The Thirst for Freedom

• A nation disillusioned with Watergate says “we want change” and throws out Gerald Ford in exchange for Jimmy Carter
• That Jimmy Carter thing was a mess. The nation said “we want change” and threw him out. Enter Ronald Reagan.
• After 4 years of Ronald Reagan we kept him. Things are looking up. We’re standing up to the bad guys. Hope for everyone.
• After 8 years of Ronald Reagan, the staring down of the Soviet Union, lots of money, prosperity and jobs and relative peace, people were happy and “re-elected” Reagan for the third term he was constitutionally prevented from having by electing the rather un-interesting George H.W. Bush.
• After 4 years of George some said “we want change” with Ross Perot and others said “we want change” with Bill Clinton. Because of Ross Perot we got Bill Clinton. (He was not elected with a majority of the vote, only 43%)
• After 4 years of Bill Clinton, and thanks to two important factors, Americans elected him again. The two factors? Ross Perot ran again, splitting the “no Clinton please” vote; and the Republican Congress was able to force Bill Clinton to a supposed “center” and actually implement some good financial policies that helped with economic prosperity. He still didn’t get more than 50% of the vote though. He was never actually very popular.
• After 8 years of Bill Clinton a lot of folks wanted “change.” With a little help from Ralph Nader (acting as a spoiler) and some luck with the Electoral College process we ended up with George W. Bush. He received more votes and a higher percentage of the vote than Bill Clinton ever did. Al Gore attempted to steal the election, but failed – in spite of having won the “popular vote.”
• After 4 years of Bush he was re-elected both popularly and in the Electoral College. The Republican party continued to gain in numbers in the house and senate.
• 2 years into his second term, and with great disillusionment with the Iraq war the tide started to turn. Democrats started gaining again in the House and Senate.
• With a struggling economy and after 8 years of vicious “Bush Bashing” the people elected Barack Hussein Obama

So… I only see one president in my lifetime that did not lead to a successful “we want change” campaign at the end of one of their terms. Ronald Reagan. His second election was a landslide, winning every state but Minnesota and Washington D.C. When his 8 years were over, his Vice-President was elected after him. George H. W. Bush was actually quite popular until the economy went into recession.

I write this for those who are younger than me who believe that Barack Obama is the savior of the world and who don’t recognize that he only represents a swing on a pendulum.

We’re only going to bring real long term change (the kind of change that doesn’t just swing back and forth on a pendulum but actually relocates the whole thing) through Spiritual Revival and Worldview Reformation on a person by person, family by family, community by community basis.

Or there is another option. Repressive Socialist Revolution. Either via the democratic process or some other means. That is why it is so important that we resist that kind of change now, so we don’t find ourselves in a situation where promoting Revival and Reformation is very, very difficult.

Even some Christians, especially the young ones, are heading the “Socialist Revolution” route.

Political Process cannot save us. Christians (including people in ministry) ought to be involved with the Political Arena, but we shouldn’t be deceived into thinking this is where Real Change occurs.

We’ve got our work cut out for us, we better get moving.