This week I need to make a departure from our subject on Mobilizing the Army of God. There is much more to be said about that, and I hope to get back to it later. By far the current events are weighing on people’s hearts and minds, and as a watchman/pastor I feel that I need to address some of the crucial events of this time.
First, the Lord cannot lose the election—He is not running because He does not have to run. His kingdom is going to come and His will is going to be done right here on earth as it is in heaven. His kingdom will advance regardless of who is elected. The wise are building their lives on His kingdom and not the kingdoms of this world. As we are told in Daniel, we can expect every kingdom of men to fall ultimately, but at the same time the little stone will grow into a mountain, or government, and keep on growing until it fills the entire world (see Daniel 2:35). His kingdom will grow on the earth through an Obama administration or a McCain administration. In this we can rejoice, be at peace, and walk in great boldness.
When we see the kingdom, it can be boring to look at even the greatest issues unfolding in the world. We are called to be the salt and light in the world, and therefore be responsible with the influence, privileges, and rights that we have as citizens in our countries. Our goal should be to help our nations prepare for the coming of the Lord and His kingdom, being those nations that are considered “sheep” and not “goats” when He comes to judge them as such. For this reason, I want to address certain current events. I do this knowing that even if what I am seeing is an accurate prophetic picture, it is still incomplete, as we all “see in part, and know in part” (see I Corinthians 13:9). However, the questions I am hearing from people and the concern I see on them compels me to share my part, trusting you to judge it as being just a part.
As I wrote long ago, this election is the most important in America since 1860. Though I have repeated this often, I have only ambiguously explained why I felt this way. Generally, it is because the decisions made in our country in this election will determine the future direction just as much as the 1860 elections—the degree of division in the nation, as well as the amount of pain and conflict we will be facing as a nation.
In general, it is obvious that our whole nation has swung to the left. John McCain is one of the most moderate senators in the Republican Party, and their nomination of him represents a swing in that party to the left. The Democratic Party has also swung to the left since the Clinton administration. Barrack Obama is the most liberal, or left leaning of all Democratic Party senators, so there has been an unquestioned swing to the left in American politics. It is not unusual for America to swing from one side to the other. As I have also said many times, an eagle needs both a left and a right wing to fly, and the balance of these two has helped America to soar as it has.
It will be very disconcerting and potentially devastating if America swings to either extreme, which could happen in this election. However, if the most liberal senator gets elected, there are extreme left leaders in the House and Senate, which means there will be no checks to keep the nation from turning very hard to the left. It would be just as disconcerting to many Americans if the nation was turned to the extreme right. This is coming at a time of profound uncertainty in other areas as well, such as the economy. The consequences of such a swing to an extreme would almost certainly end up devastating and far more divisive.
Our economy is basically very healthy and strong in the fundamentals. McCain told the truth when he said this, and he should not have backed off of that truth. There are some serious problems, and the sub-prime crisis still has not been resolved. Other issues need to be fixed, but if they are, the U.S. economy is both strong and resilient enough to regain strength at a good pace very quickly. Even with the sub-prime meltdown, more than 95 percent of outstanding mortgages are being paid on time. There is a bottleneck in the credit markets, which is mostly due to fear and uncertainty. However, given some certainty about where we are headed, and the powerful and resilient engine that the U.S. economy is, will allow it to recoup and get going again.
However, business does not like change. This is because changes thrown at it have been as hard to deal with at times as trying to play a game when someone keeps changing the basic rules. This can cause hard thought-out strategies that were developed for one set of rules to all of a sudden be wrong. This has been done to business too often by both political parties, but if it happens now, with the unresolved credit crisis, the consequences will be so magnified that the devastation to the economy will be great.
My point is that if next Tuesday we end up with both a Democratic administration and filibuster proof Congress, a meltdown into another Great Depression will not only be possible, but likely. I personally will be preparing for this. This may seem like an extreme, and it will likely seem as if things are getting better for a time just because the elections have been settled and this will give confidence to many. However, regardless of how good or stable things seem to be getting for a time, use that time wisely. Very hard times will come.
I am a registered Republican and a conservative politically. The social issue differences in this race are more alarming to me than the economic ones. I could not blame you for thinking that my political views are coloring what I am sharing here, but I do not think that is influencing what I have written. Even though I am a conservative, and though I will be alarmed that someone might be elected to the highest office in our land who could not even be hired as an FBI agent because of his associations, I do not believe that Obama has anything but good intentions for America. I do not believe he is a Muslim nor do I believe many of the other accusations against him. Though some liberals feel America is the cause of the world’s problems, and Obama obviously has had the influence of people who think that way in his life, I think he has matured, learned, and does not any longer hold to many of the extreme views he may have held to in the past, or at least many of his associations he held to. However, looking at his associates, it is easy to think he does hold these views and would do us great harm as a President. I personally just do not believe that is who he is.
If Obama is elected, I will be praying for him daily, as well as for our other leaders, and praying for the Lord to give him a Joseph or Daniel who will give him godly counsel. I am also very thankful that America has proven that we have matured greatly in our racial issues so that a black man could be elected to our highest office.
However, with his social and economic proposals, and without any checks to moderate them, we are in for dramatic social and economic change in America. Economically, it seems like a most tragic replay of what happened in the 1930s. A recession every now and then can be a healthy thing for any economy. It brings greed into check, has people begin to appreciate their jobs, and causes a deeper examination of investments and business deals, all of which are healthy. However, overreaction at this time when we are obviously very close to a devastating precipice will be like going over a cliff, and we should prepare for it.
Though occasional corrections in the economy can be healthy, if they are too severe they will open us up to much worse problems, such as the kind of evils that overtook Germany and Russia in the last century. When people are threatened with starvation, they will easily give up their liberties for food. The real solutions often cause some pain, and no one likes pain. Therefore, most vote for those who just make promises that things will be better without really understanding what they are proposing and the effect these proposals will have. Traditionally, America has voted style over substance.
If McCain/Palin win, we will still have serious difficulties with the economy, but we will have a check in place that could prevent us from going over a precipice into a much worse economic tragedy. The real root of the sub-prime crisis was the pressure put on banks, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae to make sub-prime loans to the poor. This seem good intentioned, but it has ended up hurting everyone—the poor more than anyone. If more of the same foolishness is exerted by both a President and a Congress, we will be in very serious trouble.
I am not a conservative because I do not want to help the poor and needy, as this would renounce a fundamental heart issue of the Lord Himself. I am a conservative because I do want to help them and everyone else. Obama may be honest in saying that his tax plan will cut the taxes for 95 percent of the people, but what is not being said is that if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, which they obviously will with the Democrats in power, virtually everyone’s taxes will automatically go up. This cannot help but to have a stifling effect on an already weakened economy.
As I said, regardless of who is elected, things may or may not look up for a while. Some faith and confidence will come back into the economy for a time, regardless of who is elected, but the economic policies proposed by the Democratic Party will end up acting as if the oil of our economic engine has been turned into sludge. Bush will probably get blamed for this, just as he has for everything else, and he has not done a good job defending himself. In my opinion, he has not done a good job managing the federal budget or other matters in government, but another 9/11 attack would have been even more devastating than a market crash, so we need to appreciate him for keeping us safe for as long as he has.
My point is that with a far left Democratic administration, combined with a far left Democratic controlled House and Senate that may also be filibuster proof, we are almost certainly going to be jerked very hard to the left as a nation and over a cliff economically. With this scenario, we are not just looking at change, but extreme change in social issues, economic issues, and foreign policy issues, which we will need to be prepared for. I am preparing for hard times if McCain/Palin are elected and very hard times if Obama/Biden are elected.
