TO RENEW AMERICA

Christians need to begin to engage in politics. It's an area in which Christians have been removed from influence by secularists who want to dissolve righteousness from a nation.

It is time for Christians to show "love for their neighbor" by preserving Judeo-Christian ethics in this land. It is the only ethic that can save a nation.

Newt Gingrich, in his new book entitled, " TO SAVE AMERICA, Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine," offers some important guidelines for Christians to engage in the public arena to preserve the eroding culture.

1. Pray -- for our nation and its leaders, that God will continue to pour out his blessings on America.
2. Register to vote.
3. Learn about the issues, especially those that threaten religious liberty.
4. Learn the religious liberty positions and records of elected officials and candidates for office.
5. Vote in every election. No candidate will agree with you on every issue, every time, but vote for the candidates who most closely represent your views.
6. Use your influence to educate and persuade others about the importance of protecting religious liberty, encourage them to run for office (hmm?).
7. If you have leadership ability and want to fight to protect freedom, consider running for office yourself (double hmm!).
8. If you are concerned that a measure in Congress, your state house, or county or town board will adversely impact religious liberty, tell your elected representatives how you want them to vote.
9. When you see or experience an encroachment on religious freedom, write a letter to the editor or an opinion article for your local paper, or call talk radio. If you don't speak up, maybe no one will. But if you do, you can frame the debate and help get good legislation passed and bad legislation defeated.
10. Organize a voter registration drive at your church.

That's for starters. Here's hoping that you all take this to heart and get involved to save our Judeo-Christian heritage and to help bring an awakening to the land.

MAY WE REVISIT THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL GAG ORDER ON CHURCHES

Do you know WHO is responsible for the gag order on churches to keep them from speaking about politics?

Lyndon Johnson, who later became president.

I want to share with you a great resource on that particular history, which shows that Johnson, being a liberal, was responsible for stopping the voices of Christians since 1954.

But first, I want to share an article about what may provoke a case about the unconstitutionality of that gag order.

Georgia minister hammers Obama in bid for Congress

Associated Press - 8/8/2010 4:30:00 AM

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - A Georgia minister known for challenging the barriers between church and state is running for a congressional seat in this week's primary runoff elections.

The Rev. Jody Hice is wooing Republican voters in northern Georgia's 7th District. On Tuesday they'll select a nominee to succeed retiring GOP Rep. John Linder. Hice faces Rob Woodall, Linder's former chief of staff, in the runoff.

Hice has fought the American Civil Liberties Union over Ten Commandments displays in courthouses and dared the IRS to come after his Baptist church by endorsing John McCain in a sermon.

Now he's turning heads with billboards that use a Soviet hammer-and-sickle to imply President Barack Obama is a socialist.

NOW LETS GET BACK TO JOHNSON STORY AGAIN. (The following article is from the Firebuilders website).

The History of The Johnson Amendment of 1954

And

House Resolution 235

Compiled and edited by Kasey Kelly

February 4, 2005

Calvary Christian School - Mr. Garrisons Current Events Class

The First Amendment clearly states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,…."

The Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act

House Resolution 235 was designed to revise the IRS code to remove restrictions placed on churches and non-profit organizations in 1954 by then-Senator Lyndon Johnson. Prior to 1954, churches and non-profit organizations had no such restrictions on their freedom of speech or their right to speak out in favor or against political issues or candidates.

The history of Johnson’s IRS gag order is instructive. It began with what some historians believe to be a fraudulent election of Johnson to the Senate in 1948. It has been maintained by both conservative and liberal historians that Lyndon Johnson’s election to the Senate in 1948 was won by massive voter fraud. Known as “Landslide Lyndon,” this aspiring politician was “elected” by only 87 votes. His challenger, Coke Stevenson, challenged his election and presented credible evidence that hundreds of votes for Johnson had been faked. Johnson, however, was successful in blocking Stevenson’s effort by the clever use of “cooperative” court injunctions.

