WOF on President Obama: what're Your Thoughts?

To whom it may concern,

Many blessings to all of you in Christ. To those who may not know me, I'm a bit new to the forums---as I signed on earlier this year in January after being recommended to come here by a poster known as "ABlessed Man"...though I never really participated due to being heavily busy as well as involved in other forums dedicated to WOF, most notably those over on the discussions forums of a site known as "CARM".

I've really enjoyed seeing many of the diversities seen within the camp of WOF as well as the Charismatic movement in general----and in following many of the threads silently from the background, it is my hope that I can become more so involved here as well and build new connections/networks with other solid believers in the Lord. And to start things off, I was wanting to begin a discussion concerning the issue of politics---which in many WOF Circles I know can be discussed moreso than others. It's already intriguing seeing how many within WOF/WOF leaning circles have responded. In example, T.D Jakes----who travels extensively in many WOF Circles and is continually on TBN working with others in WOF (as he supports "Prosperity" teaching)---was actually in full support of what Obama was for. He was among many evangelical leaders (including Rick Warren) who the president has sought for advice/counsel...and TD Jakes said he had goosebumps when Obama got the nomination..and when I'm able to post links, I'll gladly do so.

Awhile back, I caught sight of an interesting article from Charisma (which is heavily WOF influenced) that really seemed to be intriguing.and It was entitled A Call to Christian Leaders to Speak Up to Our New President .For an excerpt:

When I met Obama at a meeting last June, I asked him about abortion. You can read my Strang Reports of that meeting at strangreport.com. He said he wanted to cut down on the need for abortion. He was very convincing—and his commitment to do that made it easier for conservative black Christians to back him.

Interestingly, in California, Florida and Arizona, constitutional amendments to uphold traditional marriage passed with the help of black and Hispanic citizens who also voted for Obama. The passing of these amendments shows me that the nation has not suddenly taken a turn toward the left. Remember, Obama won by only seven percentage points. People were tired of President Bush and the war, and Obama promised change.

I hope the change is not as radical as some fear. Though Obama made conciliatory remarks to the Christian leaders at the June meeting, he has said that in the first 100 days of his administration he’ll pass the Freedom of Choice Act, which would overturn all anti-abortion laws at both the state and the national levels. Myles Munroe, a well-known black leader and friend, responded to my post-election analysis in a way that eloquently explains how conservative black leaders feel about Obama’s election:

“I am not in agreement with Barack Obama’s policy position regarding abortion, homosexuality and same-sex relations, and no Bible-believing kingdom citizen could agree with these positions. However, as regarding his election as the first black president of the USA, this cannot and must not be minimized as to the importance and value it is to the tremendous historical, racial and cultural impact worldwide. Anyone who has been affected by oppression in the past 200 years could appreciate the importance of this event.

“The celebration of this accomplishment does not mean the acceptance of Mr. Obama’s social policies but rather what he represents as a symbol of the restoration and recovery of human dignity from the long march of oppression and the curse of slavery.

“The Lord used Joseph to influence the pagan king, Pharaoh of Egypt ... [and] Daniel to influence the pagan King Nebuchadnezzar [of] Babylon. ... God used these men of God to influence those nations after the king was in power” (emphasis added).

This is a time for godly leaders who have Obama’s ear to speak up, as Joseph and Daniel did. Many of them are Charisma readers, and most are personal friends of mine. So I call on them to stand for morality in government, the rights of the unborn, and traditional values relating to marriage and sexual morality.

Probably the evangelical who has the most potential influence is the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston. But Bishop T.D. Jakes attended the meeting with Obama in June and later wrote an open letter of congratulations to him on his candidacy.

Other leaders who could gain access, such as Charles E. Blake, presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, Bishop Kenneth Ulmer of Faithful Central Bible Church in Los Angeles, and the Rev. Floyd Flake, former congressman and current pastor of the Greater Allen AME Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York, may be able to speak prophetically to Obama in a way the traditional conservative leaders who spoke to Ronald Reagan or Bush couldn’t.

It’s as Munroe wrote me: “I believe the Lord has the power to change the heart of Barack Obama, and we should not doubt the power of the Holy Spirit to change a heart. Let us pray for those in authority as we are admonished in Romans 13. This is our duty now.”

This is a time for godly leaders who have Obama’s ear to speak up.

On that, I thought the article was more than on point.....and with other WOFers---specifically, those within the Black Church, such as Myles Monroe (or T.D Jakes), as well as many others, this could be an excellent time to stand out and let their voices be heard.

