Tag Archives: election

Primary election and Facebook

13 Friday Apr 2018

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I keep getting the same reminder when I log into Facebook – that I only have x number of days to register in a political party to vote in Pennsylvania’s primary election.

I’ve gotten this “ad” in my news feed for several days.

And each day I look it and think – thanks for the reminder.  I also smile because it’s a reminder to me that while Facebook might have my data and information, it really doesn’t know me at all.

If it really knew me, the message would be far different.  It might still be a reminder that there is a deadline for registering in a partisan party.  But also offer a way to register a complaint to the commonwealth that non-partisan registered votes have to pay for these primary elections.

If you are registered in a political party – great.  Good for you!  Leave me alone.  You want to have a primary to figure out who is going to represent your party in the fall – go for it.  And pay for it yourself while you are at it.  I probably won’t like whoever you select anyway.  And I don’t buy the rhetoric of either party – they set themselves up as the savior of the nation, with mini-messiahs to share the “good news” of the party.  How many converts and financial supporters can each party get?  What will a party have to switch positions on in order to fit the ideological beliefs of the person in charge?  War is peace.  We have always been at war with Eastasia.  (Some handy references to the book 1984 by George Orwell for those not familiar with those quotes.)

If Facebook really knew me, then maybe the reminder would be completely different.  Maybe it would say something like this – “Only a few more days until worship commences of the Risen Christ, Savior of the World!  Be sure to tell your friends!”  Or maybe it would say something like this – “Only a week until the next ministry time over at Flying J where you and a small group of people actually try to carry out Jesus’ command to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, etc.”

You want my information Facebook – you can have it on one condition.  That you take what I preach and you help me spread the message of the Good News to others.  This is what I actually care about.  It’s what I post about more often than not.  Yet, somehow it doesn’t register with your fancy programs.  Maybe because the Good News of Jesus counters the false gospels that we are inundated with.  Facebook, you don’t know me – you don’t know me at all.

Alabama US Senate seat live reactions and thoughts on Christianity

13 Wednesday Dec 2017

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It’s 9:57pm on Tuesday night.  I’m paying attention to the results of the US Senate election in Alabama.  As of the time of this writing, Roy Moore is winning by about 30,000 votes with 71% of the results in.  The race is tightening as the final numbers come in.

And I’m wondering what is going through the minds of people – how are they reacting to this?  I’m wondering how people are sitting with what looks like an US Senator Roy Moore.  I’m especially curious about the folks who are struggling with this result.  One interview of Roy Moore that I saw had the host saying that he was clearly a polarizing figure.  I think that is something everyone can agree on.

It’s now 10:05pm – 78% of the vote is in and Roy Moore is ahead by only 20,000 votes.  The race is tightening.  The anxiety level of people is also tightening in around people – squeezing them in a death grip.

I’m wondering what an election of Roy Moore to the US Senate will mean.  I’m wondering how I am to pastor in an age in utter contradiction – the calling of many elected officials to resign over sexual harassment and misconduct, yet the potential election of someone accused of pedophilia, supported by the leader of his party who is also accused of sexual harassment.

Now it’s 10:09pm – 79% of the vote in.  Roy Moore is winning by only 15,000 votes.

Regardless of the result of this race, it will be close.  This is symbolic of the country at large – very divided.  Far too many people attaching their identity – who they are as a person – to a partisan political party.  How sad.  This is not healthy.  This is dangerous.  We are so much more than just donors and votes for either political party.

10:12pm – 83% in.  Moore has a lead of approximately 13,000 votes.  The race continues to tighten.

How is it that Christians can be more attached to party ideology and party label than to Christ?  How is that Christians can swear their allegiance to party and consider it their salvation and the salvation of the nation, rather than the Savior?  This isn’t an accusation against one set of Christians – it applies across the spectrum.  What does it mean to be Christian in America in 2017?  We have candidates who claim the label of Christian.  And several of them are resigning from office for sexual misconduct.  Others are denying allegations and sticking it out.  Christianity, it seems, is often just a tool for the obtaining of power.  Especially when it isn’t lived out.  But maybe that’s a bit harsh.

