Pray.
Vote.
We covered a bit more this last weekend at church, and if you missed it, I'd love to invite you to check it out at occ.org...message title: Politics and Jesus. I was uncharacteristically exhausted by the end of the day. But at the end of the day, I truly believe that believers in America are called to pray like it's 1999, and vote like it's 1776 (or whenever they started voting in America...I could find out when we started voting in America on google pretty easily, but that's how exhausted I am).
Speaking of 1776, here's a quote from good-ol' Ben Franklin:
“The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.” He could have added, "Pray. Vote." But other than that, it's a pretty solid quote.
8 comments:
If all Christians would truly pray about this all important decision and then vote their values, it probably wouldn't be such a close race after all. It seems pretty clear cut to me when you apply God's word to the candidates' stance on so many areas.
I'm 100% convinced that Jesus is not affiliated with either political party, nana blue. That's actually biblical. Being a Republican and being a Christian are not the same thing.
Check out Mike's message from the weekend....
Very, very well-said Jodie. I don't think everyone kept the Sunday bulletin that claimed only good Christians vote Republican.
Nana Blue, I could have just as easily said: If all citizens would truely THINK about this important decision and vote with their BRAINS, it probably wouldn't be a close race afterall. It seems pretty clear cut to me when you apply LOGIC and CRITICAL THOUGHT to the candidates' stance on so many areas.
But that would be arrogant of me, failing to recognize that some people might have good, intelligent reasons for voting for McCain and not Obama. Just as your statement Nana (with all due respect) discounts that some Christians feel that Obama better represents their Christian values.
Get out there and rock the vote!
Mike, great message this week. It's been kind of odd being a Canadian down here in the middle of all this election stuff (alternating between fascinating and infuriating, mainly) so it was great that what you shared went beyond just being a message for people preparing to vote TODAY and on to our call as citizens of God's Kingdom. You rock!
Chris, as a fellow Canadian (well almost..... I was born American, raised in Canada and return to the States just after the last election), I join you in saying it's odd. Don't you find it strange that Americans don't talk politics? I've quickly learned that it's like you are talking about how much money is in yoru bank account or what you did in the sack last weekend - just not acceptable conversation topics. No healthy political debates between family, co-workers, neighbors, etc. I never found it to be that way in Canada, do you? Maybe it's because for so many religion is a part of it? I don't know... can someone shed some light for this first-time voter?
What i do know is that I did just vote... and it's a great feeling!
Thank you for Killing Churchianity! There are good, Christian families on both sides of this vote. I appreciate the acknowledgement of that from our Pastor! I kept my feet on the ground, my heart and prayers to Jesus, and voted with my BRAINS!
People can be pretty concerned about being so P.C. in certain crowds ginny, but our family has no problem talking politics! It can get heated, from both "sides" of the fence, but its essential for people to TALK! You cant just listen, you must be informed, discuss, debate, to find where you really stand on the issues! and to VOTE with your BRAIN! :)
Mike, I greatly appreciated your teaching on Sunday. It was so refreshing to have a message focused on living like citizens of God's kingdom instead of "Christians should vote this way or that." Thanks for being real.
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