justice and religious liberty for all our population and people of all faiths.

…Power has destroyed even the best of people. Politicians will sometimes use whatever means are at their disposal to attain or remain in office, even lying about their opponents and their own agenda. That’s the way politics works.

Even Christian leaders are not immune to the power of politics. …

Those in my poll also looked for a candidate with beliefs similar to their own in areas such as capital punishment, social concerns and social welfare. …

I think we’re all weary of being bombarded with news of mass killings, senseless rioting in the streets, a teen shooting to death a person he was arguing with, gay pride marches, unwed mothers who raise children alone because the “father” wants no responsibility for what he helped to create, abortion, same-sex marriages, movies and TV programs that portray our society’s mores near nudity and cursing that’s just part of the vocabulary. No wonder we’re looking for someone who can change all this … who can change people.

History shows that a leader who passes laws to change society’s behavior may have motives that are political; i.e. to control the people.

Phillip Yancy, in his book “What’s So Amazing About Grace,” quotes a report by a U.S. delegate to the Baptist World Alliance congress in 1934.

“It was a great relief to be in a country where salacious sex literature cannot be sold; where putrid motion pictures and gangster films cannot be shown. The new Germany has burned great masses of corrupting books and magazines … ”

The leader was Hitler, and we all know how that turned out.

History shows that the only times our society has changed was because of a powerful spiritual movement among people, not because laws were passed to change behavior. However, not changing our behavior through laws puts the burden of change directly on us as Christians. Are we truly God’s agents of change or are we merely spouting our beliefs without changes in our own behavior that will be a fragrant aroma to those who need Christ? … Prayers and grace-full living can change people more than any judgments and angry rhetoric.

We would be wise to heed Colson’s reminder of the difference between the government of man and the kingdom of God. The latter “is not a blueprint for some new social order, nor does it merely set the forces of radical cultural changes in motion. Rather, God’s Kingdom promises radical changes in human personalities.” Changed people change laws, not the other way around. How will we respond?

— Gayle Raif is a Longview resident

The many people running for the Presidency of the USA will not fix the problems that the USA faces.

Many seem to believe that if the Obama Administration can be replaced by a Republican Administration that this will be pleasing to God and the USA will reverse its downward slide. Depending upon who wins the next election, whether a Democrat or Republican, at more he or she might slow down the slide and at worse accelerate it.

Gayle Raif is correct that the Bible teaches that the Kingdom of God is what is needed.

Since Adam and Eve turned away from God and cut off from the tree of life, God has given humankind 6000 years to live doing things its way (see also Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?). Most seem to believe that humanly devised systems are the answer and that one or more political leaders will ultimately bring ‘utopia’ to the planet.

But that is not the case.

Jesus said that it would get so bad that God would have to intervene for the elect’s sake:

21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. (Matthew 24:21-22)

The next USA President will NOT prevent the world from getting to the point of total destruction. Instead, he or she will take steps that will lead to it. Whether or not the next president is a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or ‘other.’

For more about the 6000 years, check out Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?

For more on Christians and elections, check out Should a Christian Vote?

For more on what will happen to the USA, check out Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Should a Christian Vote? This article gives some of the Biblical rationale on this subject. Would Jesus vote for president/prime minister? Is voting in the Bible? This is a subject Christians need to understand.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2022 or 20xx? There is also a video titled The 6000 Year Plan: Is the end of humanity’s reign almost up?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2015, 2016, or 2017? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2014 o 2015? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon video: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was the Emphasis of Jesus and the Early Church Did you know that? Do you even know what the gospel of the kingdom is all about? You can also see a YouTube video sermon The Gospel of the Kingdom.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had? What are some of the scriptural limits on ecclesiastical authority? Do some commit organizational idolatry? Here is a Spanish language version La Biblia, Policarpo, Herbert W. Armstrong, y Roderick C. Meredith sobre el gobierno de la Iglesia. Here is a link to a sermon titled Church Governance.
Prophecies of Barack Obama? Reasons why Barack Obama is apocalyptic and reasons why Barack Obama is not the Antichrist. This article includes many biblical and non-biblical prophecies, from around the world, that seem to discuss Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist? Might Barack Obama set the stage for the kings of the North and South as at least one Shiite prophecy suggests? Read it and decide for yourself if President Obama seems to be fulfilling various prophecies. Watch also the YouTube Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
Hillary Clinton in Prophecy Prophecy, Hillary Clinton? Are there prophecies that Hillary Clinton may fulfill? Are there any prophecies that she has already helped fulfill? Could Hillary Clinton be apocalyptic? Could Hillary Clinton be the final Antichrist? A video of related interest is titled Hillary Clinton and Bible Prophecy.



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