10:16pm – 86% in.  Moore is ahead by about 2,500 votes. If the trend continues, then Doug Jones will take the lead by the next reporting of results.

Is a Jones victory a victory for Christianity?  No.  It’s a victory of Doug Jones.  It’s a victory for one of our two flawed political parties.  And it’s a loss for Moore and for Trump.  Why do we insist on a system that creates only winners and losers?  When there are only two options and two results, then everything get’s lumped together with it.  Some will claim that Christianity lost.  Some will say that Christianity won.  The reality is that Christianity isn’t on the ballot.  It’s not a tool for political power, even though it often gets used that way.  This goes against everything Jesus taught.  It’s what got him killed by the Romans.  He wouldn’t be a pawn in the power plays of the Temple leadership and Roman authorities.  He didn’t accept either one as legitimate.

10:21pm – 87% in.  Doug Jones is ahead now by about 500 votes.

I’m curious about the reactions now.  Is there shouting and cheering in the Jones camp and wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Moore camp.  Having been through many campaigns, I know these feelings well.  Especially when I’ve done strategy and managed campaigns for candidates that aren’t expected to win.

10:24pm – 89% in.  The results keep flip-flopping.  Moore just had the lead again, and now Jones does again.  This time by about 9,000 votes.

If Jones pulls this off, I wonder how he’ll govern knowing that people weren’t necessarily voting for him as they were voting against Moore.  Six years can come and go quickly.  And it will be difficult for a Democrat to represent a very Republican state.  Then again, it just emphasizes the fact that we have a sickness in our country – partisan identity.  Party becomes more important than anything else.  Not healthy.

10:27pm – same results.

The analysts will all be asking the same question – what does this mean for the 2018 election cycle.  You see, in the world of politics – a world in which the people who live and die by politics and campaigns – it never ends.  It’s a continuous campaign.  It never ends.  One campaign just leads to the next.  There is no end game.  It’s a continuous game.  Policy isn’t about helping people.  Policy is a tool for fundraising to help your candidates raise money so they can try to get more votes.  The end game, if you wanted to say there is one, is the obtaining of power.  But for what purpose?

10:30pm – Doug Jones was just projected to be the winner.

Wow, what an election night.  Most people will say something to the effect that now the hard part begins – governing.  Wrong.  Tomorrow Doug Jones’ re-election campaign begins.  Now, the next election begins.  Now the 2018 mid-term election begins.  Now the 2020 presidential election begins.  Now this election and that election begins.  It’s always about the election.  It’s a perpetual election.  It’s perpetual fundraising.  All for the purpose of obtaining power and preventing others from obtaining power.  But to what end?

And for Christians the deeper question is this – what is our identity going forward?  Is it attachment to political party?  Is it to continue fooling ourselves that the parties can be controlled and used to further our theology?  Or do we wake up to the reality that the parties will use Christianity and Christians as long as we are useful idiots.

Tomorrow is a new day.  What will we do with it?  Will we advance the agenda of a political party, all the while telling ourselves that we are advancing Jesus’ mission in the world this way?  Or will we will participate in the unfolding of the kingdom of God?

There are going to be more Roy Moores in politics.  And there will be plenty more rationalizing of candidates, what they say, how they act, etc.  There will be Christians who confuse their identity as Christian with political party loyalty.  And there will be much more hypocrisy – allowing forgiveness for one’s preferred political party and its candidates, but hell fire and brimstone for the other party and its failings.

How will the world know Christians?  Will they know us by our political or ideological identity?  Or will they know us by something far more radical and different?  Will they know us by our nationalism and patriotism and America first-ism?  Or will they know us by something else?  Will they know us by our blaming the country for this ill or that?  Will they know us by our excuses?  Or by something else?

In John 13:35, Jesus is quoted as saying: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Love isn’t some nice slogan.  It isn’t some kind of tool to be used to further some agenda or fundraising plea.  Love is far different.  Love is living in such a way that you aren’t focused on the response.  You just go and love.

What have we learned America? Answer: nothing.

10 Thursday Nov 2016

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What have we learned America?

I think the answer is quite simple.  Nothing.  We are exposed to the same questions, the same problems, the same conflicts ever four years.  Yet we have failed to either recognize them or refuse to answer them.  We are more concerned with being right rather than with things that are much deeper and far more important.

I see this in the immediate responses.  There are some who take on a mild tone, call for unity, and let’s give the guy a chance.  It’s a reasonable response.  Maybe more reasonable than what is deserved.  Much more reasoned than what our culture and history typically respond with.

Then there is the #notmypresident response.  That’s been the response of many Democrats because their candidate didn’t win.  Yet, I imagine these are the same people who were upset when they heard people make the same statement eight years ago when Barrack Obama won the presidency.  Remember Rush Limbaugh famously stating that he “hoped Obama would fail.”  You’ve become Rush Limbaugh.  I hope that’s painful to hear.  “Oh, but this is different!”  Is it?  I can tell you that there were people then who thought the country was coming to an end because Obama was elected.  Remember those days?  Eight years before that we had similar protests when Bush won.  Eight years before that we had similar protests when Clinton won.  You get the idea right?  We have short memories.

We have this idealized view of politics which isn’t helping anyone.  We hold up our institutions as somehow holy, as if the institutions are somehow divine and unchangeable and that it is the politicians who screw it all up.  I’ve got news for you – institutions are made up of people and they aren’t holy.  They change based on who is in power.  The institutions are just tools for those in power.  There is nothing holy about them.  We need to move away from this idealized dream world of politics and wake up to the reality of what it really is.

I don’t feel like I fit in America.  No, not because of this election.  It’s been going on for some time now for me.  I don’t identify with either the Republican or Democrat parties.  They are both seriously flawed.  They also both has some good ideas from time to time too.  Yet they and their supporters are so concerned with being right that they will kill the good ideas if the other party might, by some small chance, have an opportunity to look halfway decent.  Yes, that applies to both parties and their leaders.

If you want proof that I don’t identify with either party, here’s the way I voted:  I voted for two Republicans, one Democrat, a Libertarian, an Independent, and I wrote in three people for office at various positions.  I have friends, actual people I know and love dearly and hang out with, that voted for Clinton and other dear friends that I know and hang out with that voted for Trump.  They don’t know each other though.  I heard both sides of the arguments.  Both made sense and had good arguments and both were really flawed and looking through rose-colored glasses.

This problem that we have isn’t new.  It’s been going on a good long time.  I would argue it goes back to the founding of the country and the core of this problem is trust.  We don’t trust one another.  That’s why the American Revolution happened in the first place.  The founders didn’t trust the king and the king didn’t trust the colonists.  And so we had a war to see who was right.

Again, we take this idealized view about the founders – that they all got along and were happy and bi-partisan.  What Bullshit!  They didn’t get along once the war against Britain was over – they turned against each other.  That’s where the political parties came from.  And we’ve been fighting with each other ever since – convinced of our own rightness and how wrong and evil the other side is.  Every president, and I mean every president, has faced threats of impeachment.  That includes George Washington.  We just whitewash history to keep the past holy and make these men of the past into saints.  They weren’t.  Nor are we today.

Our very system of government is based on not trusting one another.  The founders didn’t trust each other, which is why they put up roadblocks to efficient government.  Gridlock was designed into the core of our system of government.  It’s supposed to be that way.  It makes sense that the founders would adopt a system in which everyone would be pissed off at each other so that no one would get everything they wanted and screw the other side over royally.  It’s not perfect, but I get the reason.

