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We Must Obey God Rather Than Men

By Richard Mansel

It is a shame that government statutes or Presidential proclamations, which claim power and help from God in pledges and oaths, often fail to honor God as God (Rom. 1:21). As such, circumstances continue to align themselves so that sanctified saints must pick a side: government or Godhead, the President or the Omnipresent. Note the following two items to illustrate:

Dateline, April 14, 2009, San Diego, CA, USA.

A couple who holds a Bible study every Tuesday in the privacy of their own home is told by San Diego County that they cannot continue such Bible studies without a “major use permit”, or they would have to pay fines escalating as high as a $1000. The class, which had grown to as many as 30 people, could be construed as a “religious assembly” based on the county code, they were told.

The directive was rescinded the next month under public pressure. But my issue is the disrespect the government showed to God’s business. Would they have responded the same way had it been a Monday Night Football party, a Boy Scouts meeting, an Alcoholics Anonymous group, or even a Texas Hold’em Poker event that meets weekly?

Dateline, June 1, 2009, Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama in an official Presidential proclamation says the following: “NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America…do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.” Earlier in the document, he declares: “These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants… I continue to support measures…supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples…”

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 was an excellent exercise of executive might. However, this Proclamation by Obama in his first 150 days in office is disappointing at best and despicable at worst.

“Caesar” and all under his rule need to know that God has rendered (Mat. 22:21) homosexuality and like practices in both the Old and New Testaments as an “abomination” (Lev. 18:22) and “unnatural” (Rom. 1:26-27). Instead of listening to political pundits and constitutional scholars on moral issues, Mr. Obama needs to listen to Solomon in Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”

You can’t disrespect God’s will and way and expect not to reap what you sow! So, pray for our President, the government, and our nation in general to seek godly discernment and exercise better judgment going forward.

“We must obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29).