Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A Plea to Christians


Most of you know how strongly I feel about the abortion issue. You know that I believe it is one of the most crucial issues in this election. It is not by far the only issue, and as I vote, I am taking many other important matters into consideration, but I will say this: I will NEVER vote for a candidate that is pro-choice. That is, unless someone pulls a fast one on me. I think that abortion is one of the worst travesties to ever hit this nation. I believe the blood of the countless babies who have been murdered is something that God will not allow to go unrequited. And at the risk of sounding like an alarmist, I have to say that judgment is in order, unless He extends His mercy. Moral issues such as abortion, gay marriage, sex education to young children, etc. MUST be at the top of our list when we make ANY decision in our life as Christians. They MUST be. If they're not, we have to answer to God. HE will be there in that voting booth when no one else will see what we do. HE is the one who will hold us accountable for our actions. "What about the economy," you say? "I have to look out for the well being of my children," you add. In another post I want to talk about that a bit. But for now, YOU have a responsibility to make a choice based on righteousness, not practicalities. Let me repeat, you have a sober responsibility as a Christian to do what you KNOW is right in the eyes of God. I am not saying you should vote for any particular candidate when I say that. If you cannot in good conscience vote for anyone from the two leading political parties, then find someone else to vote for. But vote, dear Christian friend, and vote with the knowledge that God is watching you.

This has been weighing on my heart, dear ones, because I have been grieved to hear so many who name the Name of Christ say they are voting for a candidate that they know in their heart is clearly not even coming close to adhering to biblical principles. I have to say with all love in my heart that God is not pleased, and He is not mocked.

Perhaps you don't hold the same views that I do about these moral issues. Then these words are not for you and you needn't respond to them. But if you say you love Jesus, I am imploring you to not throw mud in His face when you vote next Tuesday. Not when He's done what He has for you. Not with all that He's suffered for His own. Not with the blood that came pouring out at Calvary for poor helpless sinners. Please, at least do that much for Him: make whatever tiny effort you can to stop the shedding of the blood of innocent, helpless babies and to steer this country back in the direction of our Lord.

And one other thing. I cannot tell you how disturbing it is for me to think of the droves of blacks, my people, who are going out to vote for a pro-choice candidate, as they did the last election. And many of these dear ones, who are folks I love, profess to be Christians. It just boggles my mind. And it was just this year that I learned of the statistics and some background facts regarding this, which only adds to the horror of the whole thing as far as I'm concerned. I've seen the statistics and facts many places and they are documented. Thus, please allow me to add this video which recently has come to my attention:




Note: See the first post in this series for the ground rules on comments.

11 comments:

Beka said...

That video was absolutely heartbreaking. I am in tears. How can Christians stand by and watch these things happen, unmoved? I know that you agree, we need to be storming the Gates of Heaven over the next 6 days, that the Lord will spare this nation from more of this atrocious evil.

Theresa's Notes said...

That was a heart breaking post. I pray for our nation, I really do.

Susan said...

Thank you for your firm BIBLICAL stand. The video was so moving it almost brought me to tears. I agree that we are due for God's judgement in this country but His grace and love are to the righteous and those who love and serve Him.

I'd rather been biblically correct than politically correct. Too many people are more worried about their pocket book than what God says about the matter. God help us and God help them!!!!!! Father I pray that you open their eyes to what is going on. Remove the scales from their eyes. In Jesus precious, precious name I pray. Amen
Susan

Beverly said...

That video gave me chills. I am so aware that God is in total control of this election, but I am determined to do my small part on Tuesday. May the will of our Sovereign God be done. I hope we'll all join together in prayer.

Linda said...

This is such a courageous, inspiring post Maxine. We need to be so prayerful about this election. Our beautiful daughter is adopted, and I will always be so grateful her mother chose adoption rather than abortion. I cannot imagine our lives without her.
Amen to a wonderfully inspired post.

... said...

