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The Obama administration and America are heading into treacherous territory. There are certain kinds of behavior that seem to anger God more than others and at this point, America is already on shaky ground. President-elect Obama has asked V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, to deliver the invocation at a pre-inaugural event this Sunday on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Bishop Robinson said he had been reading inaugural prayers through history and was "horrified" at how "specifically and aggressively Christian they were." He states, "I am very clear that this will not be a Christian prayer, and I won't be quoting Scripture. The texts I hold as sacred are not sacred texts for all Americans, and I want all people to feel that this is their prayer."
Robinson said he might address the prayer to "the god of our many understandings," language that he said he learned from the 12-Step program he attended for his alcohol addiction. I'm sure that will please God and He will pour out His blessings upon this nation. Actually not.
God-hating nations have a short shelf life. I am not suggesting that one prayer means we are a nation that hates God. But inaugural events reverberate around the world, literally. All civilized nations are watching these events one way or another. God has blessed America abundantly. He has kept us safe since 9/11. It seems to me that activities that revolve around the highest office in the land should acknowledge that. At this point we do not even know if Rick Warren will do so. I pray he does.
The root of America's problems today are not social or even financial. They are spiritual. Too many in this great nation have told God to take a hike. Is it any wonder we are facing problems that are economic, weather-related, crime-related, immorality-related, and, well, you fill in the blank?
Romans 1:28 - 31 states, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God. . ."
Robinson is not a friend of God. He is ashamed of the gospel and uncomfortable praying a "Christian" prayer though the entire world may be watching.
Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Alliance Action and Liberty Counsel, states, "It is a shame that President-elect Obama apparently has so little regard for his Christian constituents that he would give such a high place of honor to a self-styled man of God whose only claim to fame is that he abandoned his wife and children to enter, loudly and proudly, a sexually deviant lifestyle expressly condemned by the very Bible he's ironically calling 'holy and sacred.' "
Barber continues, "Gene Robinson is little more than a radical homosexual activist in a clergyman's clothing. In fact, his heretical rebellion against God's express natural order, coupled with his selfish refusal to surrender his pulpit, has almost single-handedly devastated the U.S. Episcopal Church."
It is doubtful that God's wrath was taught at Trinity United Church of Christ. Obama was not informed that there are consequences when we are in God's face. Yes, this is a bone thrown to the gay community to heal their wounds at the selection of Pastor Rick Warren, but it is a dangerous one. God and His Word will not be mocked.
Matt Barber concludes and rightly so, "As Gene Robinson prays for Barack Obama on Sunday, I would encourage all Bible- believing Christians to pray for him. Pray for his wife and children he left for a lie. Pray that he will repent, 'go and sin no more,' bringing others with him to the salvation only Christ can offer -- a salvation our nation and world so desperately need."
