89 DAYS TO ELECTION DAY

Before God’s call into the ministry, I spent 35 + years employed in retail and industrial sales positions.

I love my country and served a total of 16 years in the USN/USNR – active 1966 to 1970 and drilling Reserve 1980 to 1992.

Although I’m a minister of the Gospel in the community, it’s important for you to understand that I speak to you as a concerned citizen who simply has a somewhat different perspective than that which you will receive from many politicians and most media. It is not necessarily the position of the Christian church (or any specific denomination) but is formed by a Christian understanding of the world that we live in.

This country was founded on Christian principles and, as a matter of fact, many who traveled from Europe to the New World did so for religious reasons – either to escape religious persecution or to pursue the freedom to worship freely. As Pres. Reagan once stated: Our forbearers came not for gold but to seek God and the freedom to worship Him. Our history is slowly being rewritten and facts like this are no longer taught in many of our public schools systems in an attempt to make our landscape religion-neutral,. Even the story of the first Thanksgiving celebration is being ignored in some history classes. Our national religious holidays are being renamed to be politically correct.

When the Supreme Court ruled in July that the Obama Healthcare law was legal, I was heartbroken. I was convinced that the public mandate would be struck down and the entire Healthcare bill would therefore become toothless and moot.

I believe that every American should have affordable health care available to them. Jesus said, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me.” I simply disagree with the avenue that has been taken to provide this care.

I’ve heard too many firsthand stories of the national healthcare programs in Canada and the UK to favor the current healthcare bill/law.

I also believe, however, that it is at least in small part the churches’ fault that this and many other entitlement programs that are being enacted because we, as the Body of Christ that we claim to be, have  not taken care of “the least of these.”

In today's political arena, some choose to cherry pick scripture out of context to support their position and gain favor with well-meaning church folks; but I was taught in seminary that a scripture text taken out of context is a pretext. What would happen if an individual decided that it was time that he/she begin reading the bible but didn’t know where to begin so decide to simply let the book fall open and place his finger on the page and read from there: the first day that he used this method he opened to the words “Judas went out and hung himself”. The next day of following his bible-reading plan, he came upon “go and do likewise”. You can massage scripture to apply to most any argument.

Some of the more important messages that come from the Bible tell us that we are to support and obey our government but we are also warned that we may not be happy with what we get if we don’t choose our government wisely.

I believe and contend that scripture was recorded not only to/for the audience that originally received it but also for each generation that follows and so when I read from 2 Chronicles 7:14, “ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”, I believe that God calls on each generation of His followers to respond and be obedient to it. I also read it literally and therefore believe that it is written to His people so if you are a Christian, one of His people, you have an awesome responsibility to hear and obey. If we will seek God’s face, repent of our sins and humble ourselves and pray, God will respond according to His promise.

I would never presume to tell anyone how to vote but I encourage anyone who is struggling with the moral issues of this upcoming election to seek wise counsel to help them to form an informed decision as to how to cast their ballot; an election which I believe will dictate the path that our country is going to follow for generations to come. And I will emphasize the God-given responsibility that we have to cast our ballot.

Sit down in front of your voter’s guide with the Bible on one hand and the Constitution of the United States on the other hand and remember that these are not “living documents” as some like to refer to documents whose meaning changes along with the culture. The Bible does not enumerate 10 suggestions nor does the Constitution quibble when it makes statements like “shall make no law”, or “shall not be infringed”. After consulting God and these documents, make your decision as to how to vote and then, vote. Remember, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. (Edmund Burke) Do not let this electoral season go by without casting the ballot that you understand to be the best one for the continuance of our democratic republic.

Please uphold and protect the Law of God and the Constitution of our nation for the generations to come by voting. I am afraid that if we continue on our current path, we have CELEBRATED our last Independence Day and future 4ths will be memorial services.

May God bless you and inform you as you study your options and God bless America.