I will not vote for a candidate because of one issue. I will not vote for a candidate that will only follow in the footsteps of our previous president. I will not vote for a vice president who is not qualified to be president. I will not vote for a candidate just because he is pro-life. There's a lot more at stake in this country, and I think God cares about all of it.

I am a christian and I am pro-life. I love Jesus and I am not throwing mud in his face. I am offended that you even imply such a thing. I believe that Senator Obama is a Godly man who adheres to biblical principals. I believe he grieves over the abortion issue and he wants change in this area too.

We have spent 35 years since Roe v Wade with both pro-life presidents and republican congresses that have done nothing to stop abortions. What makes anyone think by electing Senator McCain that abortions will stop?

Something else needs to be done if we want to stop abortions. Studies confirm that Obama's strategy of strengthening support for prenatal care, health care, maternity leave, and adoption will help drastically reduce the numbers of abortions. Maybe by offering a woman support and tangible help - instead of condemnation - we can start turning women away from the decision to abort her child.

And a bad economy can be one of the influences that would cause a woman to choose abortion. The issue of the economy may not be as important as abortion but it should be high on the list because they could go hand in hand

The real solution to abortion is to change the heart of America, not the law. I believe Obama can bring a change to this country and that's why I voted for him.

A minister and blogger articulated exactly how I feel. Read his post and comments at: http://www.bartcampolosblog.com/blog/?p=187&cat=1. Maybe you'll realize that there are Godly, pro-life people out there who, after praying for God's wisdom and guidance on this issue, will vote for Obama feeling they have made the right decision for the country they love. Maybe not.

Maxine said...

Diana dear,

One thing I worried about when I made this post was that there would be someone who would be offended. I hope you know me well enough that you'd realize this would never be my intention. This whole abortion thing has torn at our nation's heart for years, so I knew I was taking a chance. Let me say that on blog posts I see people say many things, some which I totally agree with, some which I totally don't agree with, and some which are somewhere in between. But I do think a person has every right to express himself or herself on their own blog and I can take it or leave it. But I don't think I should be "offended" about the statements they make. I don't want to debate with you or anyone else about this whole election. I refuse to do that. You could even make your comment a blog post on your own blog; you've expressed your position so well. But I don't intend to debate it here and I hope that my other commenters would follow suit.

I do want to make one clarification, though. In my post my focus was on abortion, but I did say that there are other issues of morality that I feel are important to our nation's future as well. So I wasn't speaking of just one issue, but on morality as a whole. Also, I did try to make it clear that I was not pointing people in the direction of one particular candidate. Please read that part again, Diana. It's also important that folks understand that I'm not talking about what has been done or not been done with respect to a particular issue, but the IDEOLOGY of the particular candidate/party and their platform and how it measures up to biblical principles. I am speaking about how we apply those principles when we step into the booth. If you feel you can justify your candidate's longstanding record in this regard, then that is between you and God.

I have seen that evangelicals often come under fire for making a a certain stand on moral issues. That's something I think we need to be willing to do. I've made my stand and will continue to rest firmly on it. I read the post from the link you gave and respect his position, but humbly disagree. Others may take their stands, different than mine, on these serious issues. They don't have to answer to me or I to them. We all answer to God. We need to prayerfully do what we believe is right.

I want to also say, which I probably will in a post next week, that whoever is elected and becomes President, will have my prayers and the respect due the office. If it is not who I want, I hope I don't spend the next four years "bashing" the head of state in the way that I've seen done the past eight years. No matter who it is, as imperfect as he or she surely will be, I'll be lifting them up in prayer and looking to God as my King and Leader and Sustainer.

... said...

Maxine,
Only you know your intention in writing your post and I do respect a blogger's right to write whatever they please. I did not have to respond. Believe me, I thought long and hard about doing so.

But I was offended. I've read this post over and over again and in my opinion, it says that if you call yourself a Christian then you shouldn't be voting for a pro-choice candidate. That God will not be pleased if you do.

