Cindy Jacobs: Prophetically, America Is at a Tipping Point - CHARISMA NEWS

We prayed and listened to the Lord. The only thing He said to us was that He was preparing a patriot for the nation, and, if we prayed, that person would win the elections. It was frustrating! (Facebook/Cindy Jacobs)

Cindy Jacobs: Prophetically, America Is at a Tipping Point

 9/20/2016 CHARISMA NEWS

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Prov. 14:34). 

When the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders met in November 2015, I asked them, "Do you have a word about the elections?" In my opinion, this strategic gathering that includes some of the most respected prophets in the United States is a highlight for my year. 

We prayed and listened to the Lord. The only thing He said to us was that He was preparing a patriot for the nation, and, if we prayed, that person would win the elections. It was frustrating!

However, God had admonished us to pray for just such a person, and pray we did. 

This was puzzling, as we have received very accurate and broad-sweeping prophecies in the past. For instance, we were shown that the E.U. would fragment. We were told the U.S. dollar would remain a haven for investors and, in the midst of worldwide shaking, it remained so.  Then, we were shown that economy of Europe would shake and while this would affect the U.S., we would not have 2008 meltdown. This is not to say that the nation will never see that in the future. Frankly, it depends on our prayers. 

In personally seeking God as to the "why" He wasn't more specific with us, I realized He had already spoken! We need to see which candidate most lined up with biblical values. The Word of God tells us that righteousness exalts a nation and sin is a reproach. I realize that to use the biblical word, "sin," is not politically correct. This is because even the church has become a bastion of cultural relativism. The more preferred words are, messed up" or "shouldn't have done it." Some even go so far as to say the word "sin" is offensive to sinners! 

I believe that such things as abortion, the murder of the unborn in the womb, are offensive to God. Other things like lying and stealing are forbidden as part of God's rules! Therefore, we need to vote accordingly. I also realize that the president is not a "pastor-in-chief," but a commander-in-chief. Still, we need to look at what policies the candidate will advocate and the outcome of those policies. 

What does this have to do with the election and why can't I just refuse to vote because I they are not the candidates I would have chosen? If I may digress for a moment, God placed us on earth to be its stewards. We are to disciple nations. To do so includes the need to see that it becomes a nation that God deems righteous. To abstain from the political process and not participate in the process is to advocate this role to others. This comes down to this statement for me-voting is a spiritual exercise.

In order to see that righteousness exalts our nation, we have to vote. Prophetically, I believe we are at a tipping point. We have already lost a large measure of the greatness that God gave the United States to be salt and light in the Earth. I know, because Mike and I travel around the world and listen to people say this very thing in nation after nation. My heart grows heavy when I hear this discussed and I am frankly embarrassed before God. Of course, I know God loves every nation and every one has a unique, important role. However, I love my nation too! God purposed me to be an American. 

It may be that God is not speaking to me about a particular candidate and is using others instead. That could very well be. There is one thing that I do know! It is time to pray and act!

Faith without works is dead! If we want a righteous nation our faith must be in the voting booth as well as a church building. 

We have to look at the candidates, even though there are flawed, and vote for the ones that will establish righteousness for the unborn, fight against poverty and racism and biblical, foundational truth. God is not for a political party. They are all flawed. However, there are certain candidates who will fight for our religious freedoms and biblical values such as life in the womb.   

Perhaps we do not need another word because He already given it and we only need to read the Lawgiver's Manuel and vote our biblical conscious. 

3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!

Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.

Debunking The 'Separation of Church and State' Myth - MATT BARBER CHARISMA NEWS

Remain undaunted by the threat of government intervention or punitive action by the state. (Reuters)

Debunking The 'Separation of Church and State' Myth

 2/2/2016 MATT BARBER  charisma news

The American church has a problem. It's one part fear, one part confusion and one part apathy. Pastors, priests and rabbis have long swallowed the false notion that all things religious and all things political are somehow mutually exclusive—that never the twain shall meet.

Leading up to Ronald Reagan's landslide presidential victory in 1980, Rev. Jerry Falwell, the founder of Liberty University, captured the crux of the church's apathy problem. "I'm being accused of being controversial and political," he said. "I'm not political. But moral issues that become political, I still fight. It isn't my fault that they've made these moral issues political. But because they have doesn't stop the preachers of the gospel from addressing them. ..."

"What then is wrong?" he continued. "I say the problem, first of all, is in the pulpits of America. We preachers must take the blame. For too long we have fearfully stood back and failed to address the issues that are corrupting the republic. I repeat Proverbs 14:34: 'Righteousness exalteth a nation.' Not military might, though that's important. Not financial resources, though that has been the enjoyment of this nation above all nations in the last 200 years. But spiritual power is the backbone, the strength, of a nation."

Indeed, it is not just within the church's purview, but it is the church's duty to insert itself into state matters relating to morality, public policy and culture at large.

