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| The Economic Sphere has free-enterprise north and controlled economy south. The Civilization Sphere has civilization north and savagery south |
So I believe God
is interested in this unique nation established with the idea that a righteous
people could govern themselves within limited laws meant to protect life,
liberty and property. I think we’re at a critical historical moment in this
country, deciding whether to continue in our efforts to actually abide by the
freedom and civilization yielding Constitution, or to trash that in exchange
for tyranny. I think the times merit asking for divine help, just as our
founders did.
I’ve mentioned
here before that my prayers lately have been that people will be given a clear
choice, that deceit will be lifted and people will see the candidates and the
situation as they really are. I believe we still have a critical mass of people
who want to choose right but have made errors in not knowing how to recognize
what is right.
But I also
believe that, since 2008 there has been an awakening. Good people are tuning
in, paying attention, and trying to learn what to do to prevent the bad and
press for the good. I think what we’re seeing is a real movement northward on
the sphere—in politics, free-enterprise principles, and particularly in turning
to God and His principles.
I’ve been
concerned, because the odds have seemed against us. But I have felt peace
within my heart about it; I get the sense things are in God’s hands, and, while
I should do my part as well as I can, I should not despair. So, it was with
this faith that all would be well that I also asked, “Could I please have some hopeful
evidence, so I don’t have to feel tense as things go down to the wire?”
In sports, I
actually enjoy being far ahead, so the outcome is certain; I just set up secondary
goals to make the game remain interesting. Plus, I’ve been concerned that a
close ending in our election might allow the enemy to fraudulently claim a win
(like in Washington State a few years ago when the Republican won the
governorship until someone just happened to discover a few boxes of uncounted
ballots in a garage somewhere that gave the win to the Democrat).
Then the first
debate happened, and the trend has been undeniably in our direction since then.
Just in answer to my prayers? I don’t know, but it feels that way.
I happened to be
listening to Glenn Beck on radio the other day, and he was talking to a black pastor, E. W. Jackson, who
has been encouraging Christians, and particularly black Christians, to end the
mindless loyalty to the Democrat party and vote according to their actual
values. It was during that interview that I got a sense that something being
said here is very true. I enjoyed the whole interview, but it was just a few
moments that really hit me.
Glenn had said, “I
have firm reliance on the protection of divine providence. I don’t believe that
God is neutral in the affairs of man or the freedom of man, and if America
falls, the whole world falls. I mean, there’s nobody to stand for freedom.” And
Pastor Jackson agreed. Glenn added, “I think we’re on the threshold of miracles
and profound change. Do you feel that way?”
This isn’t normal
radio. Glenn feels free to talk about religion as much as anything else, and
does so pretty often. But here he was talking with someone who talks about God
all the time too. So there was an extra freedom of religious expression. The
pastor responded, “It is not just our Constitution or Declaration. It’s the
sense that we are not a mere historical happenstance, but we are a providential
nation, that the favor of God has been on us.”
This next part is
the moment, from Pastor Jackson, when it hit me, this is true:
I think it’s God
moving. I don’t think it’s attributable to me as a person but rather to God
moving on people’s hearts and saying, "Okay, there are enough of you standing
up; I’m going to move in your behalf." And I agree with you, Glenn. I think God
is going to do some marvelous things to help bring this nation back to Him.
So this was on my
mind, this idea that, not only is this a critical moment in history, but this
is what it looks like when God moves people toward Him on a large scale. It has
come after hardship, but not just hardship—after the tribulations convince people
to turn to God for help, rather than to government or some other worldly idol.
With this on my mind, a couple of other
media moments have also caught my interest.
One was an endorsement of Romney by Dennis Miller. I don’t know this man’s religion; I
know he considers himself conservative but more rationally so than many. He’s a
comedian and radio host, so there’s a bit of an edginess there. But he said of
Romney, “This is an eminently decent man.... If we are going to start demonizing
good men like Mitt Romney..., we've fallen through some kind of cosmic wormhole
that we cannot recover from... This is a good man....” At last we’re again at a
point where decency is neither dismissed nor derided, but lauded as it ought to
be.
On Friday, the
day after the radio interview with Pastor Jackson, Glenn Beck’s TV show was a
Q&A session, “Ask Glenn Anything.” In this episode there was another moment that reminded
me something big is happening, something God is handling for us. An
audience member, Tony Brown, asked, “God forbid we lose the election, how do we
save our nation going forward?”
Glenn joked a
little for a moment, and then he got more serious. This is how that went:
Glenn: Uh, who
wants to carpool to Canada? [laughter] Um, I haven’t thought of that one,
because…. I’ll be real honest with you, I was down on my knees this morning,
and I was praying, “Help us out here, Lord. Please help us out. Recognize how
many people there are.… And I, again, this happens to me all the time, almost
every day whenever I’m praying. And you guys have watched the show long enough,
do you think I’m an optimist? And, um, I was overwhelmed again. And this time
it was almost like, “Dude, I got this. I got it.”
Stu: God calls you
Dude?
Glenn: [nods] He
almost did today, He almost did. It was like, “Dude, stop calling me. I got
it.” I just, I just feel that we are going to be fine. Unfortunately I am seasoned
enough to know that doesn’t necessarily mean the kind of “fine” I’m looking
for, but the kind of “fine” He’s looking for.
That’s what I
think too—all of it. God has been telling me, “Don’t worry; it’s in My hands.”
And also, that will be true regardless of how the election turns out. I do
predict a Romney win, and with that a chance to put the brakes on the free fall
toward tyranny, with a chance to pull the nation back up into the northern
hemisphere where we can thrive. But, while a lot of good things can change
direction right away, there is probably still a period of pain between now and
actual recovery.
It took at least
a couple of years for the Reagan recovery to kick into gear following the
Carter years. Things in many ways are worse this time. I think we’ll get better
business conditions almost right away. But there’s still the massive debt of
the last few years. It’s like a spendthrift getting near bankruptcy, finally
stopping the profligate spending and getting a good paying job—all is well and
headed in the right direction, but there are still some years ahead of careful,
humble living to overcome the debt. Add onto that more dire conditions in the
world, financially, politically, and spiritually.
During the
recovery time, we must not get dispirited. And we especially need to keep
faith that we’ve turned in a better direction, and never give in to complaints
from those who think we can get north by going south.
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