World

The Presidential election of 2008 was determined by a popular vote margin of 52% to 46%. The winner would have been different if just 3% of the voters had voted differently. So, today, on November 5, about half of the country is celebrating and the other half is not celebrating. I am not celebrating, but I am not despondent either. I believe there is great hope for America’s future if we put our hope in the right place.

Some have put their hope in a man who was not elected yesterday and their hope is gone. Others have put their hope in a man who was elected and they will be disappointed.

Psalm 146:3-6 (NIV) Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them– the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

Hope for your future, hope for America’s future can only be found in the Lord our God. He is the creator of all and He holds the lives of all men, from President to pauper in His hand.

Since our hope for the future is found in God, then that hope can only become a reality in America through the church of Jesus Christ. As the church grows in number and in understanding of a biblical worldview, her influence in America will increase. According to the Gallup poll, weekly church attenders voted overwhelmingly for the losing presidential candidate, whereas those who seldom or never attend church voted overwhelmingly for the winning presidential candidate in 2008. The implications are clear. A well informed Bible-believing church will always vote for the candidate whose decisions are most based on biblical principles. The blessing of a democracy is that in four years, we will have another opportunity to vote for president.

Finally, the Bible instructs us to pray for our leaders, whether we agree with their policies or not. God is perfectly capable of accomplishing good things through leaders who do not understand His ways.

Proverbs 21:1 (NIV) The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

The direction of the leader’s heart is dependent on the prayers of God’s people in the church.

So, on this day after the election, there is cause for great hope. Not in a man, but in a great God and the church that He leads. Be encouraged, follow God’s direction in your life and church and you will be blessed.

The general election of 2008 is just a few weeks away and the media of full of debates, polls and politics. How should a person decide who to vote for? Should you vote for John McCain or Barack Obama? Some people will vote for who they thought “won” the debates. Others will vote for who they think appears more presidential. Yet others will vote for a candidate because they want to see change. Still others will vote for a candidate because they do not want to see change. I think that the Bible gives a better way on how to decide who to vote for.

If we look at how God says a leader should be chosen, it will show us the characteristics to look for in a leader, whether a President, a Senator or some other official. The classic example is found in 1 Samuel 16, where God chooses a leader for Israel through the prophet Samuel. The instructions that God gave to Samuel are found in verse 7, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Bottom line, pick a leader based on heart characteristics, like character and values, rather than external factors or charisma.

Let’s move right to 2008 and ask how we are to determine the character, the heart characteristics of a candidate. The character of a man will determine his future effectiveness as a leader, not his good intentions or promises. Character is best judged by past experiences. 1 Timothy 3:10 says that “They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.” I have taken courses on best practices for job interviews and they agree. The best predictor of future performance is past performance. Don’t ask the applicants about what they plan to do, ask them about what they have done in the past. And so, we should judge presidential candidates the same way. Their past record gives the best indication of what they will do in the future, it shows the direction of their hearts. Therefore, choose the candidate whose plans are simply an extension of their past experience. If the candidate makes promises, but does not root them in his past performance or voting record, he has no credibility.

Leadership is to be based on principle and values, not on simply doing what the poll of the day indicates. A leader leads, he molds public opinion, rather than simply following public opinion.

The Bible indicates that God has designed three major institutions in society: government, the church and the family. The best candidate will understand the balance between these three institutions and see how each has a role to play in society.

A candidate’s stand on the issues and past record must be analyzed with respect to biblical values and teaching. A claim to be a Christian or to have a relationship with God should not be deemed credible if the record does not indicate the candidate has a biblical worldview. The stand of national level candidates on many issues can be found on some news websites, as well as others like www.ivotevalues.org. You may also study a voter issue guide of where the presidential candidates stand on important issues.

Not all issues are of equal importance to those who desire to vote based on biblical values. As important as issues like the economy, taxes, health care or terrorism are, the way to assess the best candidate to deal with them is to look at a small set of non-negotiable issues. These issues have crystal clear answers in the Bible and most candidates have clear positions on them. If a candidate’s stand on these issues is correct, the rest of their positions will tend to reflect a biblical worldview. If the candidate’s view on these issues is incorrect, the rest of their positions will tend to reflect a non-biblical worldview.

