The Next Election

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington claims that at least 42 current members of Congress have either been convicted or are under investigation for some significant wrongdoing. That’s 8 percent of the population of Congress, a larger percentage for criminal activity than most bad neighborhoods. That means that Congress qualifies as one of the worst neighborhoods in the country. Maybe that’s why they have metal detectors at the door.

The Libertarian Party released a report saying “a new investigation shows an astonishingly large number of wife-beaters, drunks, shoplifters, check-bouncers, business failures, and drug abusers are in the U.S. House and Senate—which ought to make Americans think carefully before turning to Washington, DC for moral leadership.” They go on to say, "From wife-beaters to drunk drivers, Congress is a crime wave.”

Mark Twain once said “Congress may be America's only distinct criminal class.”

According to an investigation by Capitol Hill Blue, an online publication that covers federal politics, a remarkable number of U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators may have spent as much time in a jail cell as on Capitol Hill. After researching public records, newspaper articles, civil court transcripts, and criminal records, Capitol Hill Blue discovered that:

* 29 members of Congress have been accused of spousal abuse.
* 7 have been arrested for fraud.
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks.
* 117 have bankrupted at least two businesses.
* 3 have been arrested for assault.
* 71 have credit reports so bad they can't qualify for a credit card.
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges.
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting.
* 21 are current defendants in lawsuits.

* And in 1998 alone, 84 were stopped for drunk driving, but released after they claimed Congressional immunity. Capitol Hill Blue noted that some members of Congress were "serial offenders" with extensive track records of fraud or violence.

If this all sounds too depressing consider that America is one of the best places in the world to live. What would it be like to live in a dictatorship, or under the yoke of communism? A citizen who speaks out against Castro in Cuba may spend the rest of his life in prison. Stalin is reported to have murdered more than 20 million of his own citizens simply for expressing an opinion that disagreed with his. Some historians believe Hitler was not as ruthless.

When a female reporter interviewed Benito Mussolini in his office she asked questions which angered him enough that he raped her.

The world has longed suffered under despotic rulers and criminal leaders. Which is why tomorrow is such an important celebration. The Feast of Trumpets is the celebration of the return of Jesus Christ to the earth, a concept almost forgotten by traditional churches. The writer C.S. Lewis wondered why the church overlooked the central theme of the New Testament, namely the return of Jesus Christ.

On the Day of Pentecost when Jesus was taken up into the heavens, two angels appeared and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11).

The Bible teaches that when Jesus Christ returns he will take the reigns of power and rule the earth. The Prophet Isaiah wrote “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

What will it be like to have a perfect Judge? The world simply has never had a man hold power that is unbiased, rational in all his decisions, and uses power to serve the people. The Feast of Trumpets pictures the day when Jesus Christ will return to the earth and this world will have such a ruler for the first time in history.

Until next time,