Looking For A Hero

Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

I enthusiastically support John McCain's candidacy for president this year. My reasons are a mix of practical issues and spiritual principles. It took me months of biblical research and policy analysis to settle upon McCain. In making my decision, I had to prioritize my belief in the scriptures because of the three different roles I play in life: a Christian, an American citizen and a member of the black community.

As a citizen, I view energy policy, immigration reform, and our defense against radical Islam as three major issues that will define America for the next two decades.

McCain will expand domestic oil and natural gas exploration and production. This approach will lessen energy speculation and bring down the cost of energy in both the short and long term. No matter what Congress thinks, we cannot change the law of supply and demand. A small change in supply will have a major impact in energy costs.

In addition, the nation cannot reduce its dependency on oil unless we change how we power our transportation sector. Therefore McCain proposes a $300 million prize to improve battery technology for full commercial development of plug-in hybrid and fully electric automobiles.

He also supports flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) and a myriad of other approaches that will expand consumer choices. Smarter conservation and development of all alternative energy sources, including expanding the use of nuclear power, are a part of McCain's solution.

Radical environmentalists are attempting to influence legislators to limit energy supplies, which will artificially drive up prices. Higher energy prices will have a damaging affect on the poor who spend up to 50 percent of their incomes on energy. The poor are urban dwellers, the rural agricultural community, and the elderly. Regardless of the category, the poor are voiceless and often overlooked in public policy.

In the short term, energy policies will accelerate or retard our economic comeback during the next two years. Unfortunately energy policy reform, alone, will not turn the entire economy around. Fixing the economy will be like winning an arm wrestling contest with an octopus, yet it can be done.

As mentioned earlier, comprehensive immigration reform will shape the nation for decades. McCain has demonstrated a passion for a bi-partisan solution to this problem. He will eventually get it right. Finally, McCain realizes that the threat of radical Islam will not be negotiated away.

As an African-American, I am pleased that Barack Obama has been so widely accepted. America is ready for a black president. Sen. Obama's candidacy is a sign that America has grown racially. On the other hand, I am not convinced that the senator is the right black man at this time.

As a Christian, I believe that our next president will need more than human wisdom, organizational skill, or experience. He will need the blessing of God and a Davidic anointing and grace to defeat the Goliaths of our day. If the nation follows godly principles in the most important moral issues, we will attract the approval of God.

Please read the issue comparison chart below objectively. Next, ask yourself which candidate is most likely to ensure the blessings of God for the nation.



Although the press has labeled conservative biblical positions on marriage and life as "divisive," it is difficult to believe that the Lord is pleased that from 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred. In addition, changing the definition of marriage is more than a civil rights issue. Redefining marriage simultaneously changes the definition of a family, sex education in schools, and scores of other unintended consequences. The blessing of God will clearly follow the policy positions of the first candidate. As you have probably guessed, the first candidate is McCain; the second is Obama.

Time will not allow me to list all the contemporary problems that we could solve through a biblical approach. The Church should do more than just pray during this election; she should decide to be the ultimate swing vote - transforming the landscape of American political culture. You can read more about these principles in my book, Personal Faith Public Policy.

In conclusion, I would like to repeat the words of Griffin Bell, a Democrat and former attorney general, as he introduced John McCain at the dedication of the National Prisoner of War Museum. Bell boldly declared "we often hear people...say, where are our heroes…Senator John McCain is an authentic, living American hero."

I don't know about you, but I am looking for a hero.

*http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

A Response to the Critics

By Kimberly Daniels

Many people have blasted Charisma for asking questions about Barack Obama. It is time to stop arguing and get on God’s side.

God often wakes me up at 5 a.m. This morning He woke me up, but something was different. I felt like wailing in the spirit. A radical feeling I’ve never had before rose up inside me.

God was dealing with me about the upcoming election. My spirit was grieved because people were calling the editor of Charisma, Lee Grady, a racist. I wrote a column in Charisma’s November 2008 issue in which I criticized Barack Obama. Am I a racist? If you know anything about me I am black to the bone and cannot rightfully be called an Uncle Tom. Lee and I stand for what we believe is righteous. Do we have that right?

“If all the aborted babies killed in the United States could come back to life, who would they vote for in this upcoming election?”

I read all the responses on the Charisma forum (fireinmybones.com) and I have a response to those who want to attack Lee Grady. He and I are on the same side! Many do not see it, but lines have already been drawn, and we have to look around and see who is standing with us.

Are we standing with Hollywood? The homosexual activists? The Democrats? The Republicans? The world? Personally, I renounce all of them because I know that they are a part of the broad and the wide that God speaks of. I stand for what is right! What is right can be rooted only in what is righteous!

