Four years ago, I was rooting for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to win the 2008 Republican race for Presidency. This year I was rooting for Rick Santorum. These Presidential candidates were known to be public and outspoken about their faith. They weren't afraid to say what was right and wrong. They stood for family values. What's a Christian not to like about them?

Well, I'll tell you what's not to like about them. They keep losing! And losers never win! But on the real, it seems like "ultra" conservative politicians consistently lose on the voting ballot. The people have spoken. Nobody wants a President telling them what they shouldn't be doing. They want someone who will basically let them do what they want except for murder, of course. Gotta draw a line somewhere right?

In the midst of cheering for these title contenders only to watch them lose...again...I start to develop a resentment for the "winners." I start to concede that the world is inevitably going to end and there is nothing I can do about it. The economies will crash and Antichrist will come to make himself look like the political hero out of left field and every Biblically ignorant citizen will follow the pied piper's flute. So I'm left to settle for these Presidents who, to me, appear to be puppets to the new world order's agenda.

They will continue to allow the U.S. to de-industrialize and outsource our labor, allow abortion to evolve into deeper depraved methods with government-backed funding, continue pushing anything related to Christianity out the door, and propaganda of sexual perversion will pretty much be in your face everywhere you look, not to mention all the other eroding values we USED to have.

Then, I began studying the book of Daniel. It feels like I've been studying and re-studying this book forever. It's fascinating and it's also eerily accurate concerning past. That's right. These events all occurred AFTER it was written and its currently accurate with regard to this generation. Daniel was "beloved" of the Lord and the Lord Jesus re-affirmed Daniel's importance to prophecy in Matthew 24:15 when he said "...you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the holy place, (whosoever reads, let him understand)."

In other words, the Book of Daniel carries weight in God's eyes and so should we. I love reading it because I'm amazed at Daniel's uncompromising devotion to the Lord, his life story, the workings of the spiritual realm, and the precise visions he would receive from the Lord that would predict the future.

He was the prophet that predicted the Babylonian Empire's demise, the Medo-Persian Empire lead by Cyrus the Great, the Greek Empire lead by Alexander the Great, the Roman empire. And, now, many students of this book lay back and watch to see how the last great Antichrist empire will arise. 

How is this book related to Presidential candidates? Well, it's reading has softened my heart toward current President Barack Obama and newcomer opponent Mitt Romney.

President Obama doesn't put devaluing human life and abortion in the same basket. His administration wants to legislate aborting a child even AFTER birth and it doesn't appear to bother Obama one bit, despite the grotesqueness and severity of eliminating the life of a human. He has also changed his mind about gay marriage and now supports it. Mitt Romney is a Mormon and you'll understand my distrust of the Mormon church after you've read their history and beliefs.

But no matter what the world plots, it will fail in the end. 

It's interesting to note in the Bible that God chose the pagan kings who would rule the ancient-known world. He voted them in office. King Cyrus was prophesied BY NAME in the book of Isaiah 175 years before he conquered the Babylonian empire. God went as far as to call Cyrus His "anointed" and "shepherd" who would do the Lord's pleasure. All this, despite Cyrus not knowing anything about the God of Israel. God basically said of Cyrus, "I chose you even though you don't know who I AM" (I'm paraphrasing).

Did God care about what gentile rulers and nations did? Certainly. He gave merciless King Nebuchadnezzar a chance to repent of his pride before God turned him into a madman. He warned the city of Nineveh of their cruelty and gave them a second chance to escape judgment. He judged King Herod for playing god in the book of Acts. He used Babylon to punish His own rebellious people and scattered them abroad to be held captive. And these were wicked rulers.

Archeology shows murals of Nineveh's brutality in war. The Assyrians would skin prisoners alive, impale them on poles, gouge their eyes out among other vicious treatment of their captives. King Nebuchadnezzar set out to kill all his advisers because they couldn't interpret his dream. Even Israel's own, King Solomon, in his backsliding days, made altars to Molech: a pagan god to which followers would sacrifice their children by fire. Yet, I can't find a way to love the Boss in the White House? Obama hasn't impaled any terrorists. Mitt Romney hasn't skinned any petty thieves.

If the Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, then He must surely keep an eye on his anointed in the White House despite their godless policies and eroding morals. He has chosen a winner already. That's not to say that we don't make a conscious effort to vote and make a difference because we do. There are consequences to our choices. He will give us what we want and voted for but it's still His decision in the end.

According to Yahoo.com, when asked about his faith, Obama did indeed acknowledge he was a Christian and added, "I do my best to live out my faith, and to stay in the Word, and to make my life look more like His (Jesus Christ)." Mitt Romney answered the same question saying, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and savior of mankind." At first read, you get warm and fuzzy feelings but wisdom reminds you that love is an action and not words.

Are they simply confessing these words to appease the right-wing masses? Maybe, maybe not. Only God knows the heart of a man. It's not for me to judge. But I now understand why the Apostle Paul commanded us to pray and submit to those in positions of authority in the government (Acts 13). It is because they have been appointed into these positions by God. Yes, I get upset when the current death toll of aborted babies have reached more than 50 million since Roe vs. Wade, according to The Alan Guttmacher Institute, and no President has lost sleep over it.

Yes, I want for our country what King Josiah did for Israel, a spiritual revival in the land. But it's all boils down to what God wants and His sovereign will because everything moves with clockwork accuracy on His watch.

No matter who wins the election, God is still in charge. God can still use unbelieving leaders to fulfill his purposes whether that be someone like the late dictator Kim Jong-il or the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt. The book of Daniel goes to show you that even though I feel we're getting these sorry, sad bunch of politicians in office and they continue to purge God out of our leadership and culture, God is still in control. We may be captives (in the physical) to their policies, health care methods and economic manipulation but there is nothing to fear. We're not losing. We are in Charlie Sheen's words "Winning! Duh!" It's not to say that we stop fighting injustices, evils and speak out against immorality but if we do lose battles, God still wins the war in the end.

So, there is a final horrible empire that will rise according to the prophet. Scholars suggest that it will happen in our lifetime. The signs point to Europe and the United States role is nowhere found in the bible. I have no clue as to how our American leaders have or will contribute to the end times aside from what our society has already accomplished in the negative sense. I just hope that our next leader is more like King Josiah than King Nebuchadnezzar. Either way, it's all good 'cuz God is in control anyway.

The self-proclaimed Zig Ziglar of rap, Billy Delgado, is a Music Producer/Artist and Writer by day and sleeping pillow-drooler by night. He is currently producing the debut album for his band The 288's, a God-inspired Hip Hop/R&B group that combines soul-baring lyricism with an electric innovative sound, breaking from the norm and reaching all cultures & ages (save senior citizens). He still can't believe he's a family man with a beautiful wife Mari & three boys Chris, Nelson and Joshua, so he continues to pinch himself silly to this day.