Fulfilling Prophecy

[teresaq]

http://www.wnd.com/2012/07/campaign-seeks-to-unleash-gods-spirit-on-election/?cat_orig=politics

There’s a new campaign that puts Election Day 2012 in the bull’s-eye, but organizers say it’s not about a political or social issue, or about who gets in Congress or the White House. It’s not even, really, about people.

It seeks to turn God loose on the nation.

The “40 Days to Save America” campaign has been launched by a who’s who list of Christian leaders who say the Bible explains in simple terms the solution to whatever troubles a nation, from social turmoil to financial stress to a failure of faith.

The foundation for the campaign is 2nd Chronicles, 7:14: “If my people who are called by me name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Rick Scarborough of Vision America says America is in crisis, and he’s being joined by thousands of Americans in the national campaign of prayer, fasting and repentance.

More than 100 ministries have joined the effort to seek God’s help with “pending economic collapse, moral disintegration, and international terrorism.”

All of those troubles have spiritual underpinnings, organizers say, and are even more daunting than what Americans confronted in 1776, 1863 and 1941.

Those dates were when the nation’s leaders, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, respectively, “declared national seasons of prayer, fasting and repentance.”

“Now as then, our destiny rests in God’s hands. The crises confronting us are beyond the power of human beings to resolve without Divine guidance,” organizers explain.

Scarborough says: “All around us, we see economic decline, immorality, corruption, growing secular humanism and attacks on religious liberty. Our call to action is clear.”

The group is asking citizens, their pastors and their churches to gather in one accord and commit to “40 days of prayer, fasting, and action” from September 28 through Election Day, Nov. 6.”

“The political problems which beset us are symptoms of a deeper spiritual malaise,” the team’s mission statement affirms. “The place to start isn’t with primaries, platforms and conventions, but rather through prayer, fasting and repentance.”

Scarborough says that he had had enough back in 1992 when he witnessed firsthand the secular attacks on “our Godly heritage.”

It was then that he realized how “aggressive the secularists were being in their quest to redefine America.”

“In our local high school where my children were being prepared for adulthood, or so I assumed, I sat in the back of a crowded auditorium and listened to a speaker advocating sexual licentiousness and making a mockery of the very moral underpinnings my children were receiving both at home and at church,” he writes. “So I stood up and confronted the speaker and her remarks. I also confronted our local school system…and I got involved as a father, citizen and pastor.”

Soon he founded Vision America to “inform and mobilize pastors and their congregations to become salt and light, becoming pro-active in restoring Judeo-Christian values in America.”

The “40 Days” campaign rejects the limitations of a political environment.

“We are calling for Christian and Jewish voters to make informed choices, voting not as Republicans or Democrats, but as followers of the living God,” the mission statement says. “We are calling for our leaders to have the wisdom and discernment to act according to His will and not based on personal or partisan considerations.”

Unlike “40 Days to Save America,” Vision America is all about getting Americans involved in the political process.

It’s about “empowering the ‘shepherds’ to lead their ‘flocks’ back into being salt in our nation.”

According to the Barna Group there are more than 324,000 Protestant churches in America, with an average Sunday worship of 100 adults. They cites studies showing that three quarters of regular church attenders do not vote regularly or at all.

“If only 66 percent are not voting, that means there are over 21 million adults who are absent from the political playing field,” the report said. “In addition, thousands of local, state and federal offices lack the influence of God-fearing, Bible-believing citizens who do not step up to run for those positions.”

Scarborough explains such circumstances mean Christians “are not losing the war by being ‘outgunned,’ we are losing by forfeit.”

Seeking God’s will isn’t new in America, the organizers note.

“During the American Revolution, in the darkest days of the Civil War, at the outset of our involvement in World War II, leaders as different as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared national seasons of prayer, fasting and repentance,” the organizers report. “Today, our nation faces multiple crises – pending economic collapse, moral disintegration, and international terrorism – but all have spiritual underpinnings.”

The organizers state bluntly that America’s “national survival is at stake.”

But counting on a political name, or party, won’t help, they warn.

“Our destiny rests in God’s hands.”

The campaign asks church leaders and churches to commit to observing the 40 days of prayer, fasting and action, encouraging congregation members to participate and then formally observe the events with a program or sermon.

Among the members of the board of governors are David Bereit of “40 Days for Life,” Gen. Jerry Boykin of “Kingdom Warriors,” Dave Butts of “Harvest Prayer Ministries,” Jim Garlow of “Renewing American Leadership,” Bishop Anne Gimenez of Rock Church, Virginia Beach, Va., Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church, Dr. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, Janet Porter of Faith2Action, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Scarborough, Kelly Shackelford of Liberty Institute, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel and Tim Wildmon of American Family Association.

[CoAspen]

Quote:

.....restoring Judeo-Christian values in America.”

Presumes those were the values of our founding fathers....he might want to study in more detail just exactly what it was those 'founding fathers' believed, not sure all are on the same page!

Slavery, class distinction, etc...

[CoAspen]

Yep, always going down the toilet, according to someone, all the time, every generation, since time began. Wonder why that is........I'll let you in on a secret, don't tell anyone...shhhhh...it's because those that make the statement want it, what ever 'it' is, to go their believed way and only that way!!!! (Thats a secret.)

[Gordon1]

Hi Richard, Welcome. I bought your book some years ago - sorry, can't remember how much I read.

Have you read any work by journalist Chris Hedges? Something many of us (SDA) are missing - an honest crack at reality.

[CoAspen]

If one does a little research of the individuals from that sight...well...lets just say....not a lot on truth info from them! Now if your into 'anti' this that or the other, its another of those types of places to go!!!! They do have an agenda though and it is political mixed with religious view points.

