We don't have two "messiah's" running for office. The heart of all men is desperately wicked.

We know where these candidates stand, and they are standing on extremely opposing sides of most issues. Things really are very black and white in this election as far as their stands, I hate to use that phrase but it was so appropriate I had to.

We know which issues are important to God... the great commission, life, morality, family & our relationship to Him.

We also know that in this close a contest our not voting will make a difference, it will have effect and in essence it is casting a vote for more popular candidate who happens to be Obama. There are more registered Democrats. That's the bottom line. McCain needs those votes more than Obama. The No-vote which could have been a tie-breaker defaults to the side of Obama, it is not a wash.

If God has led you to vote third party, that's another story.

For many, not voting is the casting of a decisional stone (based on perceived moral and spiritual superiority) against these candidates. If only we could see what Jesus is writing in the sand right now!

John 8:7-9 (King James Version)

7So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

For those who have voted years after year for imperfect politicians (Christian and Non-Christian alike) to now suddenly chose not to because they do not meet their standards "of whatever" a Christian is supposed to be.. is hypocrisy.

Jesus was showing the crowd their own hypocrisy. The woman was not a victim in that scripture, she was a sinner and the scripture is more a lesson about those who would have thrown the stones somehow thinking they were more deserving of mercy than she.

This was and still is my point... the self-rightous motivation for throwing the stone (making a choice to do or not to do) in the first place. Of course using certain scriptures can cut more than one way. Just because an example can be used more than one way does not invalidate it in an argument. I've tried now to clearly represent my use of the scripture here.

I didn't say "all" Christians, I said many and I stand on that. A lot are using their disappointment in our current administrations performance to color their decision because they feel they backed the wrong horse and don't want it to happen again. It is more flesh based reaction than a spiritual choice.

There's no denying that there is accountability for every action or inaction it's a precept that the Bible clearly shows us.

Someone wrote...

This is not hypocrisy if the person voted in times past because they were just "taught" that is the thing they should do just because they were born in America... Sometimes God works to liberate people

I replied...

Unfortunately I have seen many Christians who are about to do what I mentioned, and they are not not voting out of sudden new convictions or something God has recently revealed to them and opened their eyes about. The validation they are giving is that GB disappointed them, they thought he was a better Christian than he turned out to be "in their eyes" and they pretty much don't trust Republicans and especially evangelicals.

It is not posing a stumbling block to ask Christians to examine themselves to make sure their reasons are not flesh driven, or present a solid defense for their actions or inaction. Much of the church today blames the world for the state of the world, there are a high degree of Christians who do not admit accountability that their role (what they have and have not done) in the world has impacted it in both positive and negative ways. They will take credit for the good but not for any bad, especially based on their own inaction.

The process of conviction never makes anyone comfortable in their own skin. My voting in this current election has very little to do with the Democratic process but does have a whole lot to do with things that God has convicted me of since I became a born-again Christian and especially in the last few years. There is a much higher consequential weight than in the past that has now been assigned to our decision making (especially for Christians) in recent days (months, years) because of the time we are living in... this applies to all areas of our life.

I won't explain past that.

God has impressed on me that there will be great consequences attached to the actions in the coming days. He has shown me how the silent majority has the power to allow evil and inhibit good and that inaction is a powerful tool of the adversary. He will spit lukewarmness out of His mouth.

Some may be doing this out of their own convictions or (hopefully) His but many are simple doing or not doing based on the current lukewarm state of themselves and those around them... these are the hypocrites and they are many

I am voting because God has strongly impressed upon me that I must vote, and that who I chose to vote for is the real issue, it is about "the decision"... one that will either be in obedience to His voice and His will or not. Part of the criteria is I will be in disobedience to Him if I choose someone who I know without doubt was following after a false Christ and "another" God. Choosing someone who stood against the things that God stands for would also be a direct violation. These things have been very strongly impressed upon my spirit.

In recent days, it's become clear (revealed to me) that the outcome of this vote "in God's eyes" (which will not be weighted by the world's standards or have the same visible outcome) ... not whether or not it gets "a person" elected to office. It's more about my current and future office, than theirs.

Every thinks they are seeing the big picture, but honestly there is a far bigger picture, it's a spiritual one that needs to be seen. Whatever we do it will qualify or not qualify us in a spiritual sense. But even more so it's about "the kingdom" (which is Christ's).

I can't see the logic in God telling some people clearly to and others clearly not to... as it is evident by the claims of those on this forum (including myself)... but God's the one who has the answer to that.

I'm not just voting or voting in a specific way just because I feel it would be in the will of God, I am doing it because it is His mandate for me and I understand that mandate has to be looked at from both a world and a spiritual perspective.

God is impressing upon ME that both parts of this equation are important. Although this is (in part) about preparation and testing and accountability based on our position in Christ and our calling in Him... it is mainly about defending and fortifying HIS Kingdom which is still being "built up" (in heaven)... It's about souls still waiting to be won and added to the kingdom and souls still waiting to be born.

It was so interesting that someone mentioned Esther because I am "hearing" something right now.. God will raise up part of of His kingdom somewhere else as the outcome of these "decisions" which will circumvent the great commission in this land.

Because all of us are expected to follow after the same general set of precepts and laws no matter what our calling... some (but not all) will find they were rightly hearing and acting according to God's will for not only themselves, but for the body of Christ and the world as well.

I pray that each of us finds ourselves at the right side in the end.