Keep Praying for Tuesday's Election

"I urge then, first of all that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving should be offered for everyone, for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live peaceful and quiet lives with all devotion and propriety. To do this is right, and acceptable to God our Saviour: he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4

I am going back to a theme I have raised again & again, the need for prayer, both for the election & for our elected officials, whoever they may be. & that includes all those who are promoting the "culture of death".

I can't remember where right now, but I recently read a comment on Nebuchadnezzar & how God used him. God raised him up in order to chastise Israel for their lack of faithfulness to their calling as God's people. (See Jeremiah 27:6) Later we read in Daniel how, through Daniel & other's prayer Nebuchadnezzar's heart was changed.

Why do I bring this up? Because we need to pray for all that are in authority. That includes all that are currently in Congress. But, how much have we really prayed as we should?

That is a hard question to answer as I know there are many, many people who have been praying long & hard, year after year for the end of abortion in the USA. Praying for there to be a "Culture of Life" in America. But, I suspect there are many who should be praying & aren't.

Beyond that, there are many who are called by God to action, protesting, supporting pregnancy centers (both financially & by voluteering) political activity, etc that haven't answered that call.

Few of us have been willing to speak out & call what is going on evil. Many of us have been afraid to pay the price of rejection. The result is we barely do anything to protect the physical life of those threatened by abortion.

But, even worse, we do even less to prevent those involved in the culture of death from spiritual death. Ultimately, the goal of the 'culture of death" isn't just physical death. Its goal is to bring as many people as it can to eternal damnation in Hell.

Yes, there are some who are speaking out, but most of us are not standing up, we don't live our faith out. We don't evangelize. & the result, the "culture of death" gains ground.

Yes, in the long run, God will win. The 'culture of death" will be defeated. But, what will your response be when God asks you why you didn't speak up? What will your excuse be for not warning people about sin?

As Christians every thing we do is supposed to be evangelical. Feeding the poor isn't the end, it is a way we are called to tell others of God's love. It is to be done as a witness to Jesus' death on the Cross for our sins. Our speaking out about abortion is predicated on the fact that it is an intrinsic evil, thus to perform an abortion is to commit murder. Premarital sex is sin, extramarital sex is sin, homosexual activity is sin. Greed is sin. I could go on & on.

We are not trying to keep people from having fun by calling these things what they are, we are trying to keep people from Hell. Jesus didn't die for fun. he died to pay the price for every sin I mentioned above. he died for everyone to be set free from the bondage that sin holds him or her in.

God loves every human being. Male, female, gay, straight, each is a human being made in the image & likeness of God. Sin harms & ultimately destroys that person.

Yes, there are those who reject the Gospel. They call evil good, they say sex outside of marriage is OK. Or they try & pervert marriage from what God intended it to be. They say an unborn child doesn't have the right to life. There are even those who say even after birth people don't have a right to life. Wrong. Abortion, same sex marriage, euthenasia, cloning are intrinsic evil. These acts are always wrong no matter what the circumstances.

If we get a president like Obama who is clearly going to do all he can to persecute us for our stands, is God allowing it to get us off our backsides & get out there & living our faith. In the early Church, to be a Christain could cost you your life. Yet, the Church grew day after day, not despite, but because of the blood shed by martyrs. Yet, how many of us are afraid to stand up for our faith because we are afraid that someone might make fun of us? Nothing more. In China & Vietnam there are lay people, priests & Bishops in jail who are there because they won't compromise their faith with an evil system of communism. Yet, we are afraid to call sin sin!

Too often, "we are silent in the face of gross moral evil" as Fr. Corapi just said on a program I am listening to as I write this. Those of us in leadership roles, inside & outside the Church have a greater responsibility. But that doesn't excuse any of us. We all have a responsibility that cannot be pushed off onto others.

We have no excuse if we are silent. Our silence will help bring about the destruction of our country, our culture.

Each of us must be willing to do what we can to fight the "culture of death". We must call sin sin. We must call out for people to repent. We must proclaim God's mercy & forgiveness of sin.

Are you willing to face persecution? Are you willing to face the loss of friends, family, job or even your life? This is a spiritual battle. There will be spiritual attacks, there will be physical attacks on those of us who say yes. It won't be easy. It isn't easy. I know. It isn't fun to loss friends. It isn't fun to take up your cross daily. But each of us must. Every day I have to face that decision. I am not asking of you anything that God isn't asking of me. No, I don't always handle things perfectly. But when I fall I ask God for forgiveness & the grace to start again.

"Will we be found to be defenders of truth, defenders of life? Or will we be something less? The world cries out for heroes in the approach of darkness." (Fr. Corapi) ARE YOU WILLING TO BE A HERO? Are you willing to fight in the battle to halt the approaching darkness?

"It is a merciful thing to call a sinner to repentance." (Fr. Corapi) People are going to Hell because we are silent. We will have to answer for our silence & inaction.

We are called to pray, we are called to vote pro-life, we are called to speak out & proclaim the Gospel of Life in the face of the culture of death.

Ezekiel 33 makes our responsibility clear. We are watchmen called to give warning. If we do & the sinner continues to sin, then the responsibility falls entirely on him. But, if you or I don't? God makes it clear. He tells us if "you don't speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand." (vs 8)

Our choice is quite simple. We can pay the price, speak out & do what God calls us & we will be delivered from evil & enter into eternal life with Jesus in Heaven. Or, we can take the easy path now, be silent. The result, we risk hearing Jesus say to us: "Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41)

In the short run our inaction may result in an evil ruler, (although God could always change his/her heart). However, if there is an evil ruler like Nebuchadnezzar elected, then God has allowed it because of our inaction & to call us to repentance. In the long run, your or my inaction risks our very souls for eternaty. I don't know about you, but that is a risk I am not willing to take.

So, I say it again, we cannot vote for those who uphold abortion, no matter what their other stands may be. We cannot vote for Obama, we cannot vote for Senators Harkin & Biden, we cannot vote for congressmen & women like Pelosi or Braley. If we do, then we are just as guilty as they are of the blood shed by abortion. If you refuse to vote Pro-life, then, on Judgment Day, these very words will stand up in witness against you. You can't say you weren't warned.