Voting Questions and Other Rants.
Many Christians struggle with who and what to vote for. The great people at New Hope are no different. I see Obama buttons as much as I see McCain ones. And I might just see more Sarah Palin buttons than anything else. People love a women that can skin a bull elk. Just ask ROEPKE.Some might wonder why I don't get heavily involved in politics. Thanks for asking:
1. I believe that GOD will appoint leaders as scripture says! (Romans 13.1-2)
2. I don't think that we should just side-step the process and not fight for our candidates or vote. That's about as rational as not witnessing because you are a Calvinist!
3. I believe that there is a level of corruption at all of those levels. I might be wrong, but I sense it pretty heavily. And it might not be outright corruption, but the influence of money speaks large.
4. I believe that REVOLUTION happens from the GROUND UP not the TOP DOWN. I don't believe morality, vision, or any cause can be legislated or forced. It is "caught". (This is a top one for me, though listed at #4)
5. Years ago, I pulled up in the lot at New Hope with my candidates sticker on the back of my vehicle. When leaving I noticed that there was a sticker from the "other side" on the vehicle right next to me. I went home, took it off and took the signs out of my yard. WHY?
Would I rather see my candidate in office, or someone's eternity changed? I decided right then, that unless something directly contradicts scripture in a HUGE, OPPRESSIVE way, then I would let others in the church fight to get their message out and leave it up to the LORD'S SPIRIT to guide. Last time I checked, He didn't need my help.
FOUL you say! What about abortion, what about the Supreme Courts, what about human cloning, what about...
Well, what about the death penalty, what about war, what about _____________. I think both sides have their issues, and I won't tell you what mine are because I value your soul way to much to have a political issue get in the way. I prefer to let SCRIPTURE guide my views, not a politician or political party.
When there is something to fight for that is contrary to Scripture or that will be FORCED on my life or congregation...I will fight like HADES. Until then, I will choose to be neutral and allow the SPIRIT of GOD to lead.
What I have always done is put out information from the Ohio Christian Coalition which is a voter guide that reflects a majority view of evangelical and other Christian voters views in Ohio.
Might I just say at the outset the obvious: that I know that this guide reflects a majority Republican position. If anyone has a positional statement from another point of view or party that is conservative/evangelical in nature, I would be glad to link it. Don't send far left (or right) for that matter...those people are nuts. Both sides.
Here is a nice string of posts from both sides from my friend and great leader TIM STEVENS. Check them out. Great balance from both sides in reporting from a Christian perspective. Another great, short RANT can be found HERE. By Perry Noble who should never be missed.
The only limb I will walk on is to say that the Republican party traditionally in my generation has accepted the views of conservative/evangelical Christians more than other parties. Especially sensitive is the pro-life abortion and end of life issues along with the stem cell debate, just to name a few. But they have not looked after the needs of the poor and underpriviledged, have not stopped genocide. We could stop the water problems in the world by spending $10 billion dollars. So there are issues on BOTH sides from my Christian lenses.
And that is NOT an endorsement if you are asking. I am simply putting that out there as fodder, because it is true and there is no spin on that one.
And that annoys me, that it seems you can only be one side or the other on (most) ANY ISSUE, CHRISTIAN or NOT, because there is not much crossing the aisle on that or many other issues. Can't we ever JOIN HANDS again and agree for something that will push this country ahead TOGETHER? What happened to that one?
Come on people! Wake up! Our country is in need and you all (congress, et al.) are a bunch of selfish babies at times. (Most of the time).
Someone needs to step up and get a 3rd party involved. If it were up to me...I would call it the COMMON SENSE PARTY. That's the only true way to see this non-sense come back to a normal level. But $$ talks, so unless you got a ton of it, and I mean a ton...don't look for the COMMON SENSE PARTY any time too soon.
And yes, I still will continue to pray for those in leadership whether I like that person or not. We are CALLED By SCRIPTURE TO DO THIS!
And a reminder that the views here on this blog are SOLELY mine and not New Hope Community Church. And despite the comments controversy...they are free and open and will be published aside from personal, over-the-top attacks. I have listened and heard from the comment oppressed (and they are right). Comment away!
I am Charles Hill, and I approved this blog post.
Labels: politics
posted by chazzdaddy @ Friday, October 31, 2008
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