The Most Important Factor in Choosing Our Next President - STEVE STRANG, STRANG REPORT CHARISMA MAGAZINE

A group of Christian leaders prayed for presidential candidate Donald Trump earlier this year. (YouTube)

The Most Important Factor in Choosing Our Next President

11/20/2015 STEVE STRANG  charisma magazine

Our nation is in a spiritual crisis and I believe we need a leader who can hear from God to turn things around. The secular world ignores this spiritual dimension, so you won't read this in the mainstream press. 

In 2016, we will elect a new president in what many are calling the most important election in our nation's history.

In the Republican presidential race there are several candidates who are strong believers and whose Christian values guide their worldview with how they would govern. One well-connected Christian leader told me there are so many good ones that it's hard to know which one to support. He said, in a way, he wished they had been spread out over the past few presidential races, when most Christians considered the Republican nominees to be the lesser of two evils. 

I believe the nation's problems cannot be solved only by politicians. We need a major revival. But I do believe we need a godly leader—a person who can hear from God—who will set the nation on a new course. With several good ones to choose from, which one should we support? Many citizens, like me, are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

We can't wait long, however. While the so-called values voters may shift a close election, there are not enough of us to elect a president who will not receive support from other segments of voters. Where we can make a real difference, however, is in the early primaries. Often it's the candidate who wins the early primaries who goes on to win the nomination. It's something called momentum.

The early candidates who have gained momentum based on the polls are outsiders—Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson—neither of whom have held political office. (Carly Fiorina, who is lower in the polls, has also never held political office). 

The next two, Sen. Marco Rubio from my state of Florida and Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas, are not favored by the party establishment. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush seemed to be the party favorite but is lagging in the polls, and I don't see how his candidacy will ever gain traction.

So far, three candidates have dropped out—all of them governors—Rick Perry of Texas, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who made his announcement earlier this week.

Last January I attended a prayer rally in Baton Rouge hosted by Jindal. It was not a political rally, but a solemn assembly: a prayer meeting asking for God's mercy on America. Gov. Jindal did not appear timid about praying publicly with boldness, even though there were those strongly critical of his participation. Later, I attended a private meeting with him and came away impressed by him as a person and a man of deep Christian conviction. 

Even though Jindal gained traction in Iowa, nationally his poll numbers were low and his fundraising less fruitful than he had hoped. When he dropped out, he declared this is not his time. At 44, I believe we will see more of him in the future.

Rubio, Cruz and Carson are each well-known for their Christian faith. This endears them to many and makes them despised by others. All three would be godly leaders, I believe.  

As for the rest of the Republican group, others articulating strong Christian faith include former Gov. Mike Huckabee, whom I strongly supported in 2008. Others such as Fiorina, Gov. Chris Christie and Gov. John Kasich are on the right side of the social issues and seem concerned that Christians are losing their religious liberties. They all articulate Christian faith, so who am I to judge the extent of it? Frankly, I would support any of them over Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

And then there is Donald Trump. Well-known for his casinos and reality television show, he is loud, combative and articulates frustrations felt by many Americans, especially over the threat of Islamic terrorism and unsecured borders allowing massive illegal immigration.

There are good things to say about Trump. I enjoy listening to his speeches, and I'm glad to see him refusing to be politically correct—and seeming to get away with it! Each time he's politically incorrect, his poll numbers go up. He has helped shake up the Republican establishment in a way no one else has in recent memory.

One evangelical leader who has been bloodied by his dealings with the Republican Party told me Trump has done more to disrupt business as usual with the party elite than anyone else. He said that even though he doesn't like the fact Trump owns casinos, has been married three times and lives a lifestyle that in many ways doesn't line up with the Bible.

Nevertheless, Trump articulates Christian values and said the Bible was his favorite book, even though he didn't seem to know much about what was in the Bible. Similar to other Republican candidates, he has reached out to evangelicals.

We ran a commentary by Don Nori Sr. of Destiny Image telling about a meeting where some charismatic leaders including Kenneth Copeland prayed over Trump. Another writer speculated on our Charisma News site that God may have lifted up Trump like a type of Nebuchadnezzar, a view that drew a lot of fire from our readers.

