As debate on the healthcare bill comes to a head, most Americans are appalled at the corruption we observe in the process. Some of our congressmen are acting like barbarians. A couple of weeks ago Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, compared people who oppose health care reform to those who supported slavery in the 19th century. Last week Senator Al Franken denied the normal privilege of a couple more minutes for Senator Joe Lieberman to finish his remarks. Senator John McCain said he had never seen such behavior in the Senate. And this weekend Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn said, “What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can’t make the vote tonight.” And now the unpopular, unread bill will go back to the House of Representatives for more drama and embarrassment. In Fiddler on the Roof, the Rabbi was asked, “Is there a proper blessing for the Czar?” To the oppressed Jews this was nearly unthinkable. But the witty Rabbi said, “A blessing for the Czar? Of course. May God bless and keep the Czar … far away from us!” The Apostle Paul taught us that we should indeed pray for our governmental leaders. Paul lived under the cruel and godless reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. Yet, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, he gave us this advice: I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. – 1 Timothy 2:1-4 When we’re frustrated with our government we should call their offices or send them Email. But we should also remember to pray for them. Right now it would take a miracle for them to make the right decision, but then, that’s what prayer is all about, isn’t it?

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Original Post here.

Events that people once thought would never happen are now coming together in rapid succession. When I was a young man, my Christian friends and I knew that the Bible taught that one day there would be a one-world government and a one-world religion, but we could not imagine how these things could happen. We thought that Americans, at least, would reject the idea of any kind of super-governmental power. In those days conspiracy theorists spoke in hushed voices about a “New World Order” to come.

During this past year, the worldwide financial crisis has caused great interest in global controls to try to restore stability and prosperity. It is no longer unthinkable for the ordinary citizen to accept the idea of universal governance.

This week two major advances toward the One World ideal have been taking place: one in Copenhagen, and the other in Melbourne.

In Copenhagen the United Nations held a highly publicized Climate Change Conference. The gathering makes another strong argument for the development of a One-World Government. In spite of the release of controversial e-mails from some climate scientists that global warming calculations are not accurate, thousands of enthusiastic delegates from all over the globe met to further their plans to limit carbon emissions and provide up to $150 billion in aid to developing countries to gain their cooperation.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, there was movement toward an eventual One-World Religion. At The Parliament of the World’s Religions, thousands of representatives from 80 nationalities and more than 220 faith traditions spent a week of dialogue about how to increase understanding and cooperation between various religious traditions. They discussed such topics as climate change and the west’s relationship with Islam.

This would be a good time for every Christian to review Revelation, chapters 17 and 18. In the last days there will be a final evil world empire, represented by the beast, and a false world religion, represented by the woman who rides the beast. This will not happen until after the Rapture of the Church, but, in the light of current events, it is not so hard to imagine any more.

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Original Post here.