What is sad about the leaders of China and Russia wanting the success of the 
United States is that they wish for the governing principles which lead to 
material prosperity without knowing God himself. Religion is one of Satan's 
greatest tools, especially those forms of Christianity which embrace many of 
the "rules" but not a personal relationship with Jesus Christ himself. 
Without God in the life of the individual, the government is destined to 
fail. How do I know?

Listened to any news broadcasts lately about what is going on in Washington 
DC? How about your local state and city governments? Oh, we have a Tea-Party 
movement, and it may change some of the elected government leaders, but 
unless the people themselves turn to Christ for salvation and a revolution 
in their own individual lives, America's plunge into infamy will only 
excellerate. What can we do?

Remember that Jesus Christ is the Holy, separated  One and Truth 
personified. His Word is truth and will set us free, change us for the 
better as the Holy Spirit is allowed to work in us to produce His fruit. 
Know His Word! Make it a part of your life! In that way others will see 
Jesus in you and you will be able to boldly share the GoodNews that Jesus 
died for sins, was buried and rose again the third day and was seen, proving 
His sacrifice was sufficient to save all who put their trust in Him and Him 
alone. We may be a small Philadelphian church, but Christ has opened the 
door for us and so let us not be ashamed to bear His name while the door is 
open. It may be about to close.

-----Original Article-----
 Prepared for the Times
Rick Joyner

     Compared to the kingdom of God, all of the issues of this present world
 are boring. We must be engaged in the issues of this present world, at 
least
 to the degree that is necessary in order for us to be the salt and light
 we're called to be. However, to be this salt and light, we must see and 
live
 in the kingdom to demonstrate its alternative ways and wisdom.

     Sometimes this wisdom is spoken from the mouth of the most unlikely
 sources, like King Nebuchadnezzar which we see in Scripture, and in recent
 times, by Jiang Zemin, the former leader of Communist China. Former Time
 correspondent, David Aikman interviewed the retiring head of state in
 Communist China in 2002 and asked what Zemin wished for in regard to 
China's
 future. Zemin's response shocked Aikman, and much of the world, when he
 replied:


      "I would like for my country to become a Christian nation." (Aikman,
 David. "A Report on Christianity in China: A Conversation With David
 Aikman." Speech at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington,
 September 26, 2002.)

>
     When asked "Why?" Zemin's response was an amazing revelation. He
 explained how a panel of Chinese scholars had spent twenty years studying
 why China continually lagged behind the West in science, industry, and
 culture. After considering every possible explanation, they concluded that
 it was the religious heritage of the West that had allowed it to reach such
 heights. The statement of these Chinese scholars was:

      "One of the things we were asked to do was look into what accounted
 for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world.
 We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, 
and
 cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because of a more 
powerful
 military. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system.
 Next we focused on your economic systems. But in the past 20 years we have
 realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. 
This
 is why the West is powerful. The Christian moral foundation of the social
 and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and
 then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don't have any
 doubt about this." (Quoted from Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is
 Changing the Global Balance of Power, by David Aikman.)

     When Boris Yeltsin sought to bring democracy and freedom to Russia, one
 of the first things he realized was that the anti-God atheism of communism
 had robbed the people of a basic moral compass, so when people were free,
 crime skyrocketed. So Yeltsin arranged to have Christian teachers come to
 Russian schools and universities to teach basic moral principles. Now there
 is more freedom of religion in schools in Russia than in America.

     All over the world there has been a turning to Christianity, to a large
 degree, because of the example of the United States. The positive results
 where this is happening are obvious and striking. Yet at the same time, 
when
 much of the world is waking up to the power of the kingdom methodology
 promoted by America, America itself has been going in the opposite
 direction-turning from God and our Judeo/Christian heritage, which is the
 foundation of our greatness. The results of this turning away from our
 foundations are also obvious. It is amazing that we have continued down 
that
 devastating path for so long, but there is a great awakening happening and 
a
 massive turning back to our foundations. This turning back is demonstrated
 in public opinion polls and the many books topping the bestselling charts
 about our Founding Fathers, the Revolutionary War period, and the
 Constitution.

     When man tries to be his own god, or his own ultimate authority, there
 will be perpetual discord and there must be totalitarian control to keep 
the
 rebellion of man in check. Totalitarian control robs us of our basic
 humanity because we were created to be free. That is why the Tree of
 Knowledge was put in the Garden, not to cause mankind to sin, but there
 could be no true obedience without the freedom to disobey. Likewise, there
 will be no true worship if there is no freedom to worship. We were created
 to be free so we could know and worship God from our hearts.

     Only when we acknowledge God as the ultimate authority are we free to
 be who we were created to be. This is why we are told in II Corinthians
 3:17, "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
 there is liberty." Take away freedom, and we will become subhuman machines
 or automatons.

     Take away the holy fear of God from the free, and corruption and the
 debauchery of lawlessness will take us over. The unprecedented freedom
 enjoyed by Americans was only possible because of the basic religious
 devotion by Americans. As we lost our devotion to God as a nation, we began
 to also lose our freedom. Because prosperity is bound to the vision and
 initiative of freedom, when we lose our freedom, we will lose our 
initiative
 and then our prosperity. The panel in China was right. The root of the
 strength and prosperity of the West is our Judeo/Christian moral values.
 When they are lost, decline is inevitable, but we have a good reason to 
hope
 that they will not be lost.


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