15 NOV 08: O-NO-BAMA MANIA

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: You may find the following item humorous, serious, or a little of both - but we offer these thoughts from time to time, as we keep a seventh-day Sabbath.)

"Have you reviewed Deuteronomy 17, verses 14 and 15 lately?" A 78-year-old man asked me that question before last weekend's church service. He's apparently up on obscure Bible verses - even if he needed my help in remembering the "Republican.... white man" he says ran for President.

The Presidential race actually was the reason this man brought up Deuteronomy 17. I pulled out my Bible and read aloud the verses he mentioned, then he commented.

"What did we just do? We put an African in the White House." No, this man was NOT wearing a tie with a Confederate battle flag.

I had read e-mails and heard rumblings along these lines, even before Election Day. "So you're saying Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen, even though there's a birth certificate for him from Hawaii posted online."

"That's not my point," the man said. "He's an African. He's not an Israelite." In his eyes, apparently not even a "Reuben" on rye.

I've attended church groups over the years which believe the U.S. is part of the "lost ten tribes" of Israel. So are Britain, Canada, France - and even the state of Israel, as the tribe of Judah. Check President-Elect Obama's "B.O.-graphy" on Wikipedia, and you'll learn he descends from the tribe of Luo. Hey, that means his family probably held Luo luaus....

But I digress: the man at church contended Barack Obama should NOT be our next President, because he's not part of the nation of Israel. This took some thought -- as I didn't want to accuse the man of on-the-spot racism. After all, he actually apologized for that day several years ago when he mentioned Martin Luther King Jr. with a racial slur.

Finally I asked the man regarding the President-Elect: "Couldn't he be grafted in, as it says in Romans 11?"

"No. This is about race. Romans 11 is about the Spirit." The fact that Mr. Obama's mother is white and brought him up as a single mother apparently isn't good enough for God.

Instead of arguing with the man, I decided to take my Bible home and review the passage in Deuteronomy 17. Other religious web sites have brought it up, arguing the U.S. voters rejected God's command in their choice of our next President. If the people who selected Ruben Studdard "American Idol" haven't doomed our country, this will....

But as I looked at the verses around verses 14 and 15, I began to draw other conclusions about our country and the presidential vote. For instance:

+ Verse 17 warns against a leader taking "many wives," or collecting "large amounts of silver and gold." Wasn't it the Republican who's on a second wife, and couldn't be sure how many houses he owned?

+ Verse 18 says national leaders are to write a copy of God's law on a scroll. Have any recent Presidents done this? Wouldn't Jimmy Carter be sure to have one on display at the Carter Center?

+ Back at verse 15, the wording mentions appointing a king - not a President. Should we repent of that rebellious behavior of 230 years ago, and go back under Queen Elizabeth?

The larger issue in all of this is who actually decided the presidential race. Daniel 4 says God gives the "kingdoms of men" to anyone He wishes. If Christians say Barack Obama is the wrong leader, aren't they in effect saying God blew it? It's not like He's a baseball umpire with bad eyesight....

Earlier in the fall, the Muscogee County Democratic Party went on a voter registration drive in my neighborhood. Chairperson Alice Pate happened to knock on my door - and she seemed puzzled when I said I "gave my vote to God several months ago." Beginning at Iowa caucus time in January, I prayed He would put the right person in the presidency. And if it leads to our country's demise, Jesus should come to our rescue even faster.

If I see that 78-year-old man at church this weekend, I plan to share these thoughts with him. And I'll ask if his real point was to see who my ultimate leader is. Instead of checking genealogies for our President, maybe we should say what the U.S. colonial activists said long ago -- "We have no king but Jesus."

SCHEDULED SUNDAY: Big deals are busting out all over....

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