I think we need to get some things straight. I am not standing with white people or Charisma. I am standing for what I have been standing for every since God delivered me from the whorehouse. I have been preaching the same message since the devils were cast out of me.

The problem is that a lot of preachers have changed their messages for one reason only: They have switched sides! You did not just change your mind; you switched sides!

Let’s not argue about whose side is right. We can agree that a line has already been drawn in the spirit. We can go further to say that somebody is wrong and somebody is right.

I have no choice but to address issues from the position of a believer. That is who I am, and its dictates how I stand and who I stand with. This is not based on friendship, family or even preference. I simply do not have a choice. You never pick sides on issues like this. Just stick to God’s Word and you will end up where you are supposed to be. Remember, God does not take sides; He takes over!

Consider the following:

1. Either it is OK for Barack Obama to blaspheme Romans 1 and call it “insignificant,” or I am on the right side.
2. Either Obama’s voting against Amendment 2 (which states only that marriage is between one woman and one man, and does not stop gay couples from getting insurance rights or visiting each other in hospitals) is OK, or I am on the right side.
3. Either delivering babies up to nine months in a breach position up to where only the head is left in the womb, stabbing them in the back of the neck and sucking their brains out should be legal, or I am on the right side.
4. Either laws that prevent me from preaching the truth about homosexuality, require that I hire one gay person for every so many employees, or force me as a minister to marry same-sex couples or be sued should be passed, or I am on the right side.
5. Either secular humanism (which focuses on the rights of men) should be a priority in America and put before the laws of God, or I am on the right side.
6. Either practicing homosexuals are going to heaven, and there is no devil or hell, and Obama is a born-again believer, or I am on the right side.

You may argue that we cannot say who is a Christian and who is not, and you are right. But the Word of God says we can judge the tree by the fruit that it bears, and we have to know those who labor among us. I am not comparing Sen. Obama to Sen. McCain; I am comparing him to the Word of God. Everything I stand for as a believer, Obama is against!

If you disagree, keep on trucking. This is America, and I have a right to share my view. There are too many people who are confused or afraid to say how they feel, and I need to let them know that they are not alone. All blacks are not blinded by Obama.

Ease up on Lee Grady! Is he a racist because he is saying what he believes? I encourage my other white brothers and sisters to speak up and stand for what they believe. Do not be intimidated by blacks who will accuse you of being a racist because you have godly values!

Even if someone gave me a billion dollars, I could not vote for Obama. (For the right price, would your vote swing either way?) But if he wins, I will pray for him as the Bible teaches me to do.

I am sick of hearing Christians crying about the economy. Matthews 6 says this is what the heathens do. God says we should not worry about what we will eat, drink or wear. It is unscriptural for church folk to depend on any man (or the economy) to meet their needs.
No one wants to admit that the Democrats have been in office a few years, and I haven’t seen them change anything but their minds. I do not have a Democratic or Republican mind-set! I am a born-again believer, and I have the mind of Christ.

God also said that we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It goes on to say that all we need will be added to us. This word “added” means a “cycle of blessings.” If you maintain the right mind-set during this current financial crunch, you will experience the cycle of blessing that is reserved for the saints. The “cain’ts” and the “ain’ts” will not eat of it!

Today we are standing on Mount Carmel. King Omri sold out when he allowed his son Ahab to marry the witch, Jezebel. The marriage sealed a deal he made with the pagans of that day for economic prosperity. Great trade opened up in the land. Everybody was happy except God!

The Baal worshippers set up their temples next to the God of Israel. They did not want just a right to worship; they wanted equal rights! I believe in equality for all men, but men cross the line when they attempt to be equal to God.

It started in heaven, came through the garden and is resting on America day. Men want to be “like God”! This is what secular humanism is all about, putting the rights of man over the Word of God. They did it at the tower of Babel. Nimrod taught the people that they did not have to fear God after the flood.

People have attempted to build a modern-day tower to heaven in America, but just as it happened in the book of Genesis, the Holy Trinity came down to earth to stop it. It is not just because of the Bush administration that the economy is where it is. God has come down to America, and folks are too busy crying to even notice it.

There is no candidate that can get us out of this mess. We may as well repent and vote morally right. If we do this we can pray to the Lord of the Harvest and He will send His abundance.

Let’s stop killing innocent babies in America, and the land will begin to yield her increase again. You may say, what about the deaths in Iraq? There were deaths in the wars God ordained in the Bible. I never read a Scripture that God had a problem with them.

He did have a problem with people sacrificing their babies to Chemosh and Molech. Innocent bloodshed is major on God’s agenda! And by the way, every soldier that went to Iraq signed up. Nobody was drafted.