So far, not many Christian leaders have spoken up to support specific candidates. As I travel around, I get the sense people are watching the race, but I don't hear Christians being passionate for any candidate. When there is discussion, some of it is about who can win or who can beat Hillary Clinton.

The fact is that we need a godly leader. While we believe God raises up leaders, if we are discerning, shouldn't we know who that person is? And we need to understand that we can make a difference, especially in the early primary states. So my advice is to pay attention to the races and resolve to get involved closer to the primaries.

And meanwhile, don't go along with trends you hear in the media from the political pundits. Let's believe that God is raising up a leader for America at this very important time.

Steve Strang is the founder of Charisma and CEO of Charisma Media. Follow him onTwitter or Facebook.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!

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Rick Joyner - High Energy Leadership - Prophetic Perspectives

High Energy Leadership

Rick Joyner

Monday, November 9, 2015

In this episode, Rick talks about the difference between decision fatigue and crisis management and their relevance to the presidency. The leader of this country will have to be high-energy and Rick wonders if some of the low-energy candidates could handle the pressure that comes with the top leadership position in the world.

Watch here: Rick Joyner - High Energy Leadership

WATCH: Ben Carson Upholds Six-Day Creation. What an amazing mind!

Love For His People Editor's Note: This is an amazing word on creation and evolution. Ben Carson certainly has an incredible mind. Thanks for speaking truth Ben. 

Steve Martin

WATCH: Ben Carson Upholds Six-Day Creation

Oct. 3, 2015 BEN JOHNSON  charisma news

Dr. Ben Carson says the Bible is clear: God created the world in six literal, 24-hour days. 

He also denies that evolution involved a change from one species to another over millions of years, saying the spread of Darwinism was fueled by the devil.

"I'm not a hard and fast person who says the Earth is only 6,000 years old, but I do believe in the six-day creation," he said during a speech before the 2011 Celebration of Creation conference at Australia's Avondale College. "It doesn't say when He created them except for, 'In the beginning.' The earth could have been here for a long time before he started creating things on it."

But he said the Bible uses the term "the evening and the morning ... because He knew that people would come along and try to say, 'Oh, it was millions and millions of years.'"

Dr. Carson says in the video that the Bible states that each species "brought forth after its own kind, because He knew people would come along and say, 'You know, this changed into that and this changed into that, and this into that' - so at the very beginning of the Bible, He puts that to rest."

The theory of evolution, spread by Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species, had an unsavory origin, he said. "I personally believe that this theory Darwin came up with was something that was encouraged by the adversary," he said.

That worries critics like left-wing writer David Corn. "If Ben Carson ... actually believes that Satan actively encourages evolution and other misguided notions, then does he consider his adversaries in political or scientific debates to be the useful idiots of the devil?" he wrote in Mother Jones magazine. "If so, can he accept the idea of compromise or collaboration with those being encouraged and exploited by the Prince of Darkness? His belief in six-day creationism is not merely a curiosity. It is tied to a deeper belief that may profoundly skew how he sees his opponents and the workings of the political world." 

On the other hand, those who believe in evolution often deride creationism as "poisonous and medieval." Can such secularists govern or compromise with their more devout colleagues, or represent their constituents?

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!

Does the President's Faith Really Make Any Difference?

9/25/2015 DR. GARY S. SMITH  charisma news

In February we celebrated the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, two presidents whose deep but somewhat unconventional faith has evoked great debate. Does the faith of presidents truly matter? Does it significantly affect how they think, live, and govern?  Concluding that it does not, most biographers have treated presidents' religious convictions as no more important than hobbies such as collecting stamps or playing golf. Many other Americans, however, have considered the faith of presidents as either a cause for celebration or alarm. While Christians often campaigned vigorously and voted in droves for candidates who shared their faith, their foes warned that the dangerous religious views of other presidential aspirants made them unacceptable for the nation's highest office.

