Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

• 1 Peter 2:13-17

“Christians are the only group in America large enough to vote out of office a sufficient number of liberal humanists to return this country to some degree of moral sanity before the twenty-first century.  If we do so, we can continue to enjoy the same freedom to preach the gospel and advance the kingdom of Christ that our forefathers established.  It would take only an additional 10 percent increase of involvement by the Christian community in registering voters, in informing them of candidates positions, and urging them to vote on election day.  That should be the bottom line of Christian responsibility for people living in a free country.”

• Tim LaHaye, Rapture [under attack]

As Pogo said a long time ago, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Tim LaHaye published this book under a different title in 1992.  He republished it in 1998.  Since then, the evangelical Christians voted for George W. Bush once, making the difference.  Otherwise, it has become a sea of apathy.

I am not saying that they do not vote out of apathy. Some do not because they find no one that they can trust from any party. Some have always voted for that party, not realizing that the party platform has changed. They ignore the warning signs. But others fail to vote as a Christian altogether, as if they were setting God aside until they leave the voting booth. They are apathetic in their faith, as if it makes no difference. Faith is God’s thing; this is different. And that is how secularism spreads so rapidly.

Franklin Graham has taken a lot of criticism for his support of the current president.  Our current president is rough, gruff, and occasionally too free with tweets, but one thing that seems to shine through.  He is good on his word within his ability to carry it out.  Usually in-coming presidents forget their promises on election night, never revisiting them, but the current president has stood firm.

You cannot say that about most career politicians.  They lie.  It makes following LaHaye’s instructions a bit hard.  The best you can do is that the candidate “says” that he/she supports “this,” but his/her party’s history in the past has been to never support “this.”  You rarely find a politician that will buck the party line and survive to serve the next term.

And just think of how far we were along the secular road to Hell when LaHaye wrote his book.  Did we switch into the HOV lane?  Things were great in the mid90s compared to the present day, not great then, but by comparison to now.  We had the chance to right the ship and we blew it.

Will we make a difference this year?  A well-known pastor from another country marveled that the United States has so many millions of people and our present candidates were the best we could come up with?  Yet, they are the candidates that are on the ballot, and we need to vote for the best candidate who can and will support Christian values.  Either that or we will lose more than just our values.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.