Contrary to popular opinion, the words "separation of church and state" are found nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. Yet many are misled into believing they are.

So why the confusion?

It's been intentionally fomented. It's the byproduct of a decades-long religious cleansing campaign. The First Amendment's "Establishment Clause," a mere 10 words, is the primary tool secular separatists misuse and abuse to "fundamentally transform" America to reflect their own anti-Christian self-image.

Yet these words remain abundantly clear in both scope and meaning. The Establishment Clause states merely: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. ..."

That's it.

And the founders meant exactly what they said: "Congress," as in the United States Congress, "shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

In a letter to Benjamin Rush, a fellow-signer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, often touted by the left as the great church-state separationist, spelled out exactly what this meant then, and what it means today. The First Amendment's Establishment Clause was simply intended to restrict Congress from affirmatively "establishing," through federal legislation, a national Christian denomination (similar to the Anglican Church of England).

As Jefferson put it: "[T]he clause of the Constitution" covering "freedom of religion" was intended to necessarily preclude "an establishment of a particular form of Christianity through the United States."

The individual states, however, faced no such restriction. In fact, until as late as 1877, and after religious free exercise became absolute with passage of the 14th Amendment, most states did have an official state form of Christianity. Massachusetts, for example, sanctioned the Congregational Church until 1833.

Even so, today's anti-Christian ruling class insists on revising history. The ACLU's own promotional materials, for example, overtly advocate unconstitutional religious discrimination: "The message of the Establishment Clause [to the U.S. Constitution] is that religious activities must be treated differently from other activities to ensure against governmental support for religion," they claim.

This is abject nonsense. It's unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination—a twisted misrepresentation of the First Amendment. Secular "progressivism" depends upon deception as much as it relies upon revisionism. Yes, "separation" applies, but only insofar as it requires the state to remain separate from the church. That is to say, that government may not interfere with the free exercise of either speech or religion.

For decades, hard-left anti-theist groups like the ACLU, People for the American Way (PFAW) and Barry Lynn's Americans United (AU) have employed a cynical disinformation scheme intended to intimidate clergy into silence on issues of morality, culture and Christian civic involvement—issues that, as Falwell noted, are not political so much as they have been politicized; issues that are inherently "religious."

AU, for instance, annually sends tens-of-thousands of misleading letters to churches across the nation warning pastors, priests and rabbis that, "If the IRS determines that your house of worship has engaged in unlawful intervention, it can revoke the institution's tax-exempt status."

That's a lie.

In reality, there is no legal mechanism whatsoever for the Internal Revenue Service to take away a church's tax exemption. Churches are inherently tax-exempt, or, better still, "tax immune," simply by virtue of being a church. Churches do not need permission from the IRS, nor can the IRS revoke a church's tax immunity.

Since 1934, when the lobbying restriction was added to the Internal Revenue Code, not a single church has ever lost its tax-exempt status. Since 1954, when the political endorsement/opposition prohibition was added, only one church has ever lost its IRS letter ruling, but even that church did not lose its tax-exempt status.

The case involved the Church at Pierce Creek in New York, which placed full-page ads in USA Today and the Washington Times opposing then-Gov. Bill Clinton for president. The ads were sponsored by the church, and donations were solicited. The IRS revoked the church's letter ruling, but not its tax-exempt status. The church sued, and the court noted that churches are tax-exempt without an IRS letter ruling. It ruled that "because of the unique treatment churches receive under the Internal Revenue Code, the impact of the revocation is likely to be more symbolic than substantial." Not even this church lost its tax-exempt status, and not one donor was affected by this incident.

As Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel has observed, "Pastors can preach on biblical, moral and social issues, such as natural marriage and abortion, can urge the congregation to register and vote, can overview the positions of the candidates, and may personally endorse candidates. Churches may distribute nonpartisan voter guides, register voters, provide transportation to the polls, hold candidate forums, and introduce visiting candidates."

Since 2008, the Christian legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom has spearheaded a First Amendment exercise called "Pulpit Freedom Sunday." Since then, thousands of pastors across America have boldly exercised their guaranteed constitutional rights by addressing "political" issues from the pulpit. This has included directly endorsing candidates. These pastors have dared the IRS to come after them, and, not surprisingly, the IRS has balked.

Pastors, this election season follow the lead of Christ. Speak moral/political truths, in love, fearlessly. Remain undaunted by the threat of government intervention or punitive action by the state. And encourage your congregation to vote for candidates who sincerely reflect, in both word and deed, a biblical worldview and biblical principles.

Be "salt and light."

Because Christ didn't give us an option to do otherwise.

Matt Barber is founder and editor-in chief of barbwire.com. He is an author, columnist, cultural analyst and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. Having retired as an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer, Matt has taken his fight from the ring to the culture war. (Follow Matt on Twitter: @jmattbarber).

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 from CHARISMA: Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here

Did you enjoy this blog? Click here to receive it by email.