THERE IS STILL TIME TO PRAY
Lately, I have been saying that, barring a direct intervention of God, Barack Obama is our next president. Following that, I believe we will see six months or so of delusionary hope, after which will come a whirlwind of confusion. In a vision I seem to see a tornado of swirling papers. In saying this concerning a coming Obama presidency I stand at odds with most prophetic voices I have heard of late. I would love to be proven wrong. I do see the possibility of divine intervention in these waning days.
Although I strongly hesitate to make political statements (I've never been very political) this one has implications that make the 2008 election one fraught with moral issues. On this basis I must speak as a pastor and as a prophetic voice.
First, I cannot vote for a man who supports abortion - and not just abortion, but the kind of abortion that sucks the brain out of a child's skull in the third trimester of pregnancy while that child remains in its mother womb. I speak of partial birth abortion. A vote for such a candidate is a vote in support of the Great American Holocaust, a murder of the innocents that has taken many more lives than the Jewish holocaust of World War II. It was in large part the sacrifice of infants to the false god Molech that brought the destruction of Israel in the Old Testament.
I cannot support a candidate who advocates and defends gay marriage. Biblically marriage is defined as a covenant bond between one man and one woman. God incinerated Sodom for its acceptance of homosexuality as a normal lifestyle. I am not a homophobe. Unlike many of my colleagues in ministry, I do not require homosexuals to be transformed before laboring in the ministries of our church. I require only what I require of unmarried heterosexuals who would lead or serve in significant roles - celibacy. A vote for a candidate who advocates acceptance of a homosexual lifestyle as normal and is willing to promote gay marriage is a vote for the abandonment of clear moral principles at a national level and invites the judgment of God.
I believe these moral considerations transcend the political. There is still time to pray. No prophetic word is fixed in stone until the time of fulfillment has passed. Prophetic words summon us to prayer and repentance that can turn aside impending judgment and/or prepare God's people for events to come, whether trial or blessing. God may yet intervene in this election. You may not like the alternative, but distaste for the alternative does not release us from moral considerations. Yes, there are other issues to weigh, and some of them are moral in nature, but it seems to me that these two rank rather high on the Lord's list of priorities.
Lastly, I exhort you to take Obama's claim of Christian commitment with a huge grain of salt. I was a member of his denomination, the United Church of Christ, for all my life until 1988. I was ordained there and served as a member of the board of directors for FOCUS Renewal Ministries, an organization that worked for charismatic renewal and a return to biblical principles from within that mainline denomination. In 1988 I was forced to leave because laboring for renewal and biblical faith in that affiliation had become an exercise in futility. The UCC has been ordaining unrepentant homosexuals since the 1950s. The denomination as a whole no longer believes in the essentials of Christian faith such as the authority of Scripture, the virgin birth, the substitutionary death of Jesus, His bodily resurrection, the existence of hell or that Jesus is the only way to salvation.
Pray for this election. There is still time. Let my words concerning an Obama presidency become a call to prayer.
I realize that there are some of you out there, even in my own congregation, who would strenuously disagree with me regarding this election. Let us not divide over this, but agree that, should he become president, we will all pray for him together and honor him for the position he will occupy - as Scripture clearly calls us to do.
(Prophetic
Moments is an occasional bulletin produced by
Pastor R. Loren Sandford, New
Song Fellowship, Denver, Colorado. For previous
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