To be clear, as many things concerning Obama's polices were discussed in another thread I was involved in (i.e. socialism, welfare, taxation, etc) and things got heated, I'm aware that this is a sensitive issue for all. Being a Human Services Professional alongside one that's also for Christian Humanism/Horizontal outreach in all things, my views also tend to lean certain ways on things...as I'm moreso in line with others such as Jim Wallis---whose website can be found at a ministries known as Sojourners : About Us—-as he wrote the book entitled “God Politics: When the Right gets it WRONG and the Left doesn’t GET IT” ., which I own alongside own many of the man's books (including the one entitled "Faith Works" which dealt with running faith-based organizations....and the other one entitled "Soul of Politics", which was much more intensive than "God Politics: When the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It" since it dealt with his life growing up among those who're impoverished and experiecing life during the Civil Rights Movement, as well as offering practical solutions to the issues of our times..)


Thoughts?

I like the President, even though he's not as liberal as I would like him to be.
I pray for his success and safety!

God Bless!

__________________
"Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly" -Sanctus Real

Wow, politics. Imagine that...

I am re-evaluating alot of things right now, after the election. Just some random thoughts here, I hope I don't offend.

I have some dear christian friends of mine that are very liberal, and they hated President Bush. I mean, they couldn't hold an objective discussion about the man, without calling him a liar, and stupid, and a host of other names. It is like they believed every word of the liberal media machine, and let it result in judgement of the mans motives, even though we know that no one can judge a mans heart but God.

It was similar to the media hatred of Reagan, when he was in office. Though now many think that he was the greatest president of the latter half of the 20th century. I remembered wondering to myself how a christian could allow themselves to develope such a visceral hatred of our president, and vowed that I would never allow myself to hate a liberal president in the same way.

Now I didn't vote for Obama. I was a Huckabee supporter in the primaries, and voted for John McCain in the general election, (though I didn't really want to, I almost wrote in Huckabee, but thought it would be a wasted vote). But I do see the hisorical significance of electing an african american president, and I reflect on the healing that it can bring to our nations race issues.

Now the issues that matter to me most are:

1) Religious freedom
2) School Vouchers
3) Abortion
4) Same Sex Marriage

I don't see Obama being on the correct side of any of these. However, as a christian, I cannot bring myself to hate him, just because I disagree with his politics. I pray for him, and hope for his success. I trust that my leaders come from God, and believe that God will guide him. I dont want to act towards him the way the left acted towards Bush. We as christians should hold to a higher standard than that.

Peace...

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Good post. I feel pretty much the same way.

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Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it, autograph your work with excellence.

I don't see how that we who call ourselves bible believing Christians could ever rejoice about electing the first black American president if his policies and convictions are so out of whack with the Christian faith.

I think that it is good to see that in our nation a black man could win the presidential election, don't misunderstand me. But at the expense of our christian values and the biblical principles our nation was founded on is not cause to celebrate, but to mourn rather that we as Christians at large no longer vote or no longer vote for righteous causes.

O.K. so we jumped a great racial hurdle, but at what cost? How many life term liberal Supreme Justices will President Obama appoint in his term? How many laws will be passed that will inhibit our freedom and religious freedoms?

Do we Christians whether black or white, etc.. really want to worship God under a socialistic government that discourages and penalizes the prosperity that our Covenant provides?

__________________
Jesus came to set the captives free, not to make the prison cells more adaptable with cable television & an outside view . He wants people out!

Consider this passage:

"Acts 4:32-35 KJV
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need."

Sounds like Socialism to me.

God Bless![/quote]

__________________
"Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly" -Sanctus Real

I think our responsibility is not to tear the man down, but to build him up with prayers to our God concerning him.

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[/quote]

Thank you Allen, I have considered this passage actually and one thing that you have to realize about this passage is that this distribution that was made was a voluntary distribution of their belongings. More specifically this was a move of God that caused compassionate giving for a specific situation and there is no record that it was a permanent enforcement of law. These belongings and finances were not taken from them but was willingly offered. Socialism is a weak attempt to mimic a harmony that only God can produce in the lives of men.

On a more practical level, it was a harsh Government that was seizing the properties of believers in those days, so rather than losing their possessions to the government, they new that it was best to sell their properties and work together.

__________________
Jesus came to set the captives free, not to make the prison cells more adaptable with cable television & an outside view . He wants people out!

... this distribution that was made was a voluntary distribution of their belongings...[/quote]

Ananias and Sapphira might choose to differ.

God Bless You Joey!

__________________
"Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly" -Sanctus Real

Ananias and Sapphira might choose to differ.

God Bless You Joey![/quote]

Ananias and Sapphire didnt die because they held back part of the price, they were struck dead because they lied about it. Through the Apostle Paul the Holy Spirit gave each of them an opportunity to tell the truth and repent. They were wanting the same praise and recognition that Barnabus received from the church when he out of his own heart sold and gave all his possessions.

Notice verse 4 especially:
Acts 5:3-5 KJV
(3) But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
(4) Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

(NLT) The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren't lying to us but to God!"

(5) And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

God bless you too Allen, I hope I have made sense in my explanation.

__________________
Jesus came to set the captives free, not to make the prison cells more adaptable with cable television & an outside view . He wants people out!