As we approach another election season, we find ourselves once again in an environment bringing tension, division, and uncertainty to people, including those within the Church. It is during times like this, however, that we as the Church can shine brightly. In the face of debates, advertisements, and news that may stir anxiety, we have a divine opportunity to anchor people to the unchanging hope of Christ.

The apostle Paul instructs us that “our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20 NIV), and as followers of Christ, our ultimate allegiance is to God and His kingdom. While politics does have its importance and influence, it is reassuring to know our hope is not based upon human leaders or systems but in the Lord who reigns over all.

There is no question that, as followers of Christ, we should engage in our civic duties with a kingdom-minded perspective and a biblical worldview. We vote, we pray for our leaders, we seek the welfare of our communities (Jer. 29:7), and we engage others with love. And as we do all of this, we hold to the truth that God’s sovereignty transcends the outcomes of elections.

In times that seem unstable or fragile, God’s Word tells us “we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Heb.12:28). We serve an “unshakable kingdom.” Governments change, leaders come and go, and through it all, God’s kingdom remains. It is unshakable, eternal, and built upon His righteousness and justice. No election can alter the reality of God’s sovereignty nor shake the foundation of His authority. It is His church that holds the keys to unlock heaven on earth and bring light to the darkness.

Here is the reality we stand upon: It is God who “controls the course of world events; He removes kings and sets up other kings” (Dan. 2:21 NLT), and “the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord” (Prov. 21:1 KJV).

Because of this truth, we can embrace Paul’s word to the Philippians: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7 NLT). Based on this passage, if we are a people of prayer who walk in faith, seek God’s wisdom, and are grateful, THEN we know we will experience a peace that goes beyond natural understanding. I am reminded, comforted, and convinced of this truth, and it is an anchor to my soul.

This November’s election will be followed in December by the celebration of Christ’s birth. What a perfect time to remember that Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. This name, given to Jesus, is more than just a title; it is a promise that no matter what happens around us, God’s presence is constant and unchanging.

Whether the outcome of the election brings joy or disappointment, whether policies align with your hopes or create concerns, remember Emmanuel – God is with us. He is present in our churches, in our communities, in our families, and in our lives. He is not distant or disconnected; He is personally and actively involved in the lives of His people. Whoever is elected and however people respond – God still sits on the throne, His Kingdom is unshakable, and His plans are unstoppable. GOD IS WITH US.

Some practical steps for consideration:

1. Pray for our leaders, regardless of who they are: Pray for their wisdom, discernment, and a spirit of humility.
2. Stay united as the body of Christ: Let a heart of unity, love, and the bond of peace be what others see.
3. Keep an eternal perspective: Engage in the political process, but keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
4. Live out the things that will remain: faith, hope and love.

About the Author

Michael Nortune

Michael Nortune serves as president of Open Bible Churches. He has ministered in the local church faithfully for 35 years. From his start as a janitor and groundskeeper to lead pastor of Life Church in Concord, California, Michael has had the opportunity to gain experience in every capacity within the church throughout his ministry. Not only does he have hands-on experience on the local level, but Michael has also led at the district, regional, and national levels within Open Bible Churches. Michael and his wife Julie currently reside in Colorado and love living near five of their six children and their spouses. They also treasure the time they spend with their other daughter who lives in Alabama with their first (but not the last) grandson!

When Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 “. . . I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it,” He was making a declaration that His Church was going to be an unstoppable force for the kingdom of God. His Church would expand and multiply, and nothing (not death, hell, or the grave) could keep it from its destiny.

We now are the people He uses, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to accomplish His mission for such a time as this.  A few months ago, I heard a quote by author Grant Skeldon that stuck with me. The quote went something like this: “The enemy wants to divide the Church. The Church is busy trying to add. But Jesus wants the Church to multiply.” God had already been speaking and stirring this passion for multiplying within me, and the quote resonated in my spirit.

It’s true, Satan does not want a united Church because he knows when we are united, we become the unstoppable force Jesus spoke of. Therefore, his plan is to try to divide people. He attempts to create jealousy, animosity, backbiting, and gossip in our pastors, churches, and cities, rendering God’s people powerless.

Here is what I would add to Skeldon’s mathematical quote: the world wants to subtract the Church. In culture today, we see many attempts to silence the voice and values of the Church. We see the world trying to erase our God-given assignment and impact, trying to remove our influence by portraying the Church as irrelevant and intolerant.

Too often, churches become distracted, focused on trying to add just a few more people, add a few more programs, add a few more outreaches, add a few more dollars, add a few more baptisms. We become trapped at times in a survival mentality, thinking, “Let’s just get through another Sunday.”

Jesus declared that His Church would not just survive but would thrive and multiply. You see this truth in both the Old and New Testaments, that God’s kingdom and His Church are intended, equipped, and empowered to multiply. From the beginning there is a command that carries a promise: God blesses humanity, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Those words are repeated and ripple throughout the pages of Scripture.