You want to change the country?  Then let’s start with changing some basic ideas about ourselves.  Let’s start with trust.  No, don’t wait to trust other people, especially those different from you, or those that you believe are your opponents and enemies.  Don’t wait to trust only when they start to trust you.  That will never happen.  You want to change things, then you have to take the first step.  And that means you are going to get screwed.  It’s a scary prospect isn’t it?  Are you willing to forego short term gains for long term commitment?

You have to be willing to step out, get slapped down, time and time again, and keep coming out telling everyone that you trust them and then acting on that.  Trust takes time and energy and investment.  It takes building relationships with those you would rather not under normal circumstances.  And trust can be lost so easily – all it takes is one screw up.  But trust entails being vulnerable. It entails being truthful.  It entails confession and forgiveness.  It entails embracing the unknown and admitting that we don’t have all the answers, but we are willing to listen and work together.  Trust is about doing things that takes others into account.  Trust is about finding the win-win solution, not the perfect solution.  Trust is about finding out what is common and building on that.  Without trust, any organization, any nation, any church is doomed to collapse and die.  And yes, trust takes both sides being willing at some point to do and be these things.  And you can’t just throw money or other materials at the problem either. Trust is intangible.

So what’s it going to be America?  Are we willing to take the risk and trust one another?  Or would we rather keep on doing what we are doing and going where we are heading?  I don’t know where trust takes us.  I have a pretty good idea of our current path  – and it doesn’t end well.

I pray that we are courageous enough to let down our guard, be vulnerable with one another, and start to examine who we are, what America means going forward, and how we can move towards a more perfect union.

Want to know how to start?  Find someone you disagree with and ask them to just talk with you about how they came to their conclusion of who they would vote for.  Don’t interrupt them.  Don’t argue with them or challenge their ideology.  Just listen.  You don’t have to agree.  Just keep you mouth shut.  And if you have to ask any questions – let them be questions that seek understanding, not questions that attack the other person or their beliefs.  Ideally you come away with an understanding of how they came to their conclusion and what they really value.  I’m willing to bet you probably won’t agree on their conclusion, but you’ll understand it and see how it makes sense.  I’m also willing to bet that their values and yours are more similar than you expected.

And when you are done, thank them for their time and for sharing what they believe with you.  And walk away with a smile and a handshake.  Don’t go on social media and rip them apart.  If you have to post something, post that you trusted someone, that you listened, and that you learned something new today.  Post that it was a difficult experience, but it made both people better and as a result made the nation just a little bit better.  And the best part – something like this doesn’t require any politician or government agency or policy.  It’s just two people getting together, taking a chance, and seeing where it goes.  That’s how we start America.  Don’t expect a major shift in the next four or eight years.  We’ve had broken trust for well over 200 years.  It takes time to reestablish trust.  But you have to start somewhere.

Reflection for November 9

09 Wednesday Nov 2016

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How are you feeling America?  I imagine there are a few different responses depending on if your candidate won or lost.  If you are like me, you didn’t have a candidate and so you went into election day already disappointed.  No change in that because of the election.

How are you feeling rest of the world?  I have friends from other parts of the world.  I know what they are thinking – that we’ve lost it.  That we did a Brexit of our own.  And yet I wonder if they worry that something similar will be taking place in their country as well – it seems to be sweeping across the planet.  What it is is difficult to name specifically though.  Is it anger?  Is it independence?  Are the same cycles occurring that we have seen before?

We think that politics ends because the public campaign is over.  Yet, it isn’t.  There are fundraisers scheduled for today because today begins the next cycle.  Politics isn’t something that is added onto life, something that we do every so often.  Rather politics  has consumed life here in the US.  It is the ultimate form of entertainment, minus the bloodshed of the Colosseum.

