Beware of Sheep’s Clothing

Ramon Arias | February 10, 2014

Another “National Prayer Breakfast” of wolves and sheep gathering at the annual event held every first Thursday of February in Washington, D.C.  The sponsor of the meetings is the Christian organization, The Fellowship Foundation, better known as The Family, a religious and political organization founded in 1935. The Fellowship’s purpose is to provide a forum for legislators, officials, and religious leaders from all faiths and political ideologies who share in Bible studies, prayer meetings, experience worship and spiritual affirmation and support. 

Only once have I attended a prayer breakfast upon a friend’s persistent invitation due to my international involvement in Christian work, politics, cultural reformation through a biblical worldview, and beyond.  He thought it would be an opportune place for me to get involved and meet the elite that attend those meetings. I went, I listened, I saw and that was enough for me. This gathering has a positive side, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. You may ask with good reason, what good has come out of this National Prayer Breakfast since 1953? Look where the nation and the world is heading? Are you telling me it is going in the right direction? What about the idea that floats around in those meetings of comparing Jesus to tyrants and murderous leaders in history?  So, where is the positive side?

You do not have to participate in that meeting to know what is going on, you get to know who the wolves and sheep are as well as the few and rare that truly want to make the difference for the Kingdom of God and His worldview here and now.  Of course the main focus is on one person, the sitting President. The expectation of what he is going to say, for many reveals the true condition of America’s Christianity, it is a mirror. On selected occasions it is also a platform to hit the resident of the White House hard as it happened last year when Dr. Ben Carson  blasted Obama’s disastrous healthcare reform that is affecting millions of people for the worse.   

This year Obama’s speechwriter very ably put in a twist to appeal and confuse the gullible sheep.  We can never forget that Obama’s chameleon message is always customized for a particular audience.  Once again the Left corroborates they continue to be masters of deception and double standards by focusing on spirituality and religious freedom in America and abolishing its persecution in the world.  Everything sounded just right, that is if you are clueless about the biblical worldview and how it is applied to all areas of life.

I have said it many times and will continue to say it, Obama has the freedom to believe what he wants and pursue his ideology and fulfill it, this is still America and people have given him the right whether they understand him or not.  With that in mind I’m going to highlight part of his emphasized remarks on the importance of freedom of religion in America and the world.  You can read the entire message by going to “Remarks by the President at National Prayer Breakfast.”  Keep in mind he is the same person that distorts and mocks the Bible.  Granted his remarks were based upon his interpretation of the Bible, which is a problem in Christendom as well. One thing is for sure, his firm conviction on abortion, the right to kill unwanted children in the mother’s womb is very clear.  While state senator he promoted late-term abortions. During his campaign trail he was recorded as stating his disdain for people who cling to their religion (Christians) and their guns.  Last year, February 20, 2013 Ken Klukowski, director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, told The Christian Post at an FRC event on Wednesday that he believes the administration has been unprecedentedly hostile to religious liberty.   There is on record a long list to support this statement by Klukowski.

Now consider Obama’s warning, “freedom of religion is under threat … around the world.”  How about in the United Sates of America? I will highlight part of his message and you will be able to decide how truthful he was:

“So each time we gather, it’s a chance to set aside the rush of our daily lives; to pause with humility before an Almighty God; to seek His grace; and, mindful of our own imperfections, to remember the admonition from the Book of Romans, which is especially fitting for those of us in Washington:  ‘Do not claim to be wiser than you are.’ 

So here we put aside labels of party and ideology, and recall what we are first:  all children of a loving God; brothers and sisters called to make His work our own.  But in this work, as Lincoln said, our concern should not be whether God is on our side, but whether we are on God’s side.

And here we give thanks for His guidance in our own individual faith journeys.  In my life, He directed my path to Chicago… It led me to embrace Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  It led me to Michelle — the love of my life — and it blessed us with two extraordinary daughters.  It led me to public service.  And the longer I serve, especially in moments of trial or doubt, the more thankful I am of God’s guiding hand….

…as Americans, we affirm the freedoms endowed by our Creator, among them freedom of religion.  And, yes, this freedom safeguards religion, allowing us to flourish as one of the most religious countries on Earth, but it works the other way, too — because religion strengthens America.  Brave men and women of faith have challenged our conscience and brought us closer to our founding ideals, from the abolition of slavery to civil rights, workers’ rights….

I’ve felt the love that faith can instill in our lives during my visits to the Holy Land and Jerusalem…

Yet even as our faith sustains us, it’s also clear that around the world freedom of religion is under threat…. We sometimes see religion twisted in an attempt to justify hatred and persecution against other people just because of who they are, or how they pray or who they love…. Extremists succumb to an ignorant nihilism that shows they don’t understand the faiths they claim to profess — for the killing of the innocent is never fulfilling God’s will; in fact, it’s the ultimate betrayal of God’s will.

Today, we profess the principles we know to be true.  We believe that each of us is “wonderfully made” in the image of God.  We, therefore, believe in the inherent dignity of every human being — dignity that no earthly power can take away.  And central to that dignity is freedom of religion — the right of every person to practice their faith how they choose, to change their faith if they choose, or to practice no faith at all, and to do this free from persecution and fear….

… So freedom of religion matters to our national security.

Today we give humble thanks for the freedoms we cherish in this country.  And I join you in seeking God’s grace in all of our lives.  I pray that His wisdom will give us the capacity to do right and to seek justice, and defend the oppressed wherever they may dwell.”

The mix of half-truths, distortion and lies are all over his message at the National Prayer Breakfast in spite of the applauses and delight of almost all who were present. Have we forgotten what happened Monday April 9, 2013? Obama told his audience in Ankara, Turkey “We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation.” He continued on to hold the idea that the United States would become a secular country like Turkey.

In the meantime, the business Hobby Lobby, owned by Christians, is in a legal fight with this administration because Obamacare mandates contraceptives, Little Sisters of the Poor face the same situation. We noticed his remark “We … believe in the inherent dignity of every human being,” and “the killing of the innocent is never fulfilling God’s will; in fact, it’s the ultimate betrayal of God’s will.”  Over 57 million babies have been slaughtered in the mother’s womb. Is this God’s will or is this the ultimate betrayal of His will? America is flooded and saturated with innocent blood and profoundly divided in all areas of social life.

Every day I pray, not only for Obama and those like him but for all who profess the Christian faith with no fruit in their lives of God’s knowledge, understanding and wisdom. I pray for national repentance and a return to restore God’s principles upon which this nation was built.

Obama is the mirror to the soul of a nation gone astray and the majority of Christians have abandoned God’s moral principles not realizing it can only spell terrible consequences like many great nations have suffered and are suffering. 

I must heed Jesus’ warning and you should do the same as we look into the mirror at home:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

‘Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.’” Matthew 7:15-27.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit