ChristianPolitics

In life we all have to make decisions based on all the facts of any given situation. Sometimes decisions are tough because the consequences of making a choice are serious. So when we make choices especially in a difficult situation we must weigh all of the facts before making a decision. So before you make your decisions about voting this coming Tuesday make your decisions based on all of the information and not just on piece of the puzzle. The current financial crisis is serious but it is not the only important thing to the future of the United States or to your individual future or to the future of many other people in this country. There are many important issues to consider when deciding who to vote for and some are more important than others. Please prioritize the issues of the day and make sure you pray and think carefully this weekend and make your decisions accordingly on Tuesday.

Anyone can say they’re a Christian. That is what one of the bad guys said in a Christian video series I watched about the end times. The series was like the left behind books but it was a series of four video starting with the first one called A Thief in the night. I watched these movies back in college and they look like they were originally made in the late 60’s or early seventies. The quality was very low compared to what we’re used to now and it seemed pretty cheesy at the time, but it did have a decent story line. One of the good guys (actually a girl) was a Christian who was helping her other Christian friends run from the government controlled by the Antichrist who wanted to hunt the Christians down and make them take the mark of the beast. In the end the group was caught because the one girl turned her friends in. The others asked this traitor why she did it considering she was a Christian. The traitor’s response, “anyone can say they’re a Christian”.

Anyone can say they are a Christian and they don’t have to be trying to deceive you when they say it for it not to be true. It is not the duty or role of anyone to tell someone else whether or not the other person is truly a Christian. Only God knows the heart of a person and can say who His children are. The Bible says to be a Christian, to be saved, that you need to confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe with your heart that God raised Him from the dead. So someone can say it but another human can not tell if they really believe it.

Making Jesus lord is not about going to church on Sunday or about being an American. As much as many people think their culture or what their parents believe makes them a Christian, it does not.

I can not say weather Barrack Obama is a Christian or not. The Bible does say we can know someone by his or her fruit. If a tree produces apples it’s an apple tree. If a person does nothing but evil and disobeys God, do you think this person is a Christian? So we can discern if someone is a false prophet though we still can not say for certain where someone’s heart is.

But Barrack Obama does in the course of running for the Presidency present himself to be a Christian. Now you don’t need to be a Christian to be the president but an individual if he chooses can say I would prefer to vote for a Christian. So I think it is worthwhile to look at Barrack Obama’s words and his fruit to see if it lines up with the faith he proclaims.

It doesn’t matter if Obama was a Muslim or studied as a Muslim before he became a Christian. It doesn’t matter whether his father was a Muslim or not. Anyone can come to Christ. However the Church Obama started in is a highly controversial church. There is not even anything wrong with this because a good church can be controversial. However Trinity United Church of Christy in Chicago lists it’s beliefs under history as things like Black Liberation theology or the black value system.  And even though they have changed their website their goals deal more with African and black culture than Christianity or spreading the Gospel.

The pastor of that church for many of the years while Barrack Obama was there was The Rev Jeremiah Wright. Now anybody’s sermon can be taken out of context but this man’s sermons go on and on about conspiracy theories of a racist US and other things. Now I can buy into a conspiracy theory here and there but this stuff had nothing to do with Christianity. This is the man who Obama says introduced him to his faith and married him and his wife and baptized his children. After the pressure became great Obama finally left the Church and said that the Rev Wright we were hearing about was not the man he knew. It seems pretty hard to believe considering he was a member of the church Wright preached at for so long while Obama was there. Now you could argue that maybe Obama didn’t go to church very much and really didn’t hear a lot of this stuff. There are lots of Christians who don’t go to church very often or even at all. This doesn’t make them not Christians. But you may wonder how strong the beliefs are of a Christian who disregards fellowship with other believers so often. Also you think Obama would occasionally hear about the kind of stuff Rev Wright preached. If Obama heard nothing of what Rev Wright preached this makes it seem like Obama has no clue about what’s going on in his own Church and makes you question his judgment. Additionally Obama did say that Rev Wright was his spiritual advisor and Wright was initially part of Obama’s campaign team. Though this might make you question Obama’s decisions, none of this effects his salvation.

At Saddleback Church Obama said that he thinks one of the greatest failing in this country is that people aren’t caring for the least of these. Really among those that really fir into the “least of these” are babies in the womb or out. Obama not only strongly supports abortion but he even voted against giving medical care to babies who survived abortions and who are living outside the womb and can continue to live and grow up. The reason he voted against helping these babies is because he said it might make the mother rethink having an abortion. Well duh!  Even if you believe in abortion, what is more important, saving a baby in front of you alive and breathing on it’s own or keeping a mother from rethinking her choice to attempt to kill the baby?

