There is a popular song performed by Casting Crowns.  It is called "Slow Fade."  The following are some of the insightful lyrics.  "It's a slow fade when you give yourself away.  It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray.  Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid when you give yourself away.  People never crumble in a day, Daddies never crumble in a day, Families never crumble in a day."  The only entity I would add to this list is "nations never crumble in a day."
 
For the last several decades, America has been giving herself away.  We have prostituted our godly heritage, gone a whoring after other gods, and sold our soul to the highest bidder.  Our many lovers are more numerous than our cities and states.  The election of Barack Obama is the culmination of pursuing this treacherous course.
 
I know this is a combustible statement, especially in light of the euphoria that has gripped America.  "THE ANOINTED ONE" has descended from the clouds and will soon dwell amongst mere mortals at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  Yes, change has come, hope is in the air, and finally America has reached, with cultish frenzy, the Utopia we all longed for.  Not all that sparkles, however, is gold.     
 
Since the 1960s, our nation has rejected the God of our fathers.  Nature abhors a vacuum.  Idolatry rushed in as the Christian faith was swept aside, under the guise of the Separation of Church and State, of course.  At what cost?  Let's see, truth has gone from absolute to relative.  We exchanged God and His laws for Washington DC and socialistic public policies.  We have gone from being a prosperous nation to a debtor nation.  We once protected life.  We now abort life.  We once honored virtue and punished vice.  We now protect vice and punish virtue.  We once rewarded work and corrected sloth.  We now reward sloth and punish productivity.  We once safeguarded the family.  We now redefine it to suit our perversions.  We were making great strides against racism, but now racism has become big business, political power, media talking points, and a club to punish political dissent.  We were once the envy of the world, a city set on a hill and a beacon of light to the nations.  Now, the nations seek our destruction.   
 
Into this fray, steps Barack Obama.  He represents the culmination of the paradigm shift that has taken place in the last few decades.  In fact, he is the personification of the idolatrous course our nation has pursued, for lo, these many years.  He is indeed God's man for America.  All that we hate about our country that is good and all that we should be ashamed of as Americans and celebrate with demonic glee, Obama represents to the umph degree. 
 
It will not be long, however, until America will have to deal with the empty promises of our idolatry.  All the health, wealth, peace, and prosperity pledged by the false Messiah, will turn to gravel.  Proverbs 20:17 states, "Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel."  Perhaps, America needs to prepare for a change of diet as empty promises become even harsher realities.   
 
My Pastor, John Wachsmann, preached a powerful message yesterday.  It was called "Jesus is Still on the Throne."  He was reminding the Church after the election that Jesus is still Lord over all the earth, history, and governments of men. One of the Scriptures ministered was Jeremiah 17:5-8, which states, "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.  For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."
 
Biblically, those who turned to idols for help, even to the point of cutting themselves until blood flowed, never received the promised answers (1 Kings 18).  They looked for blessing, but found only a curse.  They desired life and liberty, but only obtained death and bondage.  Leaning upon Barack Obama and trusting in him to rescue America is like trusting the fox with the chicken coop.  It is like Israel relying on Egypt to rescue them from the bondage of Babylon (Isaiah 31:1).  Barack Obama is a broken reed, whereon, if our nation leans, will pierce our hands (Isaiah 36:6).  
 
The writing has appeared on the wall.  America has been weighed in the balance and Barack Obama is God's pen.  What is the Church to do?  The Church in the midst of despair and destruction needs to stay the course in God's Kingdom.  Nations rise and nations fall.  Political leaders appear and vanish.  Elections come and elections go, but the Kingdom of Christ lasts forever.     
 
The Church has survived greater disasters, endured harsher dictators, and outlived all her persecutors.  Greater tyrants than what America may become against God's people have sought to crush the Church, burn the book, and destroy the truth.  They are dust and Jesus Christ is still at the right hand of the Father, expecting henceforth, till his enemies become his footstool (Psalm 110:1, Hebrews 10:11, 12).
 
In history, it was Christians equipped with true faith, biblical worldview, and family that on more than one occasion brought beauty from ashes to failed empires.  The next four years will be difficult as Democrats remake America into their image of the world.  It is, however, doomed for failure.  It is nothing more than sinking sand.  We must prepare now to rebuild the crumbling foundations and relay the altars torn down by America's rebellion and idolatry.  America will come face to face with the reality that we cannot live with the ideologies, philosophies, and worldviews that we have pursued apart from Christ and His truth. 
 
Therefore, in the midst of this perverse and crooked nation, we must faithfully hold forth the word of life, even if we are prosecuted for being true Christians.  Yes, we are to pray for president-elect Obama, perhaps God will have mercy and change him to be a leader that we desperately need.  But if he is indeed God's judgment against our idolatry, our prayers need to be, let there be enough evidence to convict us as Christianity becomes an enemy of the state.

YEAR END GIVING

Brethren, as you can imagine, 2008 brought with it great economic challenges. Elijah Ministries did our best to stay faithful to the call, mantle, and ministry the Lord has called us to work. Couple that with 12 children left to raise and perhaps you can understand the economic struggle we endured this year. If so moved by the Spirit of God, please consider an end of the year offering to help Elijah Ministries retire some debt and start 2009 on a better economic footing. We appreciate so much your support of the ministry. MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

IN KING JESUS' SERVICE,