Vote Black?

The 2008 Hip Hop Awards came on the other day and it proved one thing to me. Some black folks will be dumb until Jesus comes back! How can anyone look at pimps, thugs, and gangsters as a good thing that needs to be celebrated? How did Hip Hop become the voice of our youth to the point that the black church is bending over backwards for it's acceptance? This is a shame. But one thing that they did on this show that really got me going was the push for a "black" vote in the election. Not knowing the issues at hand, but yet and still, they constantly pushed the young folks and HIp Hop fans to "vote black" this election.

How embarrassing! These folks undid everything that Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed of in one dumb hour! They took apart his dream and the civil rights movement by pointing to the black candidate as the mandatory vote of black people. This is sad. Martin Luther King said that he dreamed of the day when people would not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character! How can you say, "vote black" and not go against that dream? Just because an african man mixed with white is running does not mean he is the right choice or the only choice for black people. We are moving to the back of the bus again and we don't even see it. As far as straight politics goes, Blacks are the only race of people that are not bipartisan. We have been conditioned to be on one side and never split our vote. Other races and ethnic groups including, hispanics, catholics, and jews put people on both sides of the ticket for leverage and a voice no matter how the pendulum swings. But blacks stay at the back of the bus and don't spread out so when we lose, we lose our voice and power. That's slave mentality.

Our freedom to vote is our right to vote that was fought for by many civil rights leaders in the past. This is the right to vote either way, republican or democrat, and most importantly, it is our right to NOT vote at all if we don't feel that either candidate deserves our support. We have corrupted the freedom of voting so much these days that people don't even know the issues at hand and they are just voting the color of their skin or what pop culture is dictating to them. I'm sorry folks, but we can't stay on this road. This is the road that leads to the accepting of the mark of the beast. This is the road that hides the truth and promotes the lie. This road will get you voting for economics rather than morality. And that's the road that will lead to the antichrist! The bible said that in the end, you will not be able to buy or sell unless you pledge your allegiance to the beast! Buy or sell? That's economics. Thats money! And if you are voting for economic reasons and not considering morality or your own convictions, then you are essentially doing exactly what the bible predicts will happen in the end. People will begin to vote in the man that will lead us to the antichrist and the end. They will vote this man in based on economic issues and popularity. He will be voted in because of the financial crisis of the government and people will not even consider his true moral ethics. Black Christian leaders have totally abandoned the bible in this election. They have chosen culture over Christ and have accepted the 3 things that the antichrist will implement in his rule. Abortion, Homosexuality, and the silencing of the truth! These things are on the table and being ignored because of the color of a man's skin?


Muhammad Ali faced the challenge of not fighting in an American war because it went against his religious convictions. He became an African American hero because of it. With that said, if you do not feel that either candidate in this race fits your conviction, then you are obligated to NOT vote at all. I know black people go crazy when you talk like this and they bring up all the slaves that died and the folks that fought for your right to vote. Yet in that same breath, they don't think of the millions that have died of AIDS through homosexual activity, the millions of lives that are not here because of abortion, nor do they consider the millions that are deceived because the church is silent on moral issues!

Sure many fought and died for the right to vote. But that fight was not just for a right to vote, but a right to chose to vote. After all, if we are forced to vote, we didn't have a right to not vote and thus we are still bound and not free. And if you don't have a choice that is comfortable or in line with your convictions, then what do you do? Pick the lesser of 2 evils? Or pick the black man because you are black? God forbid! I will not be guilty of ushering in the antichrists policies because a man is of color! I am not practicing to receive the mark of the beast. And if you are voting against your own beliefs and bible for the sake of money, color, or party biases, then you have just passed the mark of the beast test. You have just proven that socialistic reasons supersede your spiritual convictions! And this is exactly what the antichrist will do. He will exalt himself above God and make his immoral beliefs acceptable by all. And without question we see that Barack Obama has caused preachers and pastors, great and small, to follow him in spite of his antichrist morals. Abortion, homosexuality, and the silencing of the church are on his ticket and yet black church folks don't care. The very things that are killing us as a people are the very things that we are in favor of. The scariest part is that this is just rehearsal for the coming rule of the antichrist and the black church has lined up on the wrong side! I'm not saying that McCain is the answer, but I'm saying that if you are voting, your convictions as a believer in the bible should out weigh every thing else.


How did we get here? Why are we ignoring the obvious here? The money problems America is having is just a prelude to the coming of the one world government and the rule of the antichrist. That's why his policies are being tested here in America. I'm not calling Obama the antichrist, but I'm saying his policy is in line with the morality of the King of the East that will rise up and rule. Barack Obama plans to go into churches and demand that they accept the homosexual agenda. Michelle Obama even bragged at the gay and lesbian counsel of the Democratic National Convention about going into a black church and telling them to stop being homophobic and accept the gay agenda. You can hear it for yourself below.


Yet, the black church is so full of homosexual activity, it was a plan all along by the enemy to get these homosexual leaders of the black churches in power so that when this agenda comes through the White House, they would lead their flocks directly into it. God showed me 15 years ago that every major black pentecostal denomination would be lead by a homosexual before Jesus returns. And now, they are all in place and leading this nations black churches into the arms of the antichrist by pushing an agenda that is not of God. Barack even hired a gay pastor to travel with him and Donnie McClurkin to black churches and was welcomed with open arms. What is this? Isn't AIDS the number 1 killer of black people? Isn't abortion black genecide with 1400 performed every day in the black community? Wasn't the black church once the pillar of our community and the moral guide for our youth? Now, all of these things are being undone and reversed because of the antichrist agenda that is working behind the scenes. What a perfect setup!


Don't get me wrong. White people are as much to blame for the "vote black" mindset as blacks are. You see, if the white leaders of this nation had stood up for blacks in America and confessed their wrong treatment of us and repented openly about it, then healing could have taken place. They should have put our history in the white history books and they should have repented openly and made real atonement for the unjust treatment of our people a long time ago. You can't sweep 400 years of oppression under a rug and expect it to vanish. It's still there and it requires effort to correct more than just 1 month of the year. You see, racism is at the forefront of American politics now because it's been ignored and hidden for so many years. Don't get me wrong, I do feel that we have progressed some as a people, yet we have so many issues because we have not had proper healing from what happened to us. With that said, when the black man that was pushed to the back of the bus sees Obama, he sees justice. When the black woman that was called Nigger all her young life sees Obama, she sees justice. When the preachers that saw the White churches prosper and the black churches shunned see Obama, they see justice. White people that are reading this will never understand what it feels like to be discriminated against because of color. They don't know what it feels like to be called an animal or less than human and treated like a reject! But blacks have experienced that and it's caused us to want justice on a grand scale. And to many, Barack Obama represents progress, justice, and atonement for our people.

But, if his policy and his morality does not line up with the God we serve as true believers, then is it justice or is it a setup? Those of us that have been discriminated against and treated unfairly by whites because of our race need healing. And because this nation has not offered us a just version of healing or payed us just due, we are still hurting as a race of people. But isn't that what Jesus is all about? Wasn't he the savior of Israel when they were in bondage? Didn't he show himself mighty in their time of turmoil and unjust treatment? Isn't that when the power of God comes into play? Don't miss it people of God. Jesus, not Obama, is the real answer here and we must push him instead of a political system! We must stand on the word of God and not waver in this coming election. If you cast your vote for a man that is for the agenda of the antichrist, you have just passed the mark of the beast test and proven that you will accept the mark, even if it goes against your convictions as a believer and your bible that you read. Come on saints of God, stand up. Don't let anyone sway you here. It's late in the hour and Jesus is taking notes on where you stand. Your vote is your stand. And it would be better to not vote at all than to cast a vote for the very agenda that the antichrist will promote.

Rev. 2:29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Rev. 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Rev. 3:13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Rev. 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Looking for the rapture,
G. Craige Lewis

Also, check out our Podcast on this issue with Bishop Ira Combs by clicking here

Alternatives

During the Halloween season, we begin to see a lot of Halloween Alternatives in churches and among our youth. People scramble to find ways to duplicate the experience and fun of the devil's celebration without it being devilish! They want the fun for the children and the excitement of the holiday without giving in to the enemy's celebration. Kinda like sweet n low. They want it to taste the same, but be better for you! This is a common problem among our churches and ministries of the day. From Hip Hop to Christian Nite Clubs, our people have a problem with totally letting go of their pasts and becoming new.

We have become such a selfish church that we don't want to part ways with our old man completely. We would rather mimic the things that used to give us pleasure and hold on to them so we can some how have God and our flesh satisfied. But there is a problem with this whole scenario that bugs God like you wouldn't believe. It's the fact that it makes him appear as a knockoff of what you had before him. It turns God into a knockoff, which makes him a substitute of the original and in many ways, only leads us back to what we had originally because there is no real satisfaction in a substitute. Kinda like a substitute sugar or filler that is created to work in place of a thing, but never really tastes like the real thing. We usually don't think this deep about it, but we should! The old man, once we are saved, is suppose to be dead, and we should not be looking for ways to substitute what the old man desired. Our desire should be Christ and not how to continue the sinful things that we once found pleasure in.

Is there an alternative to drugs? What about alcohol? When a person that was a sex addict comes to Christ, but still desires promiscuous sex, what do we give them? What about the person that was a gangsta or thug and comes to the Lord? Well, I know, we make them Holy Thugs and Gospel Gangstas right? We now have Christian Clubs, that people are starting. We have Holy Hip Hop, Christian Dances, Youth Proms and Hip Hop Dance ministries. We have alternative after alternative, but what is it all for? Is it to get people closer to God or to make them more familiar with their old wants and desires? Of course we know that people on large platforms do it for money and fame, but where does it lead the people? Are their youth growing stronger in the Lord because they can now mimic BET dances in church? Are the singles getting more spiritual because they can haphazardly date from a buffet of single's profiles? Are the children gonna feel that God is better than Halloween if we give them an alternative that all their peers reject? Their school, their favorite recording artists, the WORLD is celebrating Halloween, so how do you go against that and come up with a celebration that will counter something that huge? You can't! You can't compete with the fleshes desire to be fulfilled. You cannot make something Christian outplay something that is carnal. You can't compare the two because one feeds the flesh and the other feeds the spirit. The answer is to deal with the fleshly desire and challenge the flesh to be denied! The whole point in coming to Christ is self denial, so then why are so many seeking self fulfillment these days? Why are we seeking to be rich and seeking to be popular?? Why are we seeking online friendships and virtual relationships so much? Why are most TBN and national platform preachers talking about money, self fulfillment, and self promotion? What is going on?

Have we considered these things? Take a look at these comparisons and you will see that we are on a fast track to being as self centered as the world in some cases.

Show: Sunday's Best on BET (Alternative to American Idol)
Allows sinner, saint, homosexual, lesbian, and whomever else sing the gospel as a competition rather than as praise to God. For what purpose? So Kirk Franklin can have a job? So BE BE and Mary Mary can show that they are above them and can judge their fate? So the world can see that ANYONE can sing gospel no matter what kind of lifestyle you live?

The main problem with a show like this is that those that win are not ministered to and are put in positions to become ministers of music without even being held accountable for living right or being saved. Many of them have confessed to partying, getting drunk, and whoring right before the competition, but because BET is the machine backing it and Kirk Franklin got his success while being hooked on porn, it's ok. You don't have to be in Christ to sing for Christ! You don't have to live for God to work for God. You don't have obey his commandments to love him right? WRONG!

Show: Exalted on BET (Alternative to VH1 Behind the Music)
This show exalts men and women that preach. It's a platform for celebrity preachers to shine and show how they got famous. It shows their money, their success, and people exalting them and lifting them up before men to look like God's anointed ones. But come on folks, if BET lifts them up, are they preaching the truth? If BET, the most exploitative, degrading, sin promoting station on cable "exalts" them, does God approve of them? Can they please BET and God at the same time? If they preached against the sin that BET promotes, and preached against the people that BET promotes, and preached against the degradation that BET promotes, would BET really "exalt" them? NO, because if they preached against the people that BET promotes, they'd be calling their own name!!!

The saddest part of this is that the preachers that BET have decided to "exalt" are doing exactly what God said don't do! He said if a man exalts himself, he would abase him. But if a man humbles himself, he would exalt him. So, why are men being "exalted" in the first place? Shouldn't Christ and the truth be exalted? Shouldn't the bible and the message against sin be our focus? And why in the world would BET promote the very thing that is dead set against it? Well, they would never do that. BET is a business and that business knows that if they present a message against their programming they would go under, so they strategically looked for some effeminate preachers that would love being "exalted" and won't hurt their agenda. They picked men that are friends of the world and enemies of God. They picked people that hide truth for the sake of actors, performers, and celebrities attending their churches. These men and women they are exalting are not of God, but of themselves because they hide truth for the sake of fame and large followings!

The church has become so self oriented that now we seek to put our fleshly desires before God. Now we want to keep the old man alive instead of rejecting him. Now we want entertainment in place of ministry. We want man's books instead of God's book. We want superstars instead of the bright and morning star! We want to shine instead of allowing the light of God to shine. And now we want God to be the alternative to what is worldly or what is popular. We want to pitch God and fix him up in a way that he can compete with television, movies, music, and dances. We want God to be like the world's gods, but with heaven to put us in! But God said to be in the world not of the world. If the love of the world is in us, then the love of God is not! When Christians seek to make an alternative to something that should not even exist, then you know we are following the flesh. When Christians want to use what we desire in the flesh as a tool of ministry, just so we can keep it, then you know we are in the flesh. When the preachers seek large churches, fancy cars, movies, television, and stardom more than they seek to preach the truth, then you know God is only a substitute for their real desire. They really want mammon! And if this is what they are doing, then they have chosen their god! God is not an alternative. He is not a substitute or filler. He is the WAY.

Lev. 18:30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

1John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Eph. 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Luke 14:11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

In Love,
G. Craige Lewis