When Obama was asked when he thought life began, his answer was that “that’s above my paygrade”. Not only does the Bible tell us that God formed us in the womb and clearly gives the message that we all matter to Him even in the womb, this is something that anybody with a Christian faith such punt on but try to come to a real understanding on. And even if Obama doesn’t know then why would you say “I don’t know if that baby is alive but lets kill it” Anyone with a heart would air on the side of caution. If Obama really worried about the least of these it would show up in his answers about abortion.

I still can’t say Obama is not a Christian, but looking at his fruit something doesn’t fit.

Regardless of who is running for any office, journalists and even regular people should have the right to look into the credentials, history and ideas of the politician. I’m an independent specifically because I don’t like being tied to one party for the sake of party politics. I do favor more of the ideas that the Republican party claims to support because I have conservative beliefs and values. However I still think politicians of all parties should be held to a high standard and are not above the law or above question. There have been numerous Republican and Democrat politicians involved in scandals including theft, affairs, lying, prostitution and more. Some of these politicians have been innocent but there are also plenty on both sides who have been guilty.

 The reason I say all of this is because yes, “Joe the plumber” asked a question of Barrack Obama and the Democrats and journalists all attacked him just for asking a question. I don’t care who you want to vote for that’s not right.

It has been in the news that some fear riots if Barrack Obama wins the election. The reason for the riots would be celebratory, like after a sports team wins. But what if John McCain wins? Will there be riots in anger? There may not be much in the way of riots in either circumstance. There may also be a surprising number of riots in either circumstance. It is hard to know what will happen. However I fear that if John McCain wins that it may help to cause a racial divide in this country. I think this could happen because many will feel that the election was stolen from Obama because he was black. In reality the media will be to blame for pretty much telling the world that Obama won the election weeks before it took place. I am not advocating voting for Obama but I am concerned about what will happen after the elections regardless of who wins.

Regardless of who you think may be the better candidate or better party, all sincere Christians need to be praying for wisdom and for the outcome of the upcoming election. We should pray that truth should prevail and that things that are close to God’s heart will be the things that are close to the President elect’s heart.

Anyone who reads my blog regularly knows pretty clearly where I stand politically and that I am an advocate for conservatism. However all followers of Christ should want what God wants and should put His will above their will. So we should pray for wisdom and guidance with open ears.

This election should not be about whether or not we elect the first black president of the United States. I look forward to the day when we will have a black president but not just a black president for the sake of a black president. I look forward to that day because black Americans are just as capable as others and with that being the case statistically we should come to a time when we have a capable and hopefully outstanding black president. However this should be a sign that we are not voting based on race and not come about because many are voting based on race. Black or white we should vote for and pray that the best candidate is elected regardless of weather they are black or white or Republican or Democrat.

This election should not be about you getting a bigger piece of the pie. We should look to a leader for their ability to serve but not for their ability to serve our personal desires and interests. We should pray for a president who will put aside his personal desires to serve the greater good and one who will honor God. And if you believe like I do, you should vote and pray for a candidate who holds the constitution in high regard. Not because the document is perfect but because it may be the best we can aspire to in a fallen world with human government. Many people fought and died for the constitution over our history and many of the people who wrote the constitution were Godly men with a desire to create a country that is just and Godly with freedom for all.

I must also say that this election is not even so much about Obama or McCain. It is about each man’s views and what they would like to and will do to and for our country. But this election, like those before it is also about the people of this country choosing which direction they want the country to take

 We should pray that God will direct this election to what is best for the weakest and smallest among us and for the safety and future of everyone.

Christianity is not about helping people. This is also true of the Government, the government’s job is not to help people. Now before you think too much let me clarify. Christianity should really just define those who believe in Jesus as their savior. While God loves all of us and we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Christianity’s most vital issues is not about feeding the poor, it’s about belief in Jesus and obedience to God. God wants us to love our neighbors and that can be in part feeding those who need it, but it is still not the primary tenant of belief. Good works are good but The Bible is clear that it is not good works that get you to heaven.

The Governments main jobs are to restrain evil, protect it’s citizens from other nations and people and to maintain infrastructure and the basic necessities of a country.  The government’s job is not to feed the poor. That is however something the Christian church should do.

 What I’m getting at is this. Looking at Brian Mclaren’s (a liberal “Christian”) webpage I saw an article that started off talking about how well known Christians and mega pastors listed as their voting priorities things like abortion and gay marriage but did not include feeding the poor. There is a good reason for this. Feeding the poor is not an election issue. It should be listed under Church priorities maybe but not election priorities. It is not the president’s job to feed the poor.

I don’t mean to sound overly into conspiracy theories but Joe Biden and Colin Powell and Madeline Albright have predicted that some crisis will happen if Barrack Obama is elected and soon after he takes office. Biden went as far as to say that the public is not going to like Obama’s response to this crisis and will even think it’s the wrong move.

