Over 151 Christian leaders from all sorts of different denominations and organizations have signed a document called the ‘Manhattan Declaration’ which is a call for Christians to stand together on a number of major moral issues that face America. The following three points summarize the key areas addressed by the document :

1. The sanctity of human life

2. The dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife

3. The rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Here’s the final paragraph of the document which reflects these key areas of concern:

“Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family.

We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.”

Response: <<Read my response on my AFTF blog>>

Here’s a link if you want to sign on to the document. Over 5,000 signatures so far.            *Top

(Sarah Palin by Jon Person via Flickr)

No matter what you may think about Sarah Palin, one of her ‘unforgivable sins’ from the perspective of the main stream media and the intellectual elites in America was her Pentecostal Christian background. I really do think that we are now at a time in America when a serious Pentecostal or Charismatic  Christian probably will no longer be able to get elected to higher offices in America.

The same may be said for anyone with serious religious backgrounds. The window of opportunity may also be closing for those with serious faith commitments like George Bush had. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are cases in point from the last election. A lot of evangelicals supported Gov. Huckabee in the primaries and didn’t support Romney.

We ended up with a President with far less experience than either one of those guys. Both were serious in their religious convictions and both were just killed by the media. I happen to believe that Romney would have been the best choice considering the economic problems we are facing but his Mormon background doomed his campaign at least this time around.

Will we ever elect another President or even Vice President which seriously practices their religion? Pentecostal or Charismatic—no way. Serious Evangelical Christian doubtful. Mainline Christian or Catholic probably. Mormon—probably not. Muslim—maybe in the future.

What do you think?             *Top 

(State Seal via Wikipedia)

The battle between the State of Connecticut and the Roman Catholic Church started in March with the surprise introduction of a bill in the state Senate that would have reorganized the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in the state. This bill was sponsored by advocates of same-sex marriage.

Then after the church headed up a successful campaign against the bill, the State of Connecticut ruled that the church was in violation of state lobbyist laws and was subject to a $10,000 fine and criminal charges since the Diocese of Bridgeport had not registered as an official political lobby.

Now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport has filed a federal lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court contending that the actions of the State in requiring them to register as a lobby organization are in direct violation of the church’s constitutional rights.

Response: It has started and this is just the beginning. If the State of Connecticut gets away with regulating the involvement of the Catholic church in political issues than there is nothing to stop that state and others from coming after the rest of us and muzzling all Christians, particularly when in comes to issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.

(-Presidential Picture by BL1961 via Flickr)

After 8 years a new era is dawning today in America. We come together to celebrate the passing of the torch to a new president regardless of who we voted for–it is an historic day on so many different levels.

After all the sights and sounds, the pomp, the parades, and the balls are all over– a new administration must pick up the ball and face a changing world that continues to bring us wars, economic problems, and natural disasters that no one is prepared for.

As the new president sits down for the first time in the oval office with the levers of power at his disposal, all the weight of that office will finally become apparent. As President Harry S. Truman put it: "The buck stops here."

With two wars on the table and an unprecedented economic crisis continuing to unfold, the new president, Barack Obama, will have little time to celebrate. Expectations are running high and probably way beyond what any one man will probably be able to accomplish on his own– even with an able new administration at his side.

It is time to put aside our differences and petty partisanship and wish for the best–no– we need to pray that the new president is successful, our future depends upon it.

For 8 years I have been praying for George W. Bush–now Barack H. Obama will be in my daily prayers–so bless him and help him God. In Jesus name Amen.           *Top      (Cross-Published on ANSWERS For The Faith)

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Federal investigators confirmed that the fire at the Wasilla Bible Church had been caused by arson.  <<Read the Whole Article>>

Response: Bet you thought the election was over? Well we are still living in the aftermath out here in California. Now this in Alaska. I do believe that we have turned a new page in this country–We could well be seeing the beginning of real persecution of Christians and the church.         *Top

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Picture by Martin LaBar via Flickr

I see smoke on the horizon, the Santa Ana winds have blown the gay demonstrators off the TV and front page print in So. Cal and replaced them with scenes of whole communities on fire.

Yesterday’s huge demonstration in Irvine was buried in the Local section of the Sunday paper. With all the TV media preoccupied with the fires, no one bothered to show up at Saddleback Church today, there was only one lone man out front carrying one huge sign advertising ’30% off’ for the ‘Circuit City store closing’ sale.

We are still under siege here but politics and Gay activists have been replaced by wind, fire, 90 degrees weather, and natural disaster. Please pray for our area.

Let the winds be replaced with winds of revival and the fires with a raging move of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.            *Top 

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Barack Obama via Wikipedia

On Wednesday in Leesburg, Virginia, Barack Obama stood before a crowd of 35,000 and proclaimed:

      "I feel like we got a righteous wind at our backs here."

What do you think?

I do have the audacity of hope all right–that a real righteous wind is going to sweep across this land and it has nothing to do with politics or political change. 

The statement took me beyond the political considerations and decisions that face our nation in a very few days and transported me into a different ‘prophetic’ mode. It is ‘a mighty rushing wind’ that I see in a vision in my mind sweeping across the nation from sea to shining sea–it is the righteous wind of God that I would like to see at our backs bringing real change.

Let it be Lord, Let it be. Let your righteous wind blow across the entire face of this land. Let it blow from East to West, from the North to the South, In Jesus Name.

The Bush administration has come up with a proposal that could do the job for now, but with little assurances that it would not result in trouble for the future.

In the middle of a presidential election, and also one where the Congress and some of the Senate are running for re-election in November, is probably the worst possible time for politicians to think about the welfare and the future of the country. This is a time when partisan politics is in full bloom with each party trying to hang the problems on the other. They are both to blame.

Nevertheless, the situation not only demands quick action, but also the right stuff. Politics needs to be put aside for a few days and a bi-partisan solution needs to be hammered out.

I have also read several prophecies (I will not link them) from different prophetic ministers warning that we are at a cross-roads where the whole thing could come down like a house of cards–unless Christians intercede. The bottom line, we really do need to pray.

We need to pray for our leaders that they would quit their usual party bickering and come together.

We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire some of the best and most influential leaders with long-term solutions to the problems before us–a more permanent set of solutions which will not only solve today’s problems but not create different ones for the future.

We need to pray that our leaders will actually be humble and accept inspiration from God—-and we need to pray that there will be time to get it all together.             *Top

I guess this seems to bother some and it is out of step with an ‘Oprah’ culture which proclaims that there are many different ways to God.

I like Dr. Albert Mohler’s response:

"So we find in Sarah Palin’s pastor an evangelical who believes in hell and preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only means of escaping hell.  In other words, he is an evangelical preaching like an evangelical.  Alert the media."

This is just way too much fun!            *Top

Also, here is a link I found on Commonplace blog to a post about Keith Olbermann on MSNBC making fun of tongues, praying to God, and Palin.

Response: Whether you support Gov.Palin’s candidacy or not, this is way over the top. These are just a couple of examples, there is a lot more out there!  Here’s a link to a post of mine on my Movie-TV review site with a video of Matt Damon criticizing Palin for believing in the creation–this one is just fun! Matt the ‘spy guy’ says that he’s afraid of Sarah.         *Top