--PRAYING FOR AMERICA ~

[ -- THE CHOICE BEFORE US / NOVEMBER'S ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT/ ETC.]
---(Gary L. Bauer) ~~
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---For many years, cynics have complained that there was not a "dime's worth of difference" between the two political parties.

That may have been true in the past, but it isn't anymore. The differences are profound, particularly on the issues and values that matter to voters who have a Christian worldview.

My purpose isn't to advocate for one party or the other, but rather to observe policy positions and platforms in relation to matters of faith.

The stark difference can be seen in how the American people themselves are identifying with the two parties. The largest group within the Republican Party is self-identified Christians who regularly attend worship services. One of the fastest growing groups in the Democratic Party is voters who are not affiliated with any religion or who self-identify as agnostics or atheists.

America was built on the idea that liberty comes from God, not government. For most of our history there was a general, bipartisan consensus in support of the freedom of religion in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Today, freedom of religion continues to be a top priority of the Republican party.

Sadly, in the Democratic Party the commitment to religious liberty appears to have waned. During the Obama-Biden administration, the full weight of the Department of Justice was employed to coerce religious groups to provide abortion-inducing drugs to their employees. A Catholic anti-poverty group, the Little Sisters of the Poor, found itself a target and was dragged through the federal courts.

After taking office, President Trump reversed that policy, and the Justice Department stopped its prosecutions. Ultimately, the Little Sisters' freedom of religion prevailed in a Supreme Court victory this past June.

The sanctity of human life is also a defining difference between the two parties. The GOP has demonstrated a commitment to ending the slaughter of innocent human life. States with Republican governors and legislative majorities regularly attempt to pass laws providing legal protections for urban children. In contrast, states with Democratic legislatures and governors regularly try to further deregulate abortions and permit them for just about any reason. Furthermore, the Democratic Party, including former Vice President Biden, supports forcing the American taxpayer to subsidize abortions.

Recently Democratic governors in New York, Virginia and other states have even defended the idea that a baby who survives a failed abortion attempt could be legally left to die after being born.

Of course, on issues such as religious liberty and the sanctity of life, the most important battlefield has been in our courts, including the Supreme Court. Here, too, the profound differences between the parties couldn't be more clear.

When religious liberty cases reach the Supreme Court Republican-appointed justices usually vote to defend it, while Democrat-appointed justices vote to sacrifice religious liberty to other competing claims.

On the issue of abortion, Democrat-appointed justices consistently support abortion-on-demand, while Republican appointees have generally tried to restore legal protection to the unborn children.

In the recent decades, Supreme Court nominees sent by Republican presidents to the Senate for confirmation have been vehemently opposed by most Democratic senators, almost always over the issue of abortion.

In the next four years, either a reelected Donald Trump or a newly elected Joe Biden may have additional Supreme Court vacancies to fill, with profound implications for religions liberty and the sanctity of life. President Trump recently released a new list of potential court nominees, and they all have pro-life records.

The economic arena, too, has important differences for Christian voters to consider.

Within the Democratic Party, there is a strong drift toward socialism as its economic philosophy. According to on e poll, 76% of self-described Democrats say they would vote for a socialist candidate. Among young Democrats, support for socialism is growing even faster, suggesting that as time passes the party will move even further to the left on this issue.

Socialist Democrats have made a concerted effort to convince Christian voters that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and socialism are compatible. Some have even suggested that Christ's teachings are socialist. This is a grievous theological error. Socialism and its "parent," Marxism, are built on the idea that only the material world exists. Christianity is built on the central idea that there is a nonmaterial, spiritual world too. Further, we believe that mankind's most serious problems are spiritual problems, not material problems.

Christ taught us that as Christians we have an obligation to help the poor, the widow, the sick and all who are in need. Most Christians know the parable of the Good Samaritan. But the Good Samaritan's kindness was a voluntary act. Nowhere in the Gospel does Jesus call on government to take one person's resources and give them to another. Yet, that is exactly what socialists advocate--the forcible redistribution of resources. In contrast, the Republican Party advocates freedom of opportunity, believing that by limiting the role of government and keeping taxes low, individuals will have the greatest opportunity to prosper.

Further, democratic socialism is inevitably hostile to religious faith. As a commissioner of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), I monitor religious liberty trends around the world. USCIRF tries to identify those nations that are the worst violators of the fundamental right to seek and worship God.

Year after year, some of the worst violators of religious liberty are socialist/communist countries. Once a country sinks into a godless, Marxist-based system, Christians are persecuted. It happened after the communist revolution in Cuba, and it is happening in Venezuela now. The People's Republic of China has declared war on all faiths, particularly Christians and Muslims. Even in Europe, everywhere socialism has grown, the church shrinks and Christianity is on the defensive.

Finally, Christian voters need to consider the destructive social trends of the last 30 years and what they tell us about the worldview at the center of the two major political parties.

The American family is under siege, as 40% of children are born into families with no father. While single parents can do a good job alone, research consistently shows that children raised in single-parent homes are at greater risk for a variety of ills, including dropping out of school, truancy and drug use.

The family has been undermined by the leftist-inspired sexual revolution of the 1960s and '70s. That revolution was a disaster and has resulted in women and children being abandoned and exploited.

