BARACK OBAMA!!!

Praise the Lord for our new president! Yes, praise the Lord. I didn’t vote for him only because I can’t support the Democrat’s stance on the killing of unborn children or legalizing gay marriage.  Otherwise, I do celebrate this historic moment. I look forward to the walls of racism continuing to fall in our nation. He is God’s man for this time and God will use him to fulfill His purposes.  Although, I didn’t support him with my vote, I will support him with my respect and prayers.

This, my friends, is our Biblical obligation. God expects us to submit, honor and pray for those in authority over us. It has nothing to do with whether we voted for them or agree with them. Consider Romans 13: 1-2. “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resists will bring judgment on themselves.”

1 Timothy 2: 1-2 says, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”

The burden and responsibility of our president is great. He will be faced with decisions that affect the moral fiber of our country, our safety and economic well being. We must pledge our prayers and support. He will need it. His family will need it and our great country will need it. Let’s join together and pray, God Bless Barack Obama and God Bless America.

Who Are You Voting For And Why?

Or do you even know? You may know who’s going to get your vote but do you know why? What party are you? Why? Do you know what the parties stand for? Please pull yourself away from all of the superficial campaigning and media coverage and figure it out. Isn’t it time we become mature enough to think for ourselves? Regardless of your party affiliation please go to their websites and read their agendas. Don’t you want to know what each party stands for? Or do you just want to blindly cast your vote in ignorance? Or maybe you’ll vote from what everyone else tells you. Or better yet, you’ll vote for your favorite personality. Did you know that research confirms that a candidate’s personality will get them voted in more than anything else? Isn’t it more important than that?

Our vote could change the course of our nation. The future of our families and faith is at stake. This being the case please do some research before voting. I realize that both parties give you ample to read on their websites, but at least scan over the most important issues to you. Please care enough to do that. The politicians realize that you probably won’t and that’s why they put so much money into television. We are satisfied believing what we see on television. Tragically enough, what we see on television isn’t reality including politics. So my challenge to you is to know what you believe and why? Do this by finding out for yourself and then making informed decisions.

I have decided to do this myself. After all it is a good practice, to practice what I preach. I am not going to be political or diplomatic with you because, when we are it just means were dodging the issues. I am not sold out on either of our presidential candidates but then again I’m not supposed to be. My faith is in God. I also don’t agree with either party’s position on all the issues. I think both parties can do harm as well as good, so for that I pray for the best. However, as a Christian there are a few things that matter to me above the rest.

These issues are far more important to me than money, the war or national security. Therefore, the party that supports my position on these issues gets my vote. These issues aren’t just important to me they are important to God. How do you think He feels about the killing of unborn innocent children? The Bible says “that He hates hands that shed innocent blood.” Do you think God’s cool with same-sex couples? God loves all of us but homosexuality is an abomination of unnatural proportions. He loves us but He doesn’t love our sin and He definitely isn’t ok with us making it legal. Who are we to declare something as right that God has said is wrong?

Then there is the issue of religious freedom. God sent His Son to die for us to be free to worship Him. I absolutely will not vote for anyone (party or person) whose platform is to take that away. I don’t tell others who they can or can’t worship so don’t tell me. I will worship God and cast my vote for the person that is in support of the freedom and the values most closely associated to that. I am voting as a God worshiping, Bible believing Christian. Do the research and you will know who will get my vote. More importantly, do the research before you cast your vote.

Politicians with Poor Self Esteem…

Don’t you get sick of the negative campaigning that political hopefuls do against each other? It can be hard to find any hope in all of the negativity, criticizing and tearing down of those who seek to lead us. Really, is that good leadership at all? I realize the imperfection of us all but shouldn’t leadership be a cut above? Why is it that our leaders continue to resort to this time and time again?

Are their positive achievements not enough to get them elected? I wish that someone pass a law that no negative campaigning could be done by those who are seeking office. It would be so nice to see our leaders get elected based upon their own merit. Have they not done enough good for it to stand out above the bad? Have they not made a significant difference with the power that they have been given? Have any of them made enough positive contributions that will be stand alone evidence for the positions they seek? If they have to tear down another person to get where they want to go, then they probably have no right being there.
I will be the first to admit that I am not well versed in political strategy. However, I do have a growing understanding of the human condition that is rooted in a constant examining of my own behavior as well as the ongoing study of human behavior.  So, let’s discuss why we have a tendency to criticize others. Criticism defined by Webster, is the inclination to find fault or to judge severely.

We teach our children that when a schoolmate makes fun of them, it’s because that person feels bad about themselves. The only thing that can come out of a person is what’s in a person. When negativity and faultfinding are regularly coming out of a person they are projecting the feelings that they have about themselves. Leaders are no exception. This ongoing backstabbing, blindsiding, dirt digging, fault magnifying is the product of a poor self esteem. People with healthier self esteems are less inclined to find fault with others. Their projections toward others are more positive as a result of how they feel about themselves. Wouldn’t we get further in life by working to correct our own flaws than focusing on the flaws of someone else?

It would seem that very little self correction and growth can take place with all the energy that’s spent dissing other people. It’s easier to criticize others than address our own issues because nothing is really being changed. Positive change always requires more effort. There also seems to be a false sense of consolation in highlighting the faults of others because it makes us feel a little more superior. This type of criticism is never an attempt to help someone but only to help ourselves. It also means that the interest of others is not really our main concern. After all, don’t politicians tell us they are in it for people?

I believe that we should honor and pray for our leaders. The only way things change on any level is if leadership changes first. We need an internal extreme makeover. A makeover of the heart is what leaders of families, churches, schools, communities, businesses and governments need. We need a wholeness that will produce wholeness in others. Wholeness begets wholeness. As long as we continue this slide toward negativity and criticism wholeness will be greatly deficient. We will never make the difference in our world that we have the potential to make. Every time we hurt another we hurt ourselves.

What’s happening in the church today?

From high profile leaders to local pastors even to the people in the pew, it seems that problems with our morality continue to emerge. Over the last fifteen years many Christian leaders have experienced some type of moral failure. Ranging from adultery, divorce, homosexuality, financial improprieties and spiritual manipulation to name a few. I say this not to judge but only to point out, that we have a problem. I believe that our greatest problem is also our most serious sin. Prayerlessness. We attempt to blame our failures on others, our pasts, the pressures of ministry and the pressures of life in general. These things may be factors in our lives but I do not believe that they are the reason for our demise. Surveys suggest that pastors spend an average of 3 minutes a day in prayer. Not 30 minutes but 3 minutes. If the prayer lives of leaders is virtually non-existent then what can we expect of the people we lead. Hosea 4:9 states, “like people, like priest”. We produce what we are.

We must become people of prayer. When we are intimate with our heavenly father we hear His voice and desire to walk in obedience to Him. It becomes our primary desire to please Him. God desires to be sought and loved by the people that He loves. In this intimacy we become one with Him just like two people do in marriage. We become inseparable so that when the world sees us they see Him. This intimacy produces such power that we begin to resist the devil and he flees from us. James 4:7-8 tells us, “ that when we submit to God and draw near unto Him, He draws near unto us”. This gives us greater power to overcome.

In summary, the closer we get to God the more like Him we become in every way. In power, humility, holiness and love. It’s time we repent of our prayerlessness and begin seeking God in greater ways than we ever have before. Let’s be consistent and persevere in prayer believing that God will transform our lives in prayer. Prayer is our greatest privilege as well as our greatest weapon against moral failure.