In 1954, Johnson was facing re-election to the Senate and was being aggressively opposed by two non-profit anti-Communist groups that were attacking Johnson’s liberal agenda. In retaliation, Johnson inserted language into the IRS code that prohibited non-profits, including churches, from endorsing or opposing candidates for political office. In effect, Senator Johnson used the power of the go-along Congress and the IRS to silence his opposition. Unfortunately, it worked. Some in Johnson’s staff claimed that Johnson never intended to go after churches, only the two “nonprofits” in Texas. Nevertheless, his sly amendment to the tax code affected every church in America, and it is a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

The legislation proposed by Rep. Jones in the 109^th Congress is designed to overturn Johnson’s vindictive gag order that now penalizes churches, churches that dare speak out against government policies and politicians that the churches may deem to be immoral or bad for America. There is no reason for this gag order to remain in effect, but Congress apparently thinks it must perpetuate bad public policy simply because it exists.

Organizations like Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, People For The American Way, and The American Civil Liberties Union continue to claim that this Johnson gag order must be upheld to protect “church/state separation.” This is irrational and fails to take into account the entire history of religious freedom in the United States.

Throughout our nation’s history-both before and after the American Revolution-our nation’s pastors freely spoke out on the political and moral issues of the day. It was their duty and their right under the Constitution to preach against immorality and corruption in the political and the moral realm. Historian James H. Hutson, writing in Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, notes: “Preachers seemed to vie with their brethren in other colonies in arousing their congregations against George III.” And, as Hutson discovered, the House of Representatives sponsored church services in its chambers for nearly 100 years. These services only ended when convenient transportation was available to take Members of Congress home for the weekend.

It is interesting to observe that our Founding Fathers and our first elected officials didn’t have any notion of “church/state separation,” so vehemently endorsed by Americans United and other modernist groups. Our Founders valued religion and wrote the First Amendment to protect the free expression of religious beliefs-and the freedom to speak out on the moral issues-including those involving politics and politicians.

The disservice that Lyndon Johnson did to religious freedom has yet to be undone, but in the current session of Congress, H.R. 235 must be passed-to undo Johnson’s vengeful action against his political opponents. We need to finally exorcise our public policies of the sad legacy of Landslide Lyndon.

Cong. Rec. 9604 (1954). Edward McGlynn Gaffney, Jr., The Unconstitutionality of Tax Regulation of Activities of Religious Organizations Relating to Politics

On July 2, 1954, Senator Lyndon Johnson was recognized from the Senate floor and the following colloquy occurred:

Mr. JOHNSON of Texas: Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk, which I should like to have stated.

The PRESIDING OFFICER: The Secretary will state the amendment.

The CHIEF CLERK: On page 117 of the House bill, in section 501(c)(3), it is proposed to strike out “individuals, and” and insert “individual,” and strike out “influence legislation.” And insert “influence legislation, and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.”

Mr. JOHNSON of Texas: Mr. President, this amendment seeks to extend the provisions of section 501 of the House bill, denying tax-exempt status to not only those people who influence legislation but also to those who intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for any public office. I have discussed the matter with the chairman of the committee, the minority ranking member of the committee, and several other members of the committee, and I understand that the amendment is acceptable to them. I hope the chairman will take it to conference, and that it will be included in the final bill which Congress passes.

Although not subject to debate and cryptic in its origins, following that short colloquy, the amendment, unchanged in its verbiage, eventually became part of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Subsequently, it proved to have a profound effect on how thousands of tax-exempt organizations-including churches-dealt with issues relating to political campaigns.

Why Should we be upset about the Johnson Amendment?

Because it is illegal, and unconstitutional. It is just the beginning of Government intrusion into Churches.

What can we do?

Matthew 5:13-16: The Christians' Commission.

13. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and be trodden under foot of men.

14. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

What can hold back corruption in our Government and in the world? Salt! We are commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world; to be those who have an impact upon the world, in holding back corruption and proclaiming the truth of God.

