The Election Is Finally Over

I admit I love politics and follow it very closely, but this election year was getting to be too much to handle. It is finally over and now we have determined who the next President will be. Did your candidate win? My candidate did not even make it our of the primaries (if you want to know who I like you need to look at the back of my van as I have kept my stickers for the next run). We are now ready to face the realities that are encountering our country. Whether your candidate won or lost there is still many things we as Christians and Americans need to be doing to help our country. First, we need to pray for our leaders. It is important to pray for our leaders and ask God to give them guidance and direction. Secondly, we need to be responsible in our own respects and do what we can do personally to improve our country. How much time do you spend volunteering and working with charities? Every volunteer helps to improve our country. How are your spending habits and increases in debt? The reality is that wise spending helps form a stable economy. What are you doing to help take care of the environment? Do you recycle or even turn the lights off when you leave a room? Taking care of the environment is not an issue of whether global warming is true or not. It is really an issue of stewardship given to us in Genesis, at the beginning of all things, when God told man that we are to be the caretakers of this Earth. So, taking care of the environment is not an issue of politics or even science, it is an issue of taking care of what God created. My point is that there is nothing we can do now in regards to who will be the political leaders of the country. However, we still a whole lot to do in regards to doing what we can to help our communities and country to thrive. Being a responsible and active citizen does show a lot to the community and in many ways can open doors to bring people to understand who God is.

On another thought, the political situation of the year made me consider the way the process works. Out of millions of people in this country we are only left to choose from two people basically to be the President. Are we really getting the absolute best candidate when it takes a person to be rich and well connected to even be considered for President? I was also considering how Jesus would do in our current political situation if he came to America today and ran today (obviously our country wouldn't allow it because he was born overseas). But consider if Jesus ran for President today. I am not even sure he would have won the Conservative Evangelical vote because they would have considered him to be too soft on sin. Consider who he hung out with in his day and how he was viewed then. He would have had a special compassion for the sinner and would have interacted with them positively to bring a change. Jesus would not have stood on a street with a giant sign saying "God Hates Homosexuals". He would have taken the time to get to know them and allow them to see who he was and what special about Him. That is where the change takes place. Jesus would have spoken out against the church for calling everyone else sinner while harboring sins in their own lives (call it hypocrisy). So in the United States today it is unlikely that Jesus could be elected president, even by the churches who call on his name. I could be wrong (not the first time) but that is just what I am thinking.

Persecuted Church

This past Sunday was the Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Our Sunday Morning service was not typical and did not fit into our normal patterns. I believe that our slight change of venue helped to focus on what the persecuted face. It is difficult to consider the persecuted when we are engaging in our normal routines and sitting in our beautiful sanctuary. Let us consider the persecuted throughout the year and not just make our prayers for them a once a year event. The persecuted Christians are seeing results from our prayers. Remember the video we watched from Iraq? Pastor Ghassan Thomas of the CMA church in Baghdad tells his congregation that the believers in North America are praying for them and this makes a difference to them. Let's continue to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters. Let's also consider our relationship with God and ponder if we would remain faithful to Jesus in the face of persecution. We can help those who are persecuted by praying for them.