In the presidential campaign of 1800, Federalists denounced Thomas Jefferson as an infidel who would subvert the nation's Christian foundation. Rumors spread that, if elected, Jefferson would use public funds to entice civil servants, teachers, military officers, and even ministers to either ignore religion or teach secularism. After Jefferson won, these claims prompted many Federalists in New England to bury their Bibles in their gardens so that his administration could not destroy them.

In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt assured apprehensive prospective voters that William Taft's Unitarian faith did not disqualify him from being president. Twenty years later, fundamentalist Protestants argued that Democratic candidate Al Smith's Catholicism made him unfit to be president. Despite John F. Kennedy's assurances that he would be guided by the Constitution and his conscience, not the pope, his Catholic faith was as controversial in 1960 as Smith's had been in 1928.

Jimmy Carter's affirmation that he was born again baffled and frightened many Americans as did George's W. Bush's assertion that Jesus was his favorite philosopher. Many worried that their decisions would be based on what they perceived God wanted them to do rather than on the advice of their cabinet and the nation's strategic needs.

Are these concerns justified? Does the faith of presidents truly affect how they govern?  Does it help shape their perspectives, policies, actions, and decisions?  The answer depends on which chief executives we are discussing. The faith of some presidents (such as Kennedy ironically) mattered little. The faith of many others, including Hoover, Carter, Bush, and surprisingly Jefferson, strongly influenced their political philosophy and policies.

Although it is impossible to disentangle the personal religious convictions of presidents from their use of religion to serve partisan political purposes, many of them were more deeply religious and had more vibrant personal devotional lives than most scholars have recognized. Presidents use religious language and engage in religious practices to win public approval and gain political advantages. Therefore, we must judge whether their faith is authentic by examining their private correspondence as well as their public pronouncements and evaluating the testimonies of those who knew them best. We must also assess their statements and behavior before, during, and after their presidencies.

Their religious practices—frequent church attendance, prayer, and reading of the Bible—close relationships with some religious groups, regular use of religious rhetoric, and particular policies all testify that their faith was important to many chief executives. Most presidents have worshipped consistently to continue their life-long practice, seek divine guidance, set a good example, or to please prospective voters. Almost all presidents have extensively used moral and biblical language to console grieving Americans, provide assurance in times of crisis, celebrate religious holidays, and promote particular policies.

The faith of many presidents has also helped shape their policies and determine their decisions. Numerous other factors—strategic considerations, national security, party platform commitments, campaign promises, political philosophy, relationships, and reelection concerns—affect their decisions. Nevertheless, their religious commitments have strongly affected the policies many presidents adopted. Religious beliefs helped inspire George Washington's quest to guarantee religious liberty, Jefferson's to ensure peace, and Abraham Lincoln's to end slavery. Their Christian convictions helped prompt William McKinley to declare war against Spain and take control of the Philippines, Theodore Roosevelt to establish national parks, Woodrow Wilson to devise the Treaty of Versailles, Herbert Hoover to reform prisons, and Franklin Roosevelt to remedy the ills of the Great Depression. Harry Truman's decision to recognize Israel, Dwight Eisenhower's attempt to reduce armaments, Carter's quest to promote human rights, Ronald Reagan's crusade to crush communism, Bill Clinton's efforts to resolve international conflicts, George W. Bush's support for faith-based initiatives, and Barack Obama's policies on poverty were all motivated in large part by their faith.

Has the faith of presidents affected them and their administrations positively or negatively?  The answer to this question depends largely on how individuals view the religious convictions and policies of particular presidents. However, when people's faith gives them confidence, assurance, comfort, and inspiration, it is generally beneficial. People's faith often stimulates them to be more compassionate, generous, and hopeful and supplies a constructive blueprint for bettering society. Moreover, the faith of presidents has often greatly aided them in carrying out their demanding duties and serving as the nation's pastor-in-chief during crises and calamities.

Faith has played a very important and often controversial role in the lives of American presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama. Although the founders wisely separated church and state, religious belief and politics have often been inextricably joined and will undoubtedly continue to be.