The babies that have been slaughtered never signed up to be killed. They were drafted by laws that never considered their rights. And most importantly, they never got a chance to vote! If all the aborted babies killed in the United States could come back to life, who would they vote for?

When Elijah commanded the sky to dry up he was not putting on a show. He was coming up against an economic system that was rooted in idol worship.

The people were praying to Baal to provide rain for their crops. This is why the widow woman was about to eat her last meal and die. She was a Baal worshipper! The idolaters were crying out to their god, and the second heaven was shut to them.

America has been known to be one of the most moral countries in the world. If we (both black people and white people) do not turn from our wicked ways and repent, our country will be just as perverted as some of the countries overseas. America has never been perfect, but she has previously been known to have values.

But we have allowed Hollywood, CNN, Fox, the NAACP and other popular people, places and organizations to be our prophets for many years. Now the voices of the real prophets are mocked, just as in the time of Noah. The people mocked Noah until he entered the ark.

Noah is about to enter the ark in the Spirit! God will shut the mouths of the logicians, statisticians, demonic gatekeepers and prognosticators. The liberal gurus of the media are about to eat their words. God will have the last say!

Many say that the issue in this election is not race. I beg to differ. I have talked to many blacks who disagree with Obama on many things. They still look me in the eye and say, “I am voting for him because I want to see a black man as the president of the United States in my lifetime.”

Many had a shift in their mind-set when Colin Powell endorsed Obama. I respect Colin Powell, but if he is on Obama’s side, he is not the one, either!

It may be true that you are voting for Obama for other reasons, but the fact remains that many people support him for one reason only—because he is black. I live where the rubber meets the road. I do not have a megachurch, and I am not promoting an agenda for you to send money to my ministry or buy my books.

For those of you who think that all preachers have a price, please do not send one dime or buy one book from my ministry. Do not even log onto my Web site if what I am saying offends you. This message is for those who have ears to hear what I am saying and want to know the truth. I am calling all of you who know you have committed spiritual mutiny to get back on the wall!

Come and join me for a cause that’s greater than your individual calling! Let the world, heaven and hell know that we are not moving from the foundation of our salvation.

We must be politically and morally correct as Psalms 11 requires believers to be. If this foundation is destroyed, what can we, as the church, do? Justice has been falling in the streets of America while we have been playing church.

We have gotten into such a backslidden state in America that we need a law to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. Laws have already been passed in some states that make it illegal for anyone to refer to a couple as “husband” and “wife.” They must be referred to as “partners.”

The devil is a liar, and this will not happen in Florida on my watch! I pray that you will be a gatekeeper where you live, too.

Speaking of gatekeepers, for you preachers who are submitting your anointing to denominations that want to debate the issue of homosexuality, you will be judged first. This matter cannot even have a hearing in the third heaven. To debate this issue, you must hang out in second-heaven activity. It is totally demonic.

I also suggest that you down-low brothers in the pulpits and congregations back up and be quiet. You do not qualify to speak. I love you, but do not call me or write a letter unless you want the devil cast out of you! You stay on your side and I will stay on mine.

Keep posting your comments on blogs behind the scenes as you have been doing. The Lord has showed me who many of you are. Be delivered or be busted out!

I have the privilege of praying for the young boys in the church whom you seduce, and my heart is broken over the matter. There are certain things that are sins, and we all have sinned in some way. But what you do is an abomination.

As a prophet of God I prophesy that five of you have six months to repent and wholeheartedly turn the other way, or God is coming to visit you. This thing must be because judgment must start in His house!

You have helped the homosexual agenda against the church with your secret lifestyle. You have turned the offerings of God into filthy lucre, and the stench is strong in the nostrils of God.

No longer shall you be a breeder in the temple. Your demonic reproduction is about to be cut off. Many of you judge Carlton Pearson, but your penalty shall be greater. For you have remained in the house and have been a spiritual reproach.

It is not too late; your tormentors can be released from you, and your sleep can come back to you. But you must move in season or you will never get another chance. The spirit of reprobation is knocking at your door.

God is especially dealing with the foul spirit in the black church and the gospel music industry. There is safety, especially for you now. For the spirits that have hidden you and concealed your filth are about to turn on you and uncover the mud. I speak this to you by the Spirit of the Most High God, and not one word of what I have spoken will fall to the ground.

In closing, let me say that I am not trying to be political. This is a spiritual battle. I am not running for office, and I receive no fringe benefits from anyone who is. I simply stand firm for the Word of God.

As a result, I am required to be against some things. I am not against homosexuals. I am against the homosexual agenda and any person who attempts to stop me from getting my gay brothers and sisters free.