And that a problem that we have created.  Maybe we created this problem when we became the super power of the earth.  What else to expect when you hold the military and economic might in the palm of your hands.  What else should we expect when we make every policy so important to our lives and we wait holding our breath to hear what the president or a candidate has to say.  What should we expect when we determine what our mood will be for the day based on the political developments of the last 24 hours or any day for that matter.

We are a nation that is divided, anxious, fearful, angry, and holding onto a great deal of power and might.  This is an uncertain time we live in.

We live in a unique time when we are called as Christians to carry out the Gospel and share the Good News, yet I wonder how many Christians have traded that in for the gospel of a political party and candidate and share the rhetoric and memes of these parties instead.  Jesus’ message is counter cultural – yes even, and maybe especially here in the US.  And it would be even if the results of the election had gone the other way – make no mistake.

Jesus’ message is in sharp contrast to the Democrat and Republican parties and to some extent America as well.  The Gospel tells us that our hope and salvation is in Jesus, not in Washington, DC.  That is still true today, just as it was two days ago, and will be long after the United States ceases to exist.

We are in desperate need of healing, yet I wonder if we will continue to look for healing in the wrong places.  We are in desperate need of peace, yet I wonder if we will continue to look for peace through military might and victory.  We are in desperate need of Good News, yet I wonder if we will continue to listen so attentively to every word our politicians give us.  We are in desperate need of hope, yet I wonder if we will continue to place our hope in human institutions, structures, and flawed leaders and their policies.

I’m not interested in examining the election in terms of why campaigns won or lost.  Instead, today starts something else, a reformation of sorts – pastoral care for many people who feel lost, Good News for people who feel gut punched, hope for the hopeless, humility for the proud, trust proclaimed for those who put their trust elsewhere, truth for the ideologically blind, grace for the desperate, mercy for those who need consolation, reminders of the outcasts for those in power.

While I’m disappointed today, and would have been regardless of who won, I continue to hold my head up.  My hope and salvation haven’t changed.  My joy comes from a source that springs eternal.  Peace is the way I walk, mercy is what I am called on to show.  Grace is what I receive so that I may be Christ’s ambassador.  Today is a new day.  God is still in charge and has given us this day, calls on us to be stewards of it with the gifts that are given to us by the Spirit.  Jesus calls on us to be his hands and feet for those around us.  To share hope with our neighbors – hope that comes from God. Hope that doesn’t depend on who is in political office.

My prayer for you today is that you hear God’s word and that you would experience God’s love and mercy.  And then…And then go out and do likewise.  That’s how lives are changed.  That’s how nations are changed.  That’s how the kingdom of God is unfolded right before our eyes.  Amen.

My plans for election day

07 Monday Nov 2016

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Election day.  Yippee!  I thought torture was outlawed?  No, it’s legal actually.  Only here it’s called election day.  On this day, and the run up to election day, you get to have people tell you to your face things that are designed to make you feel guilty, designed to make you fearful, and designed to get you to vote the way they want you to vote.  I’m not exaggerating – think about the conversations you’ve had over the last week regarding the election and voting.  Has anyone just asked you how you’re holding up, how you are going to talk with your kids about the horrendous election, how you are going to enjoy not hearing from candidates or party hacks for a bit?  No worries, the next election cycle starts on Wednesday – are you excited?  Me neither.

Anyway, on to the point of this post – my plans for election day.  It will be like most Tuesdays.  I have two classes at seminary.  In the second one, we’ll probably be forced to talk about the election.  I really don’t want to talk about the election.  I don’t want to hear how if I vote a certain way I’m actually voting for someone I didn’t vote for.  I don’t want to hear the rhetoric or the spin any longer – it’s empty and insulting.  I don’t want to hear the sound bites or the slogans.

When I leave class, I’ll make my way back home.  On the way home, I’ll stop and vote.  I pray the line is not long – the last thing I want to do is hang out with people who have bought the campaign rhetoric hook-line-and-sinker.  I’m not one of those people who thinks everyone should get out and vote.  Be realistic here for a minute – do you really want people who are going to vote opposite of you to get out and vote?  Of course you don’t. Why would you?  Don’t give me the whole civic duty thing.  Be honest – something campaigns and the rhetoric are notoriously short on – honesty.

