[An excerpt from ERADICATE; BLOTTING OUT GOD IN AMERICA by David Fiorazo]

For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light; …Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them. Ephesians 5:8, 11

“In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate – look to his character.” – Noah Webster, 1789

When asked about President Obama’s faith during an interview in February 2012, Franklin Graham gave an opinion and was ganged up on. He answered honestly, but evidently it was not the correct answer. All Graham said was that when the president proclaims faith in Jesus and his actions don’t match his words, it is not authentic Christian faith. Most of us know the powers that be at MSNBC wanted to set Mr. Graham up so they could attack what he stands for – biblical Christianity. I get it, that’s part of the game in the elite media. We need to be prepared when those who are hostile to Christianity frame the debate.

The question should not be ”is someone a Christian or not” because we can’t know a person’s heart. The question in this case should be ”What kind of Christian is President Obama?”

Every one of us is under the same scrutiny because we worship a holy God. If we say we are a Christian, do our lives reflect the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Word of God? In the chapter about truth, we established the fact that a person’s faith and worldview affects every decision he or she makes. It is ludicrous to ignore the religious background of the President of the United States, the most powerful public office in our country. The problem is most Americans ignored Barack Obama’s history before he was elected president.

When Solomon took over the throne of his father, King David, he knew what a great responsibility it was to lead all the people. God told Solomon to ask Him for whatever he wanted (2 Chron. 1:10). Solomon could have had anything, but he asked for wisdom and knowledge so he could rule over the people wisely. He didn’t ask for power, social justice or wealth redistribution, and not universal healthcare, not more funding for abortion, not environmental investments, not amnesty for illegal immigrants, and not gay rights – he wanted wisdom to govern diligently.

If we listen to what President Obama says regarding Christianity and then observe what he does, it can be confusing; things don’t add up. The Bible is not ambiguous. However, I agree with what a blogger on a Christian site wrote: “It’s not my place to judge Obama’s faith. I can see the fruit he bears, and I don’t like what I see. I need to pray for him more.”

FRANKLIN GRAHAM & FOUR CONF– — USED LIBERALS

They asked Graham on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “Do you believe President Obama is a Christian?” The first thing Franklin Graham said was “I think you have to ask President Obama.” The host fired back “So you don’t take him at his word when he says he’s a Christian?” Graham calmly responded that since Obama has said he’s a Christian “I just have to assume that he is. But the question is ‘what is a Christian?’” This is typically the best part of any Franklin Graham interview as he shares the gospel message.

After hearing the entire gospel presentation which followed Graham’s responses, one of the co-hosts still came back with, “So by your definition, he’s not a Christian?” And it went back and forth for another round when another host said, “I just don’t get it, Reverend, I mean I don’t want to harp on this but….” The interview was almost as entertaining as it was infuriating. The next subject was Obama’s upbringing, and Graham was asked if he thought Obama was a Muslim. Here is his patient, well-informed response:

“Under Islamic law, under Shariah law, Islam sees him as a son of Islam, because his father was a Muslim, his grandfather was a Muslim, his great-grandfather was a Muslim. So under Islamic law, the Muslim world sees President Obama as a Muslim, as a son of Islam. That’s just the way it works.

“Now those Christian minorities throughout the entire Arab world are under attack. A Newsweek magazine cover story last week was about the massacre of Christians in the Islamic world. From Europe all the way through the Middle East to Africa into East Asia, Muslims are killing Christians. The president can come out and make a statement demanding that if these countries do not protect their minorities, no more foreign aid from the United States…. The society in these Islamic countries is not protecting the Christians anymore.

“These Christians are having their churches burned….Women are being raped. They’re being murdered. Because under Shariah law Muslims can take a Christian’s property, take a Christian’s life, can take his daughter. And this is what is happening. The governments are not able to protect the minorities in the society. And they’re unwilling to protect them.

“If a government is not going to protect the minorities, we should not give them one dollar of U.S. aid … And he’s got the power of the White House,” Graham complained. “He could be speaking to these countries right now, demanding that they protect the Christians in those countries. He’s been quiet about it.

“We [Samaritan’s Purse] have an aid station in Southern Sudan. The Sudanese dropped bombs on it right before Christmas. We have a Bible school. Just two weeks ago the Sudanese air force dropped eight bombs on that Bible school. Why doesn’t the president come out and try to bring peace to the Sudan?”

Amazingly, none of the panelists interrupted or disagreed! However, they did go right back to their agenda. One of the panelists accused Graham of a double standard for saying earlier that he considered Rick Santorum a Christian because he and Santorum share many of the same values. Franklin Graham responded, “You have to look at what a person does with his life. Anybody can say they’re a Christian.”

The woman on the panel kept giving Graham condescending glances and another co-host smugly implied Graham was being judgmental by assessing other people’s faith. The funny thing is – that’s why they had him on the show! Graham responded to the criticism with, “You guys go through the newspapers every day. You’re checking off articles that are written. I look at a person’s political interests, but more importantly I look at their spiritual interests. I’m not judging them. But you have to go by what a person says and how they live their life.”

So then, you will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:20)

In 2008, American citizens, Christians included, refused to judge Barack Obama by his own words, his stance on abortion, gay marriage, and by his questionable Chicago history and radical activism. I don’t dislike the man, but I’d much rather have someone else in the White House. I do pray for his heart to be softened and for him to be humbled, but I also pray for him to be saved if he isn’t already…

*Much more can be found in chapter 5 – President Obama’s Faith & Fruit: Actions Speak Louder Than Words, including an earlier excerpt from this chapter here: