When You Gonna Wake Up?

When You Gonna Wake Up? Bob Dylan, 1979

God don't make no promises that He don't keep. You got some big dreams, baby, but in order to dream you gotta still be asleep.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

Counterfeit philosophies have polluted all of your thoughts. Karl Marx has got ya by the throat, Henry Kissinger's got you tied up in knots.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

You got innocent men in jail, your insane asylums are filled, You got unrighteous doctors dealing drugs that'll never cure your ills.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

You got men who can't hold their peace and women who can't control their tongues, The rich seduce the poor and the old are seduced by the young.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

Adulterers in churches and pornography in the schools, You got gangsters in power and lawbreakers making rules.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

Spiritual advisors and gurus to guide your every move, Instant inner peace and every step you take has got to be approved.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

Do you ever wonder just what God requires? You think He's just an errand boy to satisfy your wandering desires.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

You can't take it with you and you know that it's too worthless to be sold, They tell you, "Time is money" as if your life was worth its weight in gold.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

There's a Man up on a cross and He's been crucified. Do you have any idea why or for who He died?

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?

These simple, yet profound lyrics based on a biblical passage found in Revelation 3:1-3 could be applied to us as individuals, to the conservative movement, to the Republican Party and/or to America as a whole. The words, “Things that remain”, could be considered conservative principles, morality and Judeo-Christian values. The result of Election 2006, for the most part, was a rousing wake-up call for Republicans and especially for true conservatives (social preserving life, and fiscal - small government, low taxes and balance budgets, etc.) within and outside the GOP.

The Election was not a referendum against Conservative ideals or principles. Instead, it was more disapproval of the GOP and its lack of implementation of conservative ideology for which the current President and many now soon-to-be-former U.S. Senators and Representatives were elected in the first place. Bill Frist in the Senate and Denny Hastert in the House delivered on only a fraction of past election promises. They along with Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman seemed more interested in preserving power instead of practicing principle.

I am afraid that too many Values Voters stayed home. They joined the still too many uninvolved and uninterested Christian born-again bible-believing evangelicals, who fail to do even the minimum civic duty- voting. This group, if so moved, could dramatically impact and affect, both civilly and spiritually, the outcome of any election.

I must confess that I have been duped and lulled to sleep by the lethargic pace of our supposed conservative President and his cohorts in the Congress. I supported them to the bitter end, Tuesday 11.07.07. I bit, but held my tongue when they disappointed me by passing the Amnesty for illegal aliens in the Senate, when it was revealed that the President was plotting to set up a North American Union with Mexico and Canada on the sly, when our ports were almost turned over to be managed by dubious Arab “friendly” companies, and when precious little was done on social issues such as stopping abortion. Well it took the election victory of America’s near-enemies within, the Democrats, to wake me up to the reality of the situation.

The Democrats did not win as much as the Republicans-in-Dem clothing, the big government big-spending Republicans beat up and out the Republican-conservative voice in the Party and in the Congress, lost.

I agree with Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, who issued a statement yesterday, in which he closed it by saying,

“Republican leaders in Congress during this term apparently never understood, or they forgot, why Ronald Reagan, was so loved and why he is considered one of our greatest presidents. If they hope to return to power in ’08, they must rediscover the conservative principles that resonated with the majority of Americans in the 1980’s– and still resonate with tem today. Failure to do so will be catastrophic. Values Voters are not going to carry the water for the Republican Party if it ignores their deeply held convictions and beliefs. . .

Yes, let us Values Voters and born-again true followers of Jesus Christ pay particular heed to the clarion alarm that resounded Tuesday night, Wednesday morning and demand more conservative representation and conservative action from those in Congress. Let’s continually ask ourselves, “Are we a part of the solution, or are we a part of the problem”? Let us diligently seek to preserve, promote and pursue the conservative values and Judeo-Christian principles that Americans have so long cherished and practiced.