Footnotes: 1. Robert A. Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson Means of Ascent 387 (1990). 2. Id. at 317 3. Id. at 316-17 4. traditionalvalues.org

EVIL IS GOOD

We’re living in an age when it seems most people do not know the difference between good and evil anymore.

There is no more good. There is no more evil. Everything is homogenized into the middle. Everyone has so-called rights to be as profane and sinful as their imagination takes them.

We, as a nation, didn’t get here all at once. It’s been a slippery slide downward since the 1960s. There was a time when you could say prayer in school: now opponents have demonized God in the classrooms and declared that prayer in school violates separation of church and state.

Our founding fathers never thought that.

There was a time when drunks were sinful; now they constitute a disease.

There was a time when same-sex physical relations was sinful; now it’s a lifestyle choice.

There was a time when most college campuses held the Bible in high esteem; now educators discredit it as unreliable and relegate it as a fable.

There was a time when people honored men and women of Christian faith; now they’re despised.

On the international stage, Iran’s leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defiantly denies the holocaust against the Jews ever occurred; then why is he given the honor of speaking at the United Nations?

President Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize, not for having done something laudatory, but for political reasons – essentially because the Nobel Committee sees Obama not as a staunch defender of the country, as was President George Bush, but as an internationalist – as one who will gladly dismantle America’s superpower status and reject American exceptionalism.

Take a good look at the political scene today and you will see politicians brazenly speak lies before the news cameras: and the media doesn’t investigate the truth, but simply reports on what the politician says is the truth. Even worse, is when the news media takes on an agenda or a cause; like man-made Global Warming and reports it as truth, or Congress’ socialization of America and reports it as if it were glorious.

Does anybody see anything wrong in this culture where any diabolical lie and evil-intention gets equal authority with truth and righteousness? Truly we’re living in a time which the scriptures denounce:

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

(Isa 5:20 ASV)

WHERE'S 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH' FOR MINISTERS?

Christian ministers threw down the gauntlet yesterday. Now we'll see whether the 54-year-old IRS regulation against ministers speaking out in politics has feet of clay. (click title for article.)

The thirty-three ministers set out this past Sunday to flaunt the ruling, seeking to generate a legal battle with the Internal Revenue Service. Ministers contend that they have a right to tell their worshipers how to vote: The IRS says that if you're tax exempt you can't make political endorsements.

I don't think anything will happen before the elections, but this is something to keenly follow after the elections. I want to see this unjust ruling put to sleep -- finally!

Imagine, trying to stifle the voice of ministers!

Imagine still, that we've accepted that as fair all this time.

THE CHURCH WILL HAVE A VOICE

Do you realize that for generations the enforcement of the so-called "Separation of Church and State" has always been the devil's tactics to silence the church to speak out against sin and the eroding of our society. This pernicious mindset has allowed society to marginalize the moral majority of this nation by not giving them a voice in elections!

And so, for generations we've seen the nation sliding into moral depravity. And, ministers of the gospel since 1954 were conveniently silenced by the US Government, insisting that if American Pastors get tax breaks, they can't speak out in political discourse. Why? This foolishness has got to stop. It is grossly unfair to prevent moral leaders from speaking out against the sin and decadence in our land. These moral leaders have the right and authority by God to speak out. Cry aloud, spare not. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their sins (Isaiah 58:1).

Well, it appears that the sleeping giant of a church is about to arouse out of slumber now. The Washington Post is reporting that the Alliance Defense Fund is seeking to challenge Internal Revenue Service rulings in court! Keep this in prayer. This is key strategic times for America and the expected shift for more of God in our land.

We are going to witness the greatest outpouring of God's Spirit ever to penetrate this nation. We're keenly interested in seeing Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin fulfill God's divine will for her life and the nation's. So, lots of good things to be hopeful about. And by all means VOTE McCain-Palin! They are the change that Sen Obama has called for.

We'll be talking more about the elections soon. Be blessed.