The mandate I sensed God speak to my spirit at National Convention in Dallas as Open Bible transitioned into a new season was a clarion call. Open Bible was to embrace and pursue what God has intended for us, to apprehend what we are apprehended for, to live what is in the DNA of our movement. We, as a fellowship and network of churches, could believe together that God wants to multiply His kingdom through every local church, every minister, all our districts and regions, nationally and globally. The leadership in Open Bible is resolute and passionate about serving our local churches and seeing your ministries multiply, understanding that as they do, we experience God’s promise of multiplication together.

You will hear more in the coming weeks and months about how this word from God can be lived out in practical ways. Together in agreement and alignment, we are on a “Mission to Multiply.” We are believing that over the next few years we will see God multiply His kingdom in your churches and ministries. In addition, we will see Him multiply the number of leaders and ministers in Open Bible, the souls being saved, disciples being trained, churches being planted and adopted, and the next generation being raised up and stepping into their destiny. Will you blend your faith and prayers with ours, believing God’s call is for Open Bible to be “fruitful and multiply”? 

“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will LIVE and MULTIPLY, and you will ENTER and OCCUPY the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors” (Deut. 8:1 NLT, emphasis added). 

Michael Nortune

Michael Nortune serves as president of Open Bible Churches. He has ministered in the local church faithfully for 35 years. From his start as a janitor and groundskeeper to lead pastor of Life Church in Concord, California, Michael has had the opportunity to gain experience in every capacity within the church throughout his ministry. Not only does he have hands-on experience on the local level, but Michael has also led at the district, regional, and national levels within Open Bible Churches. 

The full quote for this title comes from E. J. Fulton, one of the key founding leaders who helped birth Open Bible Churches years ago when Open Bible was yet a dream of what it could become. Two distinct fellowships of churches hailing from revival streams in different parts of the country had begun to unite with potential and possibilities — not out of convenience, nor economic advantages, nor just to increase in size. They dreamed of an association of churches that would fulfill the mission of God, that would evangelize the nations, release ambassadors for Christ, send missionaries, plant churches, and raise and train leaders. Fueled through prayer and faith they pursued this passion.

Inasmuch as we seem so compatible in many ways, our desire for fellowship was engendered resulting in an organic union in 1935. . . . In the providence of God these two groups from such different origins found a heart and life interest and had been welded together by the infusion of the Holy Spirit into a blessed fellowship . . . . God grant that we shall never fail to fulfill our destiny in Christ.” *

By Rev. E. J. Fulton

We are now the living proof and answer to our founders’ God-ordained prayer and faith. Each and every one of us now carries on the call. Today we as an association and family of churches are fulfilling our destiny in Christ, and our dreams are bigger than our memories. God has called us to something so great, so grand, and so powerful that there is no way we can do it on our own or in our own strength. The wonderful thing is that He gives us the grace, strength, and supernatural power to achieve it as we pursue His will.  

Though I cherish our heritage and I believe we live in the legacy of those who went before and will leave a legacy for those who are to come, we do not live in 1935, and we cannot just relish the “Good Ol’ days.” The Apostle Paul tells us that though that we stand on the foundation of those before us, “[We] are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him” (Ephesians 2:19-21, NLT, emphasis mine).  

We are built on the past with Jesus as our Cornerstone, and we now blaze a NEW trail to the mission and destiny God has for us – our local churches as well as Open Bible Churches as a whole. I believe God is stirring the waters. He is up to something new; can you perceive it?! There is a harvest coming and a fruitful season ahead – a multiplying moment in our future.  

We stand at a hinge in the history of Open Bible. Some may call it a window of opportunity or a new day or new season. But when you think of a hinge you picture something that allows a door to swing open into a different place, a new place, a fresh place. I have this burning conviction that Open Bible is preparing to step through that door. Not just for us and this time. Not just for the community around our local church or for those far from Christ now, but for the next generation to come.  

We are twelve years away from the one hundredth year celebration of Open Bible’s birth. These next twelve years are the door we walk through together to lay the foundation to propel us into the next one hundred years, should the Lord tarry, of fruitful and powerful ministry. Our legacy will be to build on what was and empower those who are to come to finish the work. You will hear more details about this, but the countdown is on.  

You see, Jesus showed us how to accomplish this task. He lived his life on mission and calls us to do the same. When his parents inadvertently left him at the temple at age twelve, they were shocked to return to see him teaching the scholars of the time. When they inquired of him what he was doing, he replied with the famous words: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49, NKJV, emphasis mine). He would go on to say later, “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work” (John 4:34, NLT, emphasis mine).   

Now we get to work hard and “never be lacking in zeal” (Romans 12:11, NIV) as we pursue the destiny God calls us to and live the mission that unites us: to “Globally Make Disciples, Plant Churches, and Develop Leaders.”   “God, grant that we will never fail to fulfill our destiny in Christ.”  

The story continues. . . .

*Mitchell, R. Bryant. Heritage and Horizons, Open Bible Publishers, 1982, p. 179.

About the Author

Michael Nortune

Michael Nortune serves as president of Open Bible Churches. He has ministered in the local church faithfully for 35 years. From his start as a janitor and groundskeeper to lead pastor of Life Church in Concord, California, Michael has had the opportunity to gain experience in every capacity within the church throughout his ministry. Not only does he have hands-on experience on the local level, but Michael has also led at the district, regional, and national levels within Open Bible Churches.