I can remember watching the mechanical election returns board on the television....it was 1960....and the race was Kennedy/Nixon. I was a Democrat up to about 1982. I was swept up in the fervor of the early 80s....but that fervor was not political. We came to Christ in droves....almost tripping over each other. Switching my registration to Republican was no big deal....in fact it was expected. In the forty years since that time period....there have been ten presidential elections....and twenty or so general and mid-term election periods....and we were told in each one that that particular election was the most important in the history of America!
The quality of the candidates in all of these elections has consistently gone down....a benchmark being 1992 when the Clintons fooled America....and even many evangelicals....but Newt Gingrich came to the rescue....and Rush Limbaugh....or so we believed. The Billy Graham evangelical had become the Jerry Falwell evangelical....or the Pat Robertson evangelical....or the James Dobson evangelical....take your pick....but as the Ralph Reed evangelical it would include all of us.We were slowly losing the essence of the gospel in the church. The Karl Rove evangelical had then taken over the reins....and politics was the new savior.. We no longer studied the Bible to defend the gospel from ‘Christian’ cults going door to door....and to pray our loved ones into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....we now focused on the Constitution to defend America from liberals....and pray our loved ones into becoming patriots.
By 2008 the revival....if you could call it that....was long over. The megachurch had replaced the need to be born again. With no power in the church....recruiting now taking over for evangelizing....a black man road in on a white horse to lead what was left of the Democrat Party into oblivion....and then after eight years....a white man charged in on a black horse to destroy what was left of the Republican Party.
If we win this election we will celebrate....and get out the knives to carve up our enemies....but we are already undone. Even if we win or lose....the next election will again be the most important election in the history of America....and we will begin right away.
Folks....it is not the voting booth....but the pulpit....that holds any hope for America....not to be....great again....but to head into this coming maelstrom dependent only upon our great captain....Jesus Christ. Look to your pulpit this Lord's Day.....pray now.....fervently.....look for signs that these men might be waking up. Praise God if you see a great concern on their faces....and a restored unction to pull people onto the ship....out of the raging waves....offer up a sacrifice of humility....look to your neighbors and your loved ones and say....’come with me....for I am going to the Celestial City....where every tear will be dried....and every breath given to praise and thanksgiving for mercies bestowed....and strength given....and faith restored....in our only true hope....the rock of our salvation....our coming king....the King of all Kings....Jesus Christ.'