Here are the non-negotiable issues, agreed on by every believer who knows and lives by the Bible: Protection of human life is a responsibility of government. The Bible teaches that life begins at conception and so abortion must be opposed in every way possible. The choice to kill one’s own child is barbaric. Life continues until God takes it and so euthanasia, the active termination of life must also be opposed in every way possible.

Marriage is held with high esteem in the Bible and provides the basic unit of society. From the beginning, marriage has been between one man and one woman. Society and government must encourage marriage and oppose anything destructive to it. Same-sex marriage must be opposed, in particular for the damage that it would do to future generations of children as well as society.

In the past, it may have been difficult to tell where candidates stood on these issues, but no more, especially at the national level. The major parties have taken stands on many of these issues and discussed them in their party platforms. Most candidates support their parties’ platforms on these issues, but there are exceptions, particularly at the state and local levels. Find out the candidates’ stances on these issues. Vote for the candidates who best support these non-negotiable values.

It doesn’t matter if your family has traditionally voted for one party for years, the times have changed, believers must do the right thing today. Don’t vote for the candidate that you think will put the most money in your pocket, vote for the candidate that follows godly values. When you do the right thing as a believer by voting according to biblical values, not your pocketbook, it will lead to blessing on your family and the nation. Regardless of the outcome of the elections, you and your family will be blessed if you vote your values as believers. NLT Proverbs 14:34 Godliness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

The tragic events at Virginia Tech have riveted the eyes of the nation for the past week. We have been appalled at the cold-blooded killer’s plot to take so many innocent lives. Some may be feeling depressed, helpless, fearful, angry or just numb from this tragedy. One thing that we all can do is to pray for the families of the victims. Pray that God would comfort them, draw them closer to Himself and give them hope for the future.

Beyond prayer, what lessons can we learn from the Virginia Tech massacre? What would Jesus say if someone told Him about it? Actually, we have an account where Jesus was told of a similar massacre and Jesus gave an answer. NLT Luke 13:1 About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem. 2 “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?” he asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God. In this case, some innocent Jews were offering sacrifices to God in the Temple at Jerusalem when the governor had them murdered. Murder in a public place of innocent victims, not so different from what happened at Virginia Tech. The first thing that Jesus says is that the victims were not any worse sinners than those who were not killed. The violence of evil does not discriminate between levels of sin.

What Jesus says next contains the lessons that we should be reminded of in the face of any tragedy, whether created by man or by nature. Jesus says, “And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God.” When we contemplate the Virginia Tech massacre, we should first of all come face to face with our own mortality. None of us knows how much time we have left on this planet. Our lives may end with an auto accident, a heart attack, old age or a murderer’s bullet. When life is over, we will either perish in a place called hell or live forever with God in heaven. So these events should compel us to examine our own lives to make sure that we have turned from our evil ways and put our faith in Jesus Christ to forgive our sins. The temptation is to look at a psychopath like the murderer Cho and think we are not so bad after all. Jesus calls us to look inside the darkness of our own hearts and seek God’s forgiveness and presence in our lives.

The corollary lesson concerns our neighbors, who we are to love as ourselves. Our neighbors, the people within the circle of our lives will also perish, unless they turn from their evil ways and turn to God. If we love our neighbors, we must do whatever we can to open their eyes to the reality of God’s love, before it is too late, before they perish.

In America, we tend to live with the delusion that death is distant and we don’t have to worry about it. Jesus tells us we’d better prepare for it today. At Virginia Tech, 32 innocent victims perished. Every day in the United States, 6800 people die. Death comes to the young through the elderly. Are you ready? Is your family ready? Is your neighbor ready? Eternal destinies lie in the balance. Jesus calls us to learn from the Virginia Teach massacre. Be prepared for death before it’s too late. Get right with God.

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