Tis the season of national conventions. The RNC convenes this week in Cleveland. The DNC will be held next week in Philadelphia. Both conventions will be voting to secure their party’s presidential nominee. Whoever goes on to win the general election in November will inherit the monumental task of reuniting a divided nation. To complete this task, they will most certainly need God’s help.
To include the words God and Government in the same sentence sends some Americans into a state of mental crisis and emotional distress. These are they who adamantly invoke the concept of separation of Church and State. Of course, this statement appears nowhere in the United States Constitution. It comes from an exchange of letters between Thomas Jefferson and the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, shortly after Jefferson became president. The phrase was used by Jefferson in reference to the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution which limits the power of the Federal Government in regards to religion thus ensuring freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.
It may come as a shock to those who strictly believe in the separation of Church and State that the concept is foreign to the Bible. Scripture debunks the notion of a purely secular government. Romans 13:1 declares, “There is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” To the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, Jesus said, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.” While not all government leaders are chosen by God, and not all laws enacted comply with His Word, all authority is divinely ordained and delegated by God.
Secularists can remove the Ten Commandments from public property, and take God’s name off of our money and out of the Pledge of Allegiance if they want. But they can never remove God from government because He is the Supreme Sovereign over all. Without Him, the governments that be would not exist.
“Therefore,” Paul goes on to say in Romans 13:2, “whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” There is a crisis of law and order in America today. Leaders pick and chose which laws to enforce, and which laws to ignore. Anarchy reigns in our streets as those who serve to protect us have become targets for assassination. These are dark days and trying times.
While I encourage every believer to vote, and to do so according to biblical values and standards, we must realize that we cannot simply vote our way out of the mess we are in. Even the best of political leaders cannot solve the complex issues facing our nation. We must turn to God. He is our only hope. Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but now with God; for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).
So tune in to the televised national conventions. They are sure to be entertaining. Be a good citizen and exercise your right to vote in the upcoming elections. And when you enter the ballot box, vote the Bible! But most of all, pray. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
May God bless America once again.
Pastor Todd Weston
To include the words God and Government in the same sentence sends some Americans into a state of mental crisis and emotional distress. These are they who adamantly invoke the concept of separation of Church and State. Of course, this statement appears nowhere in the United States Constitution. It comes from an exchange of letters between Thomas Jefferson and the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, shortly after Jefferson became president. The phrase was used by Jefferson in reference to the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution which limits the power of the Federal Government in regards to religion thus ensuring freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.
It may come as a shock to those who strictly believe in the separation of Church and State that the concept is foreign to the Bible. Scripture debunks the notion of a purely secular government. Romans 13:1 declares, “There is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” To the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, Jesus said, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.” While not all government leaders are chosen by God, and not all laws enacted comply with His Word, all authority is divinely ordained and delegated by God.
Secularists can remove the Ten Commandments from public property, and take God’s name off of our money and out of the Pledge of Allegiance if they want. But they can never remove God from government because He is the Supreme Sovereign over all. Without Him, the governments that be would not exist.
“Therefore,” Paul goes on to say in Romans 13:2, “whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” There is a crisis of law and order in America today. Leaders pick and chose which laws to enforce, and which laws to ignore. Anarchy reigns in our streets as those who serve to protect us have become targets for assassination. These are dark days and trying times.
While I encourage every believer to vote, and to do so according to biblical values and standards, we must realize that we cannot simply vote our way out of the mess we are in. Even the best of political leaders cannot solve the complex issues facing our nation. We must turn to God. He is our only hope. Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but now with God; for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).
So tune in to the televised national conventions. They are sure to be entertaining. Be a good citizen and exercise your right to vote in the upcoming elections. And when you enter the ballot box, vote the Bible! But most of all, pray. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
May God bless America once again.
Pastor Todd Weston
