Allied Women

In my last blog, I told you about a story in the bible in which a good king seeks God’s help and receives it. God says, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) I told you that I had noticed a pattern from the Old Testament of how Israel usually follows their king. If Israel has a good king, the people are good, but if they have a bad king, they follow his evil ways and go after other gods. There’s a lesson in this for us as Americans.

If we elect Godless leaders, then our nation will become Godless, but if we elect Godly leaders…

Someone has said, “So the laws go, so the culture goes.”

When Roe v. Wade legalized abortion…

When prayer was taken out of public schools…

America as a nation has been on a downward spiral away from God for a long time now. It certainly didn’t begin with the Obama Administration, but hopefully we have reached the climax with him and can turn the nation around and begin a march back toward our roots as a Christian nation.

Some friends of mine and I began praying during the last Presidential campaign not really believing what was happening. We prayed 2 Chronicles 7:14 a lot, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

I realized during that time that this verse was talking to me and my friends and others who are called by the name of Christ. “If MY people who are called by MY name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from THEIR wicked ways, then…”

American Christians, in general, aren’t on fire for the Lord. We’re weak in our faith and strong in the world. And, frankly, we’re too nice. Sometimes God requires a fight. Our apathy and our worldliness have gotten us where we are right now. It’s time for American Christians to be bold, to fight, and to put our working shoes on.

Another pattern I’ve noticed from the Old Testament is that when God makes a promise to Israel, it doesn't always happen right away, and many times it requires some effort on their part. Case in point, when God first gave Israel their promised land, it was inhabited. God had said it, so it was theirs, but they still had to fight for it. So, they marched into battle and won their land away from the wicked people who had lived there before them.

That's what we need to do, draw up a battle plan, bath it in prayer, and march into battle against the evil that is trying to destroy us.

Here’s what my friends and I did. First, we got ourselves educated about political issues. We have a conservative think tank here in Birmingham called the Alabama Policy Institute, so we met with its President, Gary Palmer, to talk about what we, as concerned citizens, could do. We learned that taking back our nation doesn’t begin with the White House, top to bottom, but rather with a more bottom up approach.

He advised us to work to develop a strong state government that could defend itself against big government ideology coming down from Washington. State government also feeds itself into the federal government. Governors become Presidents, and State Legislators become Congressmen. One of the big problems we have, Gary told us, is that good people are hard to come by. They just don’t want to get involved in politics. We need people to be willing to run for office. It’s icky out there, so I understand. But, in order to make the changes we need and want, then we’re going to have to put ourselves out there.

But, if you’re not ready to run for office yet, like me, there’s still so much that can be done. What we did was form an organization called Allied Women. We are a grassroots organization dedicated to changing the political landscape of Alabama in order that our home state can help change the political landscape of the nation. Our aim is to educate and to encourage activism. We have also set up a PAC in order to support candidates we feel reflect our conservative Christian views. We feel we can be the most effective in the November 2010 election by trying to overturn the Alabama State Senate.

Here’s why: Although Alabama ranks as the most conservative state in the nation, we rank 4^th in the nation for political corruption. There’s really something wrong with that. The people of Alabama are for the most part conservative Christians, but the people we elect aren’t always. There are some good politicians here. For example, Governor Bob Riley has served this state well over the past eight years and goes down in my book as the best Governor our state has seen in quite some time. First, he fought against illegal gambling in our state. He fought because no one else would. He stood alone on the front lines of the battle many times. He also organized a great team to bring new jobs to our state. His economic developer, Neal Wade, is ranked as the top state economic developer in the nation.

But, Riley’s type of forward thinking and active approach to governing isn’t the norm in Montgomery. Gambling money runs deep into the pockets of many in our State Capital as does money from special interests groups like A.E.A. And, money gets people elected for some reason. Believe it or not, advertising works.

The Allied Women PAC has identified some key races in the 2010 election that we’d like to help influence. Top on our list as a “got to go” guy is a State Senator from Cullman named Zeb Little. He’s the kind of person who helps Alabama get that #4 ranking in political corruption handed down by the United States Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. The ranking is based on the number of Alabama public officials who have been convicted of crimes. I personally have on file the newspaper article detailing Little’s D.U.I. He was arrested April 4, 2009 for driving under the influence, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, violation of the open container law, and driving with an expired license.