I have employees who have come out of the lifestyle, and gay people attend my church--but they are trying to get delivered. We treat them with love but do not provide a place for them to flaunt their lifestyle.

I also believe that there are instances in which an abortion may be necessary. My fight is against abortion as birth control. Used in this way, it is a human sacrifice.

I am guilty of abortion and have repented. A prophet told me recently that he dreamed he was in heaven. He said he saw two baby boys waiting to meet me in heaven. His words had to be from God because no one knew.

I had an abortion when I was 15, but the procedure was incomplete. I remember being in the bathroom stall at my school with baby parts coming out of me. I am not on a guilt trip, but I have a healthy compassion to save the innocent lives of the unborn. I VOTE FOR THEM!

The attached pictures may be hard to look at, but my prayer is that when you see them, you will understand that somebody has to stop the mutilation of innocent human beings. Obama said that it is above his pay grade to determine when a person receives human rights. I would be afraid to have a leader over so many lives in this country who does not understand life from beginning to end. You cannot help me to get where I am going if you do not know the essence of where I came from.

Let everything that has breath (and babies have breath at conception) praise the Lord! We really cannot stop these babies from praising the Lord. They will do it either here or in heaven. The only difference is that if they do it here, there will be no blood on our hands!

Kimberly Daniels is founder of Spoken Word Ministries and Rhema Way City Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Visit her on the Web at Kimberlydaniels.com.

Draw the Line

by Kimberly Daniels

As a child in the 1960s I rode in the back of the bus. I was at the front of the riot lines in the 1970s, when I hit white boys on the head with bricks and dragged white girls down sidewalks near my school. I also experienced serious racism when I was an athlete in college.

I have been called the "N" word many times. I was taught to hate white people, and some of my relatives still call white people names such as "honky" and "cracker." But after I found Jesus, I was delivered from racism. I am free indeed!

The residue of my abuse has dried up at the root, and I am no longer a victim of what I call "ricochet racism." This occurs when the abused becomes the abuser.

Ricochet racism is a hellacious boomerang that grips the victim with pride and makes him think he has a right to hate. When I was saved, God taught me that I did not have a right to hate white people. Jesus nailed all my excuses to the cross, and I moved on.

Now that I am a born-again Christian, I do not consider my race to be my primary identity. I am a Christian first—before I am an African-American, a Democrat or a Republican. That's why I am troubled that so many African-American Christians are voting for Barack Obama simply because he is black.

If someone won't vote for a person because of race, we call this racism. But it is also racism when someone votes for a person because of his race!

Believe me, I would love to see a black brother in the White House—but not someone like Obama, who has embraced humanistic doctrines. Many white preachers are afraid to say this, and many black preachers won't touch it with a 10-foot pole.

I love Obama and pray for him and his family. But as Elijah troubled Ahab in Israel, I will challenge his views because they are dangerous to our religious liberties. It's time to draw the line.

Black Christians today need to put their faith first when they step into the voting booth. Does Obama represent godly values?

We know, for example, that he is an inclusionist. For 20 years he attended a church in Chicago that preaches that (1) Jesus is not the only way to God; (2) there is no hell; and (3) God will allow homosexuals to go to heaven even if they remain in their sinful state. Obama also has defended the killing of unborn babies, even in the third trimester.

He claims to be a Christian, but in his book The Audacity of Hope he calls the first chapter of Romans an "obscure" passage of Scripture. God's admonition about the sin of homosexuality is hardly obscure. It is very clear!

Jesus is the only way to God, and God will surely send homosexuals to hell if they do not turn from their ways and accept Christ—just as He will do for all other sinners who do not trust Jesus.

Regardless of political opinions, the Bible makes it clear: Those who support the homosexual agenda and the murder of unborn babies will be judged (see Rom. 1:32). These were the main issues in the days of ancient Israel, and they are critical issues today.

The pro-abortion movement is tied to the worship of two idols, Chemosh and Molech, the gods of child sacrifice. The movement toward gay marriage is rooted in the spirit of gameo, a Greek word that refers to same-sex marriage (see Matt. 24:38).

How can we vote for politicians who favor these ungodly movements? The Bible says we must separate ourselves from sin and wickedness. God is looking for faithful Christians who will not bow to the gods of this world.

I know what I am saying is not popular, and some people will denounce me for it. But I believe it is time to draw a line.

Believers can no longer make excuses by pulling their race cards, leaning on their lukewarm denominational rules or hiding under the covering of a political party. If we want America to recover, we must repent. We must choose the right side.

We must stand strong for what we believe and hold our ground. We must declare, as Joshua did, "Whoever is on God's side ... stand with me!"