The first couple of sentences in your last paragraph states that you know people who vote for such a candidate and then "profess" to be Christian. Can they not be Christian AND vote for a candidate that is pro-choice?

I don't want to debate this either. I do respect your choice. And I thank you for respecting me enough to post my comment and then addressing it. We can agree on one thing, our prayers are needed not just for the election but the future president.

Maxine said...

You know, Diana, my use of the term "profess" to be a Christian may not have been the wisest choice. It may sound as if I am questioning the faith of anyone who votes pro-choice and I certainly don't want to do that. Though I admit it's hard for me to understand their thinking, I certainly would NEVER want to stand in judgment as to whether they are a Christian or not. So I'd ask forgiveness on giving anyone that cause for offense. I have a very close friend who is a person who has a heart for Jesus that I'd match against anyone, but she's supporting the pro-choice candidate. I don't understand it, but she is. That's all I'm saying: I don't understand it. But again, who am I? She doesn't answer to me.

The point of my post is that it grieves me and it's hard for me to understand that. The post was and is an outpouring of my heart. It's an expression of MY view of following Christ as it relates to the issues. Apparently some others don't agree, tho many do. Other than what I said above, I continue to stand on these convictions that were expressed in this post. But we'll all understand it better by and by, as an old hymn we sang used to say. In the corridors of time and with God holding the reins, someday truth will prevail. And don't we all want to be on the side of truth? Let's keep searching for it, shall we, Sister?

So, the discussion can now be ended.

Vicki said...

Hi Maxine,

I so appreciate your courage in addressing this sensitive topic. Nothing about your post offends me. People will always have different views, but it seems to me that the masses have been deluded during this whole election process. The bible reminds us that the time will come when good will be called evil, and evil will be called good. That's exactly what's happening now...

My conscience won't allow me to endorse a candidate who has no appreciation for the sanctity of life. That's huge. When I examine Obama's record, a dreadful amount of other red flags wave at me, too. As I read your post, I remembered what he said earlier this year, that if his daughters made a mistake (got pregnant), he wouldn't want them "punished" with a baby. That alone spoke volumes.

I recently read Thomas Nelson's book, The Faith of Barack Obama, curious to understand his background, philosophy, faith roots, and belief system. I can tell you, his beliefs are a blended version of "something"...but not biblical Christianity. When his daughter wanted to know what happens when a person dies, he admitted he didn't know - no assurance; he also said that he believes his atheist mother is in heaven because she was a good woman. Other statements he's made seem to imply universalism. But people will defend him.

Like my mother used to say, "mark my words"...Obama is a dangerous man for this country. His promises for change will bring change alright, but not the kind we want or need. It's our responsibility before God to check this man out before casting a vote, but nobody wants to hear the truth.

There are no perfect candidates in this race, granted. Not even McCain was my first choice. But I see a deeper problem with this country. It's not the economy or any number of popular issues and talking points. It's spiritual darkness. Some have forfeited their own integrity and sold their souls, all in the name of government. Too many are reasoning with man's reasoning, instead of following God. If we put our trust in man and government, we'll suffer, for sure. As believers, we need to trust Christ and not be swayed by all this political backlash. We're definitely gonna need Jesus to get through these next 4 years; I'm already praying for both candidates. God will not honor a country that keeps voting in favor of the slaughter of millions of innocent lives, nor for supporting the ever-growing Sodom & Gomorrah lifestyles crying for a stamp of approval.

God bless you, Maxine. I join you and your readers in praying for our country. When we all wake up on Wednesday morning, at least we'll know that - whatever happens - our God *still* reigns.

And that's the good news:-)

God bless you,
Vicki

Maxine said...

Wow, Vicki, that's some comment. You, too, could have made a post out of this.

You should have heard our sermon tonight. A good exhortation to help us during these troublesome times.

Last night I decided to do an endorsement and am publishing it now. This will probably be my last until after it's over. I'm looking forward to getting on to other things.

Thanks, dear friend. See you at Windows and Facebook.