One of my good friends’ brother-in-law is still recovering from a coma one year after he was hit by a drunk driver. A couple who came to Date Night at the Grand, a marriage retreat Rick and I spoke at last month, told us they had lost their 18-month-old daughter due to a drunk driver. Then, there’s Siran Stacy whose wife and four of his children were killed by a drunk driver. We could go on and on and on about drunk driving… We all know this is bad. But, it’s not just that Zeb Little has been convicted of a DUI that Allied Women would like to see him de-seated.

We want to see Alabama State Senate seats filled with people who will fight for truth and transparency in government, who really care about the future of our state and our nation, people who stand for the conservative Christian values that we believe in, who aren’t controlled by special interests groups like A.E.A and those who want to see Alabama become a new Nevada. We hope to put through candidates to the Senate who will protect and preserve what is good about our state and will move it forward in an ethical and honest way.

One issue we are particularly concerned about is gambling. Here’s why… There is really no end to the money these people have to target our state, and once they’ve got us, they rule us. What I mean by that is that one of the biggest things you have to worry about when you legalize gambling is corruption in government. They start buying people off, buying votes, making things go well for themselves. This is what I mean by special interest. If a politician is concerned about what the guy over at Country Crossings wants him to do then his judgment can become skewed and he no longer has the best interest of his constituents as a whole in mind.

And, what do I mean by transparency in government? Well, take PAC-to-PAC transfers, which are currently legal in our state despite the fact that a bill to ban them has been put through the Alabama State House of Representatives for years now only to get torn apart in the State Senate, for example. Currently, one PAC can give to another then to another and then somewhere along the line the candidate will receive a donation. Following the money trail here in Alabama is almost impossible with that kind of behavior going on. The candidate will surely be informed of who is giving him or her the money, but John Q. Public will never know who the candidates he’s voting for are beholden to. This is one of the reasons it’s so important to overturn our liberal majority Senate in this November election, so it will stop stifling ethics legislation that could help Alabama turn around that #4 in political corruption problem we have here.

For these reasons the Allied Women PAC has identified 10 candidates for the Alabama State Senate we hope to support and elect come November. They are:

1. Paul Bussman (against Zeb Little) in District 4 which includes Cullman, Lawrence, & Winston Counties
2. Clay Scofield (against Tim Mitchell) in District 9 - Blount, Madison, & Marshall Counties
3. Gerald Allen (against Phil Poole) in District 21 - Hale, Pickens, & Tuscaloosa Counties
4. George Flowers (against Harri Anne Smith and Jennifer Adams) in District 29 including Dale, Geneva, & Houston Counties
5. Paul Sanford (against Jeff Enfinger) District 7 - Madison County
6. Bryan Taylor, Goveror Riley’s Policy Director (against Wendell Mitchell) in District 30 in Autauga, Butler, Crenshaw, & Elmore Counties
7. Tom Whatley (against Ted Little) in District 27 – Lee, Russell, & Tallapoosa Counties
8. Danny Joyner (against Marc Keahey) in District 22 which includes portions of Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, & Washington Counties.
9. Phil Williams (against Larry Means) District 10 - Cherokee & Etowah Counties
10. Greg Reed (against Brett Wadsworth) in District 5 - Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker & Winston Counties

We would sure like your help in this.

Allied Women is hosting a Nuts & Bolts Workshop on August 28^th from 9 a.m. until noon at Cahaba Grand Conference Center on Highway 280 in Birmingham. We’ve partnered with American Majority, Eagle Forum, and Alabama Policy Institute to bring you up to speed on everything you can do to make a difference now.

Register on-line at www.alliedwomen.org.

Lamentations

I was driving through a quiet neighborhood in my community today on my way to pick up my boys from a little summer camp they were doing at a friend’s house when something caught my eye…

Old Glory, The Stars and Stripes herself.

It was a one of those surreal moments that seemed almost in slow motion, and it brought tears to my eyes. It was just a normal size flag someone had mounted onto a tree in their front yard, but it wasn’t faded, torn, or tattered the way so many are. Its colors were vibrant and majestic, and the flag swayed ever so gently in the summer breeze.

