Last night President Obama gave his final State of the Union address.  In it, he told us that America is doing great economically, and is the most powerful force in the world.  While I agree that our men and women in uniform are absolutely outstanding, and that we all owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude, the reality is that Iran and ISIS are gaining a stranglehold on the world and President Obama is not only turning a blind eye, but is aiding and abetting!  Do we need any further proof than the horrific deal the Obama administration shoved through, or the fact that our nation has done absolutely nothing of substance to stop ISIS?

It is no secret that American foreign policy has failed miserably and is growing even worse.  However, think about this: just hours before his State of the Union speech, Obama took to Facebook from the Oval Office to tell everyone he was busy “making last minute revisions” to his speech.  Millions viewed the video and, at last report, he had over 60,000 “likes.”  But here is my question: Why the last minute revisions?

I know…politicians make last minute revisions all the time.  After all, they want the best, most up-to-the-minute sound bites they can get.  But, given the breaking news that had just come out, I’m wondering if his revisions were to gloss over what has already proven to be horrid foreign policy.  You see, 10 American sailors had just been taken captive by Iran.  Thus, I am left to ponder whether or not Mr Obama was about to tout his grand foreign policy accomplishment (the Iranian deal), but now had to significantly tone it down in order to avoid upheaval over the fact that we now have Americans being held captive by the very same regime he catered to in the deal.

Not a word was said during the speech about those captives.  Afterward, the official statement seemed to be, “Don’t worry…it was just a minor incident and Iran will release them first thing tomorrow morning.”  At the time of this writing, it is already “first thing tomorrow morning” in Iran, yet our sailors are still in custody.  Will they (along with at least 4 other American captives) be held hostage in order to insure that billions of dollars in sanctions are lifted (despite Iran’s repeated violations of UN sanctions)?  (UPDATE: Praise God, those sailors were indeed released mid-day, Iranian time.)

As if that was not disgusting enough, news also broke that President Obama snubbed Jordan’s King Abdullah, a very level-headed and loyal ally in the Middle East who is in Washington on official business.  (Jordan is one of only two Middle East countries with peace treaties with Israel.)  Thus, while Obama had plenty of time to shoot and post a video on Facebook, make television appearances (for example, the ‘Today Show’ that morning), and hob-knob on Capitol Hill, he could not carve out half an hour to spend with the leader of an allied country who is fighting to keep ISIS at bay.  (Jordan is a known target of ISIS, who wishes to destroy and take control of them.)

So, while Mr Obama was busy trying to convince the nation of his stellar foreign policy achievements (among other things), I suspect his staff was (and continues) working overtime trying to figure out how to prop up the legacy he so desperately wants to leave.

Tonight’s speech was but a microcosm of the lack of leadership our country is experiencing.  But it is once again a wake-up call to American Christians.  Washington cannot save us.  We MUST rise up as the Body of Christ and begin to take our nation back.  Don’t get me wrong…electing “Josiah-type” leaders is important.  In fact, every Christian has an obligation to our country to vote!  If you are 18 or older and are not registered to vote, do so…then vote!

Beyond that, though, our obligation is to humble ourselves, pray, seek the face of the Lord and repent (individually, as well as on behalf of our nation).  Only then might the Lord show mercy on us by hearing our prayers, forgiving our sins, and healing our land.  (2 Chronicles 7:14)  As during the time of the kings in Israel, evil kings did what was right in their own eyes.  Yet, righteous kings, such as Josiah and Hezekiah did what was right in the sight of God (2 Chronicles 31:20-21), and led their people in righteousness.  It is our job to

• Pray that God will grant us righteous leaders
• Vote
• Follow righteous leaders in the paths of righteousness.

Let’s do our part!