[firles]

thanks for sharing..

[LifeHiscost]

Good post, dgrimm. Seems we s human beings, never seem to learn. Would that be a good reason why we are saved one person at a time, as opposed to in bulk? (That's short for "by the church)

God blesses!

[teresaq]

HEY ALL

when it comes to any religious group---people

have a tendency to try to us force and fear

the ancient religions used fear and force

the JEWISH leaders before and during JESUS used fear and force

the Catholic Church used fear and force

the Puritans used fear and force

the MUSLIMS used fear and force

and today the apostate Protestants will us fear and force

dgrimm60

You don't share often, my brother, but sometimes when you do it can be a doozie! :)

[Lauralea]

Even though they may be right about some things, my concern is that they will eventually bring in the concept that the US needs to get back to worshiping on Sunday. We have seen this over and over again. So I can only agree in a qualified way.

I think I also read that the papacy among others will do this in the last days (include some true principles in their line of reasoning, and then stray from the truth)

[Gordon1]

Yes Lauralea, once the breakdown is seen as irreversible (we're already there),

the people will be told that only God can supply the answer.

But they will be sold on a counterfeit God, a God of force, intolerance and persecution.

[Lauralea]

Yes, a god of force, who also enforces Sunday worship.

[teresaq]

http://m.livingstonparishnews.com/mobile/news/article_6c2da5fe-c1e5-11e1-ae3b-0019bb2963f4.html

Hodges now leery of Jindal reform

By Alice Dowty | Posted: Friday, June 29, 2012 7:24 am

WATSON — Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Watson, says she had no idea that Gov. Bobby Jindal’s overhaul of the state’s educational system might mean taxpayer support of Muslim schools.

“I actually support funding for teaching the fundamentals of America’s Founding Fathers’ religion, which is Christianity, in public schools or private schools,” the District 64 Representative said Monday.

“I liked the idea of giving parents the option of sending their children to a public school or a Christian school,” Hodges said.

Hodges mistakenly assumed that “religious” meant “Christian.”

HB976, now signed into law as Act 2, proposed, among other things, a voucher program allowing state educational funds to be used to send students to schools run by religious groups.

Other members of the local legislative delegation, including Senator Dale Erdey, Rep. J. Rogers Pope and Rep. Sherman Mack, opposed HB976. They argued that public school funds should stay with the public schools.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s staff pushed hard to get the educational bills approved in the early days of the session, which ended June 4.

Hodges, who represents District 64 on the northwest side of the parish, and another freshman lawmaker in the local delegation, Clay Schexnayder from Dist. 81 in the southwest, voted with the House majority in favor of HB976.

The school funding mechanism, however, did not come up for a vote until the end of the session. By then, a Muslim-based school had applied for support through the new voucher system.

During debate over the MFP (Minimum Foundation Program) funding formula, Hodges learned more about the consequences of the educational changes. She voted against the new MFP funding formula; Schexnayder voted for it.

“Unfortunately it will not be limited to the Founders’ religion,” Hodges said. “We need to insure that it does not open the door to fund radical Islam schools. There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently. I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.”

The Livingston Parish School Board voted unanimously June 21 to join 19 other school districts in a lawsuit against the state, challenging the constitutionality of Act 2 (formerly HB976).

School Superintendent Bill Spear said that 124 of the 125 voucher-approved schools have some sort of religious affiliation.

“There may be more hidden things in the laws that we are not even aware of right now,” School Board President Malcolm Sibley said during a public discussion of the wide-ranging provisions of Act 2.

The new system does nothing to help public schools improve, Pope said during the session. The Governor’s overhaul is directed at giving students at poor schools a legal way to transfer to the best schools. The problem is that the best schools, including those in Livingston Parish, are usually full, Pope said.

Local lawmakers said they feared that funding of non-public schools with public school money would gradually erode the state support that has helped Livingston Parish become one of the best school systems in the state. Livingston Parish, as a predominantly residential community, does not have a strong tax base bolstered by large-scale industry and commerce. In spite of voter support for school taxes, the parish has traditionally been heavily dependent on state support.

The lawsuit claims Act 2 is unconstitutional in part because it does not “have a single object or purpose,” as required by the constitution. Act 2 is 47 pages long and covers multiple topics and purposes.

The lawsuit also claims that Act 2 violates a provision in the state constitution that “state funding for public education shall be equitably allocated to public school systems.”

The new system improperly uses public school funding for vouchers to pay tuition to private schools, including those run by religious groups, according to the lawsuit.

The new system also subsidizes home schooling, on-line courses, charter schools not affiliated with local public schools, and college tuition for early graduates, according to the lawsuit.

“We tried to put an amendment that would have blocked high school tuition going to pay college tuition, but it failed,” Hodges said.

Hodges said she was sympathetic with the Governor’s overall goal of bringing “meaningful reform to our education system, because we are next to the last in the nation.”

“I initially supported the bill because I understand the need to address and reform our education system in Louisiana,” Hodges said. “However, once you look at the details of the bill there were more questions than answers about the long term impact these changes could potentially have.

“Here we were as legislators making long-term decisions about the future of all our children while seeming to be missing key information,” Hodges said. “We owe it to the people of Louisiana while bringing reform to the schools who are missing the mark and failing to also ensure at the same time that we avoid damaging schools that are performing well and giving our students a top-notch education like the schools here in Livingston Parish.

“The schools here in Livingston Parish are the very reason that over 80,000 people have moved here and we can not risk putting them in jeopardy,” Hodges said.

© 2012 The Livingston Parish News