It’s one thing to think it is likely to happen given the current geopolitics in the world. But it seems as if Joe Biden knows exactly what it will be, because he already knows the response Obama would give and that the public wouldn’t like it.

What could this mystery crisis be? I wouldn’t think it would be financial since we already seem to be in a crisis on that front. But maybe it is, because Obama plans to raise taxes in what is likely a recession and Biden would be right  in saying that the public will think that it is wrong and it would be the wrong move.

Could it be something in the Middle East? Is Obama perhaps already planning on abandoning our ally Israel? We could speculate for many possible scenarios but only a select few seem to know what Biden and Colin Powell are talking about. This should worry everyone, that Obama’s own team thinks a crisis is headed our way if Obama is elected and even more that the public will think they will make the wrong response. Really not even the public but more to the point those who already support Obama because Joe Biden was talking to supporters when he made those comments.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPOeQZdHYw

I like to be honest regardless of the situation. So I will say things do look pretty bad for John McCain at this point and it does seem like the election is all but over.

However, a week ago Zogby showed the race as a dead heat and now an AP poll shows the race as a virtual tie. How can some polls have Obama with a 14 point lead and some show a tie?

They say reading polls is more of an art than a science. That should tell us all something right there. Pollsters don’t just ask 100 people who they will vote for and then show the results. They ask a bunch of other questions like have you voted in the past elections, do you think you will vote this time, what party are you? Then they do things like weigh some things heavier than others in coming up with the numbers. They usually for example use a high sample of democrats than republicans because they say there are more democrats than republicans. But it’s not always easy to find these rules which are called internals, You have to wonder if they use more democrat answers in a state where there are more republicans.

Also there is likely bias by the polling organization. It’s hard not to have bias and I know the one time I was polled in the past about politics that the questions were asked in such a way as to get a predetermined answer.

There is also what’s called the Bradley effect, which is where more people say they will vote for a black candidate than who actually will because they don’t want the pollsters to think they are racist. This of course wouldn’t be seen until after the actual election results come in.

Think about this. Whenever I hear a poll number totted on TV it’s always the one that shows Barrack Obama with the greatest lead. They don’t mention the other polls. So there is also bias on the reporting of polls

Rasmussen Reports which is usually seen as a pretty good pollster by both sides has had the race at a 5 or 6 point difference for almost the past month and has said the race is remarkably stable.

Even though there may not be another October surprise, and the economic situation seems to favor Democrats the undecided may mostly wind up going with McCain and some who have said they will vote for Obama may vote for McCain. At this  point I still think John McCain has a lot to worry about but I think Obama needs to stop measuring the white house curtains.

 Though some are already calling for a blowout, this may be a very close race and if John McCain wins people should not blame voter fraud but bad polling and the media for making this race seem as though it’s over when it’s not.

I’m not a big fan of Catholocism but this video says it all. This should be airing on tv everywhere. It’s not the economy stupid. It’s if the economy is your priority over life and death issues you are more than stupid, it’s downright evil. We know that we live in a fallen world but that the murder of those who are most innocent and weak and need us the most are slaughtered and we worry about some extra money and comfort. How twisted is this?

This is what the elction is about. This video sums it up, although all of the issues matter some are more important than others, far more important. We need to get our priorities straight. 

Some say that this election is over and maybe it is, but we need to look beyond this election to what our society has become. Our we so far gone that there is no turning back? All things are possible with God. We are all called to do what is right and not what is convenient.

The decisions about which wars we fight and how, are important. The economy is important. The poor among us and worldwide are important to God. But though it is cliche to say so, the hildren are our future and they are the most weak and they need us the most. This is the war that comes first. If we let our society and country become completely wicked what is left to fight for? WHat future will we be protecting? The further down this slope we go we will really be able to help others less and less. You may think I can vote moral issues next time after the economy recovers, but even if it does and you do the damage will have been done and there may be no coming back.

Though I am glad God is patient and wants than none should be destroyed it’s the issue of life in the womb that makes me long for the day when Jesus returns and this evil is put to an end. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

 It really shouldn’t be a surprise. News of Powell supporting Obama has been rumored for months. Despite Powell being part of the bush administration and owing his credentials and popularity to several Republican Presidents including Ronald Reagan who made Powell a four star general, Powell really is a liberal.

When it looked like Powell might run for president a few years ago he hid every view he had including what party he was. He knew that revealing his personal political beliefs would really damage his high favorability ratings.

Powell said his endorsing Obama was not about race and though I don’t know if I believe that it might make sense in one sense. If it’s not about race it’s about Powell finally acknowledging he’s a liberal and he naturally endorses the liberal candidate.

Why else would Powell say he would have a problem with two more Republican appointments to the Supreme court? Why would he say that unless he’s a liberal democrat?

 So big deal, Powell likes Obama.