(Uh-oh, she’s been thinking again!)

I would have to say that my “awakening” to the political process began in my late 20’s.  That is, realization of the importance of the voice of “the people”.  The only problem is, there are all these professionals doing all of this talking, and the average citizen can so easily be led to believe that those (relatively few) professional chatters represent the majority as they claim they do.  Rush Limbaugh came along as a voice for the conservatives, but he doesn’t speak for all conservatives by a long shot.  The average person in America, of the ones who care, are informed and awake, I think is much more moderate.  I don’t think if left to our own conclusions, most of us would be so polar.   Glen Beck also has been an influential “voice” and has made valuable contributions to our awareness.  Which is fine as long as you don’t become a disciple of either of these guys.   As my mom always says, “use the noggin God gave you!”

When I really started getting into politics, I could get very frustrated based on which way the tide was going that day/week/year/election cycle.  That isn’t good.  I was depressed the entire time Bill Clinton was in office, lol.  Then, like many who supported Bush, by the time he was in his second term, I realized there were a lot of things he did that weren’t good for this country.  After being involved in the school system, I recognized how damaging No Child Left Behind was, even though the younger teachers were very enamored with it.  Well, I think the socialist “it takes a village” ideology is probably so deeply embedded in college Teacher curricula that by the time many teachers are ensconced in a classroom of their own, no further persuasion is necessary, so thoroughly indoctrinated the have become.  The teacher’s union sends down the word, and they vote as commanded.  Free-thinkers, those teachers! (Not all teachers are sold out to the unions, I know, but way too many!)

As I grew more in my spiritual walk, I started to see that the Evangelicals were practically a party unto themselves, and I realized two things; They were very America-centric in their spiritual thinking and they had the cart before the horse in believing their highest calling was to fix the political system so that the gospel was welcome, rather than giving the gospel, which if received, would naturally result in a return to Christian values.  Before I figured that out, though, I will admit that my own zeal for activism was much greater than my zeal for telling others the way to Christ.

Part of that was due to the fact I was still slogging my way through the quagmire that “the church” as a whole seemed to have turned into during my nearly-a-decade absence.  Nothing there made a whole lot of sense to me anymore.  As I lost confidence in spiritual leaders, I began to go more directly to the Lord asking; “What is going on here?  This person is teaching this, I know I’ve been gone a while, but one thing I know is that You never change, so what is up with this ‘new teaching’, and that new practice?  As I sought His answers in His Word, I began to gain insight.

It is probably not that uncommon, in a person’s 20’s to develop a questioning stance toward various authorities and not unhealthy, rather just a part of maturing.

But it took a while for me to learn something the Bible plainly teaches, and that boils down to “test the spirits”.  I have no doubt I can probably feel a little like a thorn in my pastor’s side with the questions I throw at him.  It’s nothing personal, for one thing, I’m a thinker and a debater.  But I learned the hard way about the fact there is so much deception both inside and outside of the church.  But the Bible is good for those answers regarding things both inside and outside the church and indeed every aspect of Earthly life.

I prided myself on being informed, but all the “awareness” you can muster (or stomach) in regards to politics, won’t amount to a hill of beans if you don’t view those things through the lens of God’s Word.  It’s like trying to follow a map without a compass or stars, or any landmarks.

So early on in this growing awareness, as I mentioned, seeing that too often Christians viewed the bigger picture only in light of America, and while many were already talking about the headlong rush toward Armageddon and judgment, they were only going by what was happening here.   Considering the Bible doesn’t indicate anything about America in relation to the prophesied events of the end times, I started learning all I could about the areas the prophets do speak of.

However, all of that is just back-story to bring me to this point;

Though the involvement of U.S. presidents (and military) in the affairs of the Middle East stretches back decades, there is no way anyone can deny that the election of Barack Obama was a pivotal moment of change in U.S. influence of world events.  No other president spent nearly their first year in office, being outside of the Continental U.S!  We are no less influential now under Obama, than we ever were, only a great deal more of our influence is dangerous and negative than ever before. (IMHO)

No other  president got so directly involved with the IMF and UN, and went around literally kissing up and bowing down to other world leaders like BHO did.

No other president has embraced and celebrated the immorality of abortion and sodomy as he has, at least not blatantly, publicly, and un-apologetically.  And no administration has certainly spied so blatantly upon not just our enemies, but our allies!  One could probably argue he has done nothing that is really new and hasn’t been done before, just a lot more of it and without regard or concern whether the public found out about it or not.  I could tell very early on, that Obama had an agenda that was much more far-reaching than America, just by the way he never stopped or even let up campaigning even after he won the election.

But the fact remains it is undeniable this entire world has taken a downward turn since Obama was elected, and even more so since he was “re-elected” (wink-wink, nudge-nudge).  That causes me to revisit the question of just how influential America is.  Still.  Present tense.

(And, no, I don’t believe Obama stole the first election.  I believe he padded the votes, but I believe for the most part, America chose him and he would have won without the tampering, even knowing what they knew about him, I personally know Christians who voted for him.  But I do believe his second term was “arranged” with lot of help, some of which is probably supernatural, but was allowed by a Sovereign God who sometimes sees fit to give the rebellious children what they ask for, and turning them over to their tormentor because they persist in their rebellion and refuse to be warned off and must learn the hard way.)

The entire Rabbi Cahn Harbinger controversy aside, since America was founded on Christian principles (don’t believe the revisionist who say otherwise) our influence through the years has to have been directly related to our orientation toward God in obedience.  Sure, as the dirt comes out, people become disillusioned with their own nation.  But wait a minute.  Is it the nation (and by that I mean the people, or the backbone of this country) that changed?  We got lax.  We were so blessed we left the foxes to their own devices and let our guard down, they made their way into the hen-house and now they are holding siege.  But do you believe for one minute that a majority of this country supports gay marriage?  A majority of California doesn’t even support it!

The foxes have taken the hen-house, but that doesn’t have to mean the fight is over.  And as oft-repeated though it is, God does say “if my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land.

Who is called by God’s name?   Christians.

Whereas early on in this awareness process for me, I saw this “America-centric” way of looking at world events as arrogant, (bear with me, here) what if we were to look at it from a different angle?  There is no question America, so historically a proponent of our own sovereignty, nevertheless seems to have had few qualms in violating the sovereignty of other nations, that aside for the moment, I want to look at America’s influence (historical, present, and potential) in a different light.

Keep in mind, I am speaking as a Christian, to Christians and those who, if not self-professed Christian, do at least acknowledge that what has always set America apart are the Judeo-Christian values we have historically upheld.  They were once fairly universal here, even those who didn’t believe in God per-se, still held a common definition of what is right and wrong and had respect for those who did have faith in God.

So stay tuned as I develop this topic further in other posts this week.