Another cultural trend is the erosion of reliable standards of right and wrong. Again, the cultural left pushes a message of moral relativism. The result has been predictable, including increase in crime, violence and corruption. Our founders understood that only a virtuous people can remain free. Leftist Hollywood and popular entertainment send out continual messages that undermine traditional values and mock faith. All of these trends have been pushed by the cultural left that evidently makes its home in the Democratic party.

**Christian voters have a lot at stake in the upcoming elections. Your decision could very well determine whether America remains the "shining city upon a hill" envisioned by our Founding Fathers or goes further down the road of big-government socialism, abortion-on-demand and increasing threats to religious liberty. ~~

--GARY L. BAUER is president of the Educational nonprofit American
Values and A Commissioner For the U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom. /-- [November 2020 / DECISIONS] ~
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[Friends, Please VOTE! If you can, go out to the Polls. I voted Absentee. That is exactly how President Donald Trump votes. IN GOD WE TRUST! ]

--TURN BACK TO YOUR FIRST LOVE ~~
--[PRAYING FOR AMERICA]

--'LIVING FOR CHRIST IN TROUBLED TIMES ~~
--[Greg Laurie / DECISION]

---FOR THE PAST six months, cities across the United States have burned as violent rioters defaced historical monuments and federal buildings and destroyed businesses and police precincts. The daily barrage of chaos, anarchy and violence in the streets reminds me of Thomas Paine's description of the days of the Revolutionary War when he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."

Two hundred and forty-four years later, Paine's declaration seems an apt assessment of America in 2020. We're in a time that's trying the soul of the most blessed nation on earth. Consequently, I believe that Christians need to turn back to their first love. How do we do that? Look upward. Look inward. Look outward.

**LOOK UPWARD**
Jesus said in the last days there would be an increase of plagues, wars and rumors of wars, but the most important thing He said is that when you see these things begin to happen, look up, for "your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:28). Instead of perpetually looking down at the viral images of lawlessness on your smartphone, look up and remember that God is still in control When we view the world from the perspective of Christ's imminent return, the daily news should engender hope instead of despair while drawing us ever closer to God and stirring an urgency withing us to share the Gospel with those far from Him.

Before I was a Christian, I hated authority. I hated police. I didn't like people telling me what to do, so in some ways I understand this mindset. The rioters are actually not the enemy as much as they are under the control of the enemy. What they need is Jesus. And as Christians, our mission is always to build bridges and try to engage people in Gospel-centered conversations. Jesus says in John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." Remember that God keeps His Word. Oops is not in His vocabulary. He is not caught off guard or surprised by the chaos. So, keep trusting in God's Word. Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts. Prayerfully claim God's promises and then live like you believe them.

**LOOK INWARD""
And while we don't like the uncertainty of the times physically, socially, politically and economically, the most important measure is, "What are these days exposing about us spiritually?" It's been said that Christians are a lot like tea bags--you don't know what they're made of until you put them in hot water. For some Christ-followers, it feels like the temperature is scalding. Let's not forget that the Bible says suffering or the testing of our faith "produces endurance" (Romans 5:3). God's purpose for our trials is not to weaken us but to strengthen us. After all, a faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.

Furthermore, God's promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14--"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land"--remains the age-old answer for American's ills.

The healing of our land always starts with God's people. While some will point fingers at Hollywood, Wall Street, academia, the mainstream media, Congress or the White House, God is effectively saying exactly what He has always said in His Word, "the problem is in my House, it's in the church." And because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, His message remains the same for every generation.

The Old Testament Prophet Daniel provides us a convicting example of how looking inward in light of God's holiness leads to contrition and humble repentance. While the Bible details the shortcomings of Moses, Gideon, Elijah and David, just to name a few, Daniel's reputation as a godly man of prayer and faith is unrivaled. Yet in Daniel chapter 9, we read that the prophet confessed his sins frist before interceding for the people of Israel in the midst of decades of Babylonian captivity. It's very easy to point our finger at everybody else, but Daniel, who was clearly a very godly man, even saw his own need to repent. As we pray for a spiritual awakening across America, may it be birthed out of a revival in the churches rooted in individual repentance.

**LOOK OUTWARD**
-Instead of debating the efficacy of face masks as a deterrent to the spread of COVID-19 or trying to win a political debate, "Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24). The Bible says "love is patient and kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4). But the Apostle Paul doesn't just tell us what love is, he tells what love does. It's one thing to tell someone, "I love you," but it's another thing to be patient and kind with someone who has offended you or with whom you vehemently disagree. Christians, of all people, should be modeling love, patience and longsuffering right now. The reality of life is not what we say, but ultimately what we do. May we not allow the enemy to divide us. We can disagree agreeably. And "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:18). The church's mission is still to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Our goal is to see people come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. And our enemy is the devil. We're in a time that's trying our soul in America. May we turn back to God as we joyfully and expectantly await Jesus' return for His bride, the Church. ~~

-[Greg Laurie is the Senior Pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship Riverside, California.
He has authored more than 70 books including "Signs of the Times," and serves on the
Board of Directors with BGEA.]