As I drove the 25 miles per hour demanded on this little road, I passed by quaint houses in rows on either side of me. There was little activity going on since it was midday neither were there many other cars on the road. I began to think about the people who live in those houses. I wondered about their lives and how they had come to live in that quiet and picturesque neighborhood. And, then I began to wonder if their lives were about to change. I had an e-mail I had received earlier this week on my mind.

Here’s what the e-mail had said:

Subject: Chilling News From Ohio

Just thought I would share with you a little bit of what we heard at last night's Republican dinner here in Crawford County, Ohio. John Kasich (running for Gov. of Ohio) was the keynote speaker. Also present were many politicians, most notably, Bob Latta, our U.S. Congressman.

Mike and I walked up to Bob and thanked him for his conservative voting record and voiced our concern about what is going on in Washington. He made some funny botox remarks about Pelosi and then agreed with us that we have every reason to be concerned. As there were others waiting to talk to him, our time was brief, but what took place later that evening should make chills run up and down everyone's spine to hear.

The congressman had asked to speak a few words at the end of the night. Latta went up on stage and proceeded to tell the crowd how bad things really are in Washington. He said he only had a few minutes to speak, but if he could tell us even half of what the agenda is and what this administration plans to do to our country we couldn't sleep at night. He said he only gets about 4 to 4 1/2 hours of sleep a night and worries constantly about what they want to do to this country. He said that Pelosi, Reid and Obama have to be stopped.

This was his quote, "You know, you always hear this is the most important election blah blah blah, but I am telling you people...whatever you have to do to wake people up you need to do! We have got to vote them out in 2010 or with the things they have planned for this country we won't even be a country by 2020.”

Ten years! You could see the look of almost desperation on his face. He talked about the huge debt. He talked about how the CBO gets their "figures". He sits on a finance committee of some sort and listens to the ramblings of Geitner and Bernanke. He said, "If you think that the Chinese won't hold this over us with all our debt you have another thought coming. Our children will have nothing. I don't care if you have to go out door to door, tell at least 10 people who will then tell 10 people. We have to do this. This is the single most important election ever in the history of this country. The change that Obama promised us is NOT the change people thought he meant."

Chilling.

Chilling indeed. It’s all eerily reminiscent of the story in the Bible of the nation of Israel being carried off into Babylon as captives. Ever read Lamentations? It’s a book of the Bible written by Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. He wept for good reason. What he saw happen to his beloved country staggered his imagination.

Jeremiah begins lamenting over Israel like this, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.” (Lamentations 1:1)

The prophet mourns over his country like this, “(God) has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.” (Lamentations 3:4-6) He goes on to say in verse 17 that he has forgotten what happiness is.

“But this I call to mind,” says the prophet, “and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” (Lamentations 3:21-25)

I’m reading through the bible with Brooks and Brody this year using a daily bible that includes a reading for each day of the year. Everyday, we read something from the Old Testament, something from the New Testament, and something from the Psalms and Proverbs.

I’ve noticed a pattern. When Israel has an evil king, the whole nation, besides a few, always turns away from God, but when Israel has a good king, they turn back to God. When they are seeking God, they find Him, and He lifts them up and blesses them. But, when they turn their backs on God and begin to worship idols and worthless things, God’s favor is taken away. When God is with Israel, they win battles. When God is not with Israel, they lose and sometimes even become slaves.

We can read about one of the good kings in 2 Chronicles, Chapter 20. The king’s name is Jehoshaphat. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea.” Jehoshaphat was afraid, the bible says, so he set his face to seek the Lord. The king proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah, and all the people assembled together to seek help from the Lord.

Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, and prayed this prayer:

“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and who they avoided and did not destroy—behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

Then the word of the Lord came to the people and was spoken by Jahaziel who stood in the midst of the assembly, “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.”

The king, Jehoshaphat, told all of Judah and Jerusalem, “Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established.” He appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army saying, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir causing them to fight against each other. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and they were all destroyed. Not one of them had escaped.

“And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.”

Let us Americans use this model given to us by God in His word of the good king Jehoshaphat and all of Judah who set their faces to seek the Lord keeping their eyes on Him and knowing that they were powerless without His help. Let's trust the Lord for our own salvation and give Him thanks and praise for what He will do for our nation when we believe in and honor Him.