Friday, October 17, 2008

Picking President

"Shouldn't we pick our president based on more than just faith issues?"
Let's consider those other issues, starting with the economy.America's national debt is $10 trillion. Add in unfunded Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the like, and it tops $59 trillion, or about $200,000 per American. We are no longer talking about how to pay it off, but how to keep making the interest payments when the baby boomers retire.If those numbers don't impress, consider this. The stock market bubble and crash of 1929 was driven by extreme leverage. People could buy stocks with just 5% of their money and 95% of borrowed money. After the crash of 1929, the SEC limited stock investment leverage to 50%.But the SEC did not cap the leverage on other types of securities, including derivatives, which now tops $450 trillion - 35 times larger than the US GDP. The leverage in the derivative market is still 95%, which means that $428 trillion, a sum 33 times larger than our economy, is a bubble. On the energy front, we imported 26% of our oil during the 1970's oil crisis; today that figure is 70%. On the social front, 40% of our children are being born out of wedlock. 48 million people lack medical cover. Even more are hooked on drugs, gambling and pornography America hosts 89% of the world's pornographic webpages). On foreign policy, we are stuck in two wars Iran is about to go nuclear. Radical Islam is on the rise. So are "natural" disasters ... Is any President really going to solve these and other issues? The challenges facing us are such that they can't be solved even if McCain, Obama, Palin and Biden's best Presidential attributes were combined. What America needs today isn’t some superhero President, but God.Four centuries ago, God saw a boatload of people leave the comforts of Europe to worship Him unhindered in a new land, and blessed their descendents into a mighty nation. At the height of our prosperity, however, that "Christian" nation turned away from God, who is withdrawing the prosperity and security that always was and is His.Israel was in a similar situation after the prosperity of Solomon’s reign when it turned away from God and ignored repeated warnings to turn back. God eventually destroyed Israel and sent its people into exile, not out of hate but out of love because they wouldn’t have turned back to Him - whom they needed more than prosperity or even freedom - without the persecution.But such an outcome doesn't have to be. The Bible also speaks of Nineveh, a great power in its day that like Israel was about to be destroyed. But unlike Israel, the Ninevites heeded God's warning and led by its king, humbled themselves before God in time.This election should be first and foremost about our contrition both as a nation and as individuals before God and a cry for His help. As a nation, we can express that by electing the Presidential ticket more likely to rely on God's help, one that will pray, "Yes HE can" instead of rebelliously chanting, "Yes We Can." As individuals, we need to restart with what God really did and why

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