Dr. Gary Scott Smith chairs the history department at Grove City College and is a fellow for faith and politics with The Center for Vision & Values. He is the author of "Faith and the Presidency From George Washington to George W. Bush" (Oxford University Press, 2009), "Religion in the Oval Office" and "Heaven in the American Imagination" (Oxford University Press, 2011).

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!

Israel Eyes US Presidential Frontrunners

Wednesday, August 26, 2015 |  Israel Today Staff

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It’s still early to say who will be the Republican candidate to become American’s next president come next year’s election, but already the topic of Israel is getting major play in the nomination process, and Israelis are taking notice.

Frontrunner Donald Trump and crowd favorite Dr. Ben Carson have been particularly vocal in their support of Israel, and in their harsh criticism of current President Barack Obama over his handling of relations with the Jewish state.

Carson in an interview with Fox News charged that Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran was evidence of his disdain for the Jews and the survival of their national homeland.

“All you have to do,” said Carson, “is, like I have, go to Israel, and talk to average people, on all ends of that spectrum. And I couldn’t find a single person there who didn’t feel that this administration had turned their back on Israel.”

When challenged over whether or not that made Obama anti-Semitic, as Carson suggested, he replied: “I think anything is anti-Semitic that is against the survival of a state that is surrounded by enemies, and by people who want to destroy them. And to sort of ignore that, and to act like everything is normal there, and that these people are paranoid, I think that’s anti-Semitic.”

Carson spoke out strongly against the Iran nuclear deal in July, warning that it puts the “whole country in jeopardy” and represents “a complete lack of common sense.”

In a separate interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump warned that “Israel is in big trouble. Obama has really let Israel down.”

Implementation of the Obama-brokered nuclear deal, according to Trump, means that Iran is “going to be such a wealthy, such a powerful nation. They are going to have nuclear weapons. They are going to take over parts of the world that you wouldn’t believe. And I think it’s going to lead to nuclear holocaust.”

Unfortunately, Trump explained, it will be almost impossible for the next president to just “rip up” the nuclear deal signed by Obama.

Still, if elected, the real estate mogul vowed he would “police that contract so tough that they [the Iranians] don’t have a chance. As bad as the contract is, I will be so tough on that contract.”

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Obama's An Anti-Semite, Charges US Presidential Candidate

Tuesday, August 18, 2015 |  Israel Today Staff

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As was to be expected, the fate and future of tiny Israel has become a central issue in the upcoming presidential election in the world’s leading superpower, America.

Two front-running Republican candidates at the weekend lambasted President Barack Obama over his mistreatment of Israel, calling the current administration’s policies anti-Semitic and an existential threat to the Jewish state.

Retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson in an interview with Fox News charged that Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran was evidence of his disdain for the Jews and the survival of their national homeland.

“All you have to do,” said Carson, “is, like I have, go to Israel, and talk to average people, on all ends of that spectrum. And I couldn’t find a single person there who didn’t feel that this administration had turned their back on Israel.”

His Fox interviewers wondered how that made Obama an anti-Semite, to which Carson replied:

“I think anything is anti-Semitic that is against the survival of a state that is surrounded by enemies, and by people who want to destroy them. And to sort of ignore that, and to act like everything is normal there, and that these people are paranoid, I think that’s anti-Semitic.”

At the same time, controversial real estate mogul, and currently the leading Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump was telling NBC’s Meet the Press that “Israel is in big trouble. Obama has really let Israel down.”

He was referring to the much-maligned Obama-brokered Iran nuclear agreement, which, according to Trump, is going to enable to Islamic Republic to become “such a wealthy, such a powerful nation. They are going to have nuclear weapons. They are going to take over parts of the world that you wouldn’t believe. And I think it’s going to lead to nuclear holocaust.”

Unfortunately, as Trump explained, now that the agreement is out there, it will be nearly impossible for the next president, whomever it may be, to simply “rip up” the contract.

Even so, Trump vowed that if elected he would “police that contract so tough that they [the Iranians] don’t have a chance. As bad as the contract is, I will be so tough on that contract.”

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Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates from ISRAEL TODAY.