We are in full swing of an election year. The networks buzz with opinions, half-truths and rumors. Informed and uninformed reporters weave their opinions, first-hand experience of colleagues and snippets of gossip into their angle and call it the truth.

What is a voter to do? It is hard to get to the heart of a candidate without going through his or her life history and studying every public or private decision the candidate has made. It is not enough to listen to the news or discuss the commentary in the newspaper or the Internet. It is a constant war of words mixed with slander and backbiting.

Even those who profess to be conservative and have the best interests of the country at heart are following Satan’s path of contention and defamation. Where is the Christian path? Where is the man who will stand with strength against all evil?

Where is the man who will talk about the greatness of America and rally the people to righteousness? Who will preach repentance to those who fund the murder of the innocent and slaughter family values? Where is the man who will stand for traditional Christian values without equivocation?

When I hear the rhetoric of politicians, I cringe. They boldly promise the world, but without the help of God and the prayers of every good man, woman and child in America, they cannot fulfill even one of their promises.

Where is the integrity that will say, “I am only one man, but I will seek the help of Almighty God and the help of His people to make the changes. I will stand up with Elijah against the priests of Baal with the power of God coursing through my veins, because I have prayed the prayer of prophets."

"I will lead armies with trumpets, like Joshua, around the walls of Jericho. I will stand like Moses, against the Red Sea, and with the power of God in my right hand will part the Red Sea and bring us across on dry ground.”?

Where is the Joseph who will help us prepare against famine and pestilence? Where is the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who will refuse to kneel before the altar of the politically correct and stand for truth and righteousness no matter how hot the fiery furnace of the media screams in political outrage? Where is the Daniel who, with the power of prayer, will shut the mouths of the lions?

Don’t these politicians know our country is at a crossroads? Can’t they see the slippery slope on which we stand? Financially, we are teetering on a stack of cards poised at the end of a long line of dominos waiting to be tipped. We are borrowing and spending like a teenager with a new credit card with an unlimited balance.

We blindly trust that our creditors are our friends and will never ask to be paid in full. While we eat, drink and make merry, Satan is tying flaxen cords around our freedom and is preparing for the mighty yank. Someday our bills will have to be paid. I pray we will not have to pay them in sackcloth and ashes.

We must find a way to elect godly men who will lead us out of the deathtrap we are in. We do not want change. We want a restoration. We want to return to the righteousness of our Founding Fathers, the Constitution and Christianity.

We want to be the salt of the earth. The city set on a hill which cannot be hid. God’s candle burning for all the world to see. We want to be the Statue of Liberty guarding the golden door of freedom – beckoning to the world:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

— Emma Lazarus

We want our Bill of Rights and our individual rights. We want every man and woman to have the equal right to pursue happiness, not to be given happiness in the form of a check each month. We want our own “160 Acres Full of Sunshine.”

We want to homestead our dreams and be able to “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” to live the American Dream. We don’t want government handouts for us or for the poor. We want to extend our own hands to help those in need. We want to share our plenty without a mandate or quota.

We want our charity to come from our own hearts, not from the greed of the government in the form of taxes. We want to wake up every morning and know the government is going to take care of only the things spelled out in the preamble of the Constitution:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

We want to know that our leaders are godly men who pray daily for our welfare and lead as they hear answers to those prayers. We want principled men who have integrity in all facets of life. We want men who respect marriage, women and children, both the born and the unborn.

We want to know that human life is sacred and the victim will be compensated by the criminal. We want justice and mercy to be done. We want children to grow up in a traditional family – to thrive in innocence rather than to be exploited by wicked conspiring men and women who propagate the notion that good and evil are archaic, worn-out ideas of yesterday. We want our schools and public places to be safe from intruders with guns.

We want to manage our own resources, schools, hospitals and health care. We want to pass our own hard-earned money to our children without giving a portion to the government in the form of estate taxes. Sure, we want to have roads and buildings, schools and other things the government pays for, but don’t you think the American people, working together, could make those things happen without the government taxing the rich and the poor?

We have millions of generous business people who want what is best for others. I believe in the goodness of the American people. I believe they want to help their neighbors. I also believe good people step back when the government gets involved. We are a nation of compassion, not a nation of slaves.

No! We don’t want change! We want restoration!

In the midst of this election year, we can’t always judge the heart of a man, but God can. We must study the issues and the candidates. Then we must get on our knees and pray a prayer something like this:

Heavenly Father, we know that our country is in perilous times. We have made some poor choices in the past because we have not asked as You have commanded. We have trusted in our own wisdom. We know that You have helped us in the past and You have carried us through terrible times. We are grateful for this.

We know that You know the hearts of every man both good and bad. Please reveal unto us which candidate will best fill the highest place in the United States government. Then help us choose representatives and senators who will help this man restore America to the founding principles that made this country great. All honor and glory we give unto You, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

While on your knees, listen to the whisperings that come into your mind. Then vote for the person God tells you is His servant. He will not be a perfect man, but He will be the best God has to offer at this time.

Then, every day, pray for that man and this land to be restored to righteousness and peace. Practice faith, hope and charity and God will bring us back to freedom and give us back the America we cherish. PD