Our current President, as of December 2008, said, "I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system." ⁽¹⁾ This statement makes no sense. It is like saying I stopped eating in order to save my life. How in the world did we get to this point? We live in an age of double meanings, and a terrible famine of good bold leaders, and of people who are incapable of standing for the right things and principles. Tragically, whether he understands it or not, he just flushed one of the great principles that our founding fathers, World War I and II, Korean War, Vietnam war, and both Gulf War Veteran's fought and gave their lives for. Freedom and Free Markets. You can't have one with out the other. Now, it is all gone. Finished! The irony is that this president boasted of his faith in Christ. What happened? The answer seems simple enough. Permissive love which was the foundation for just getting along at any cost domestically. Reaching out, and having a compassionate conservativism.

What do Christians do when we witness a so called brother in Christ, who is president of the last great nation on earth, betray the oath to defend and protect our Constitution which includes the Free Market system? Just what can we do? Sadly, he is deceived by his own vain philosophy of just getting along, compassionate conservativism, and trying to reach compromises at all political levels with all who reject his Lord. These concepts he clearly "read into" the Bible. Let's look at some of the possibilities of what went wrong with this presidents tenure of office. As a matter of fact, what will be covered here is a real problem through out all of Christendom. Therefore, this president is not alone.

So let's talk. We live in an age that the enemies of the Gospel have revamped age old lies that sound as if it is the right thing to do. One lie is, that we ought to reach out and be inclusive. Of course when the other side gets in, there is no inclusion of our values. We ought to be inclusive of all people and ideas, they say? So how inclusive was our Lord. After all he is called "Love." Well, in reality our Lord was not all the inclusive. "And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?" ⁽²⁾ Now the pharisees condemned our Lord for doing this. Our Lord did not mind the sinners setting with him. However, no where in the New Testament do we find that Jesus went from that meal espousing what the sinners felt was wrong with society. No where in the scriptures do we find any of the apostles making any sort of excuse for sin and sinners. Instead, as you follow our Lord through his three year journey to the Cross, he systemically condemned their sinfulness, as much as he condemn the religious leaders of his time. His tent did not allow evil and sin just to get along, just to be a nice guy. Or just to show that he understands. For that matter, sin is the equalizer between both the rich and poor. Before they entered his "tent," they had to commit to following his ways and accepting blame for their sins and conditions and turn from them. He never allowed them to blame society for their sin or their sorry condition as do our religious and political leaders today.

Let's talk of the poor. Better yet, let's think a bit more. What I mean here are those who are poor. Not poor in spirit or the like. But those who are poor in worldly materials. What did Jesus say about the poor. Did he insist on wiping out poverty? Was that what the Great Commission is all about? Hear the word of our Lord. "For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always." This statement comes as a response to Judas Iscariot who would betray our Lord. You see, Judas objected to the woman who poured a "pound of ointment" on our Lord's feet. Judas said that the money should have been used to help the poor. What a hypocrite he was! The one who would betray Jesus no less trying, as do many who reject Christ today, to give holy council to the righteous. Adam Clarke says "How often does charity serve as a cloak for covetousness! God is sometimes robbed of his right under the pretense of devoting what is withheld to some charitable purpose, to which there was no intention ever to give it." ⁽³⁾

Today we have the poor issue with us both politically and religiously. It is a fact that our nation alone has spent billions of dollars to alleviate the poor. From the "Great Society" of President L. B. Johnson to the present. If money can do it, it should have been done already. Many liberal type churches also spend millions of dollars in different parts of the would to do the same. Yet in both cases, it seems like it only worsens the problem. Yet, Christ himself never discouraged the church from helping the poor. However, the problem is that the church and governments do not have what it truly takes to help them. That is, saving Faith in Christ! A real change of heart. Now he who can help them is ignored, and the government has taken God's place. Our Lord makes it clear, that there will always be the poor, and putting so much energy in to helping them no matter the cause, is not the main objective of the Church victorious much less a good government.

Let's talk and think about the concept of love. John makes it clear that God is Love. ⁽⁴⁾ If that be the case, we must understand what love is if we are to understand God. How did God show his love to Israel? Well from time to time he allowed enemies to destroy their country. After Christ Jerusalem was destroyed just as it says in the Revelation. He loved the world, that he personally created, but he destroyed it by water and saved the only family who walked by his rules. In the Book of Romans, Paul lists many sins and makes it clear that such will not escape God's notice and will be punished. God clearly teaches us to be as holy as he. ⁽⁵⁾

Now what does this mean? It means to live without sin or at least strive to be sinless! No where in the Bible is sin excused. No where! Yet in our society of higher education and elitism we simply redefine sin away. Some are simply called a disorder. For example we call certain sexual habits "alterative life styles." To kill a child within the womb is called a "woman choice or right." This choice is accomplished by dehumanizing the child calling it a mere fetus. We make excuses for sin by reasoning that every one else is doing it. Then the we make excuses for not standing opposed to it. This kind of nonsense is called permissive love. Jesus always took exception to sin and evil. It was for this reason he came and died. To destroy the power of sin, and not to modify it, reform it, or soften its negative impact on society. In the last 50 years permissive love has become a gangrene in both our modern society and the Church. All to many of our leaders look the other way just to get along. No one wants to accept personal responsibility for their sins. And sadly, no one is brave enough to stand against.

Soon the to be former President George Bush will have a lot of time to reflect. He has done a great wrong basing his domestic policies on getting along or just reaching out. "The incoming Obama administration should launch a criminal investigation of Bush administration officials to see whether they broke the law . . ., a House Democratic report said Tuesday" ⁽⁶⁾ according to a national newspaper. This is their thank you for his wink and a node. Of course if there is a crime committed this should happen. But he committed no more a crime then the president that he replaced.

The whole moral of this story is this. President George W. Bush, is a case study of what Christians should not do. He did all this out of the wrong understanding of scriptural goodness and love. While we gave him support for the war on terrorism, he largely failed on the domestic political scene by not standing for Biblical principles. Be assured, that the new leader will stand for his right or wrong.

Perhaps he should have listened more carefully to this old western story. A cowboy came to a fast moving stream. As he was pondering the stream he heard a strange voice. Looking around he discover that a rattle snake was talking to him. The snake asked the cowboy to please carry him across and put him down on the other side. This was discussed for a while and finally the snake convinced the cowboy to do it. Very carefully the cowboy conveyed the snake across the stream. As he was putting the snake down it bit him. Shocked the cowboy cried out, "we had a deal, and I was just trying to be nice!" The rattle snake responded "what don't you understand about the nature of a rattle snake?" Just what don't we understand the nature of sin? Trying to get along with what God calls evil, and sin is LEITHAL, serves no good It is leithal not only to the one who did not listen to God's Word, but also those he leads. When Israel did such, it fell to the wrath of God. The same is true today of the church. Bush can not undo his nonsense, but the church can profit from it. We must cleanses our selves once and for all by throwing out the unscriptural logic and permissive love. As Christians, and President Bush claims to be one, we can not pick and chose what we want to obey in the Bible for the sake of getting along. For eight years we have observed how his nagnanimous attitude failed us domestically. ⁽⁷⁾ Let us take the lesson to heart, and obey all that God commands us to do so as we can win the victory.