I’ll vote and then go home, eat dinner with my family, spend time with them, and later do homework as I prepare for class on Wednesday.  I have no plans on watching the returns.  No need, I have no doubt that I’ll hear how it turns out – it’s unavoidable.  I’m also pretty sure I can’t avoid all the spin that will go on as well from both sides.

Election day is one of the most depressing days of the year for me.  It has been for some time.  Part of it is because the people I vote for don’t win usually.  A good portion of the reason they don’t win is that I have a habit of not accepting the names on the ballot at legitimate candidates – so I write in names for many of the positions.  I can’t tell you how many offices I have written my wife’s name in or my neighbors’ names.  I know them, I trust them, and I know they would do a far better job than any of the people on the ballot.

Tomorrow, I’ll go and vote.  Looking at the ballot, I have quite a variety of people I am voting for – some on the ballot and some I’ll be writing in.  Some are in the major parties and others are in minor parties or independents.

Vote, or don’t vote. It’s your decision.  If you haven’t invested the time to learn about the candidates or policies, here’s some alternative advice – don’t go and vote, please.  Yes, you can go and vote, but you have a responsibility to be informed and if you can’t do that for an election, do the responsible thing and sit it out.  Don’t feel guilty about it either – you’re actually doing the responsible thing.

By Wednesday I hope it’s all over.  The campaigns will be done and people will think they can get back to their lives just as before.  They will think that campaigns have ended.  Yet, the truth is the next campaign starts up on Wednesday.  The discussions will be going on.  The fundraisers will occur on Wednesday (no joke here).  It’s all behind the scenes my friends and it doesn’t end.  Sorry to burst your bubble on this.

If you need someone to talk with, I’m here.  I won’t ask you how you voted, but rather, how are you managing?  How are feeling about the election?  How are you feeling about the result?  Why?  How much importance are you placing on the election?  Why?  How are you talking to your kids about the election?  How are you going to break away from the constant onslaught of “news?” How are you going to manage and deal with all the constant social media posts about the results of the election?  What’s more important than partisan politics?  What would happen if you just turned it off for a time?

It’s time to talk with one another – if we can.  It’s time to listen – if we can.  It’s time to pray together.  It’s time to move on with our lives and not place so much importance in our government and politicians.  It’s not healthy to live like this.  It’s not healthy for our nation to put so much reliance on who gets elected.  It’s not healthy when people determine how they feel for the day based on what some politician has said or done.  It’s not healthy.  We’re better than this.

Maybe that’s what I’m most disappointed about.  We’ve traded in our ideals and we’ve settled for this and called it legitimate.

Tomorrow I’ll go and vote.  And then I’ll lament, regardless of the results because I know we can be better and we can do better.  And then I’ll get up the next day and do what I can to be a better person and to make this a better place.  I hope you join me in that endeavor.

 

 

What I preached the Sunday before the election

06 Sunday Nov 2016

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How are you feeling just days before the election?  When I asked people this question, I received a variety of answers – uncertain, disgusted, uneasy.  When I asked if anyone felt fear, most hands raised up.  Some discussion ensued.  The truth is this election is based on fear, and we are called to name that.

I have a long, long, long history in politics. You name it, I’ve done it.  I say that not to impress you – it’s merely a statement of fact.  Good or bad, I don’t know, but I do know that it has given me some insight into what politics is about.  What I’ve learned is that politics is about power – the obtaining of power, the keeping of power, and the using of power.  And politics uses fear as a way of doing this.

This year we are presented with two very different messages.  No I’m not talking about the messages of the Republican and Democrat parties, their candidates, or their platforms.  No, instead, I’m talking about a different set of visions and platforms.  There is the message of the candidates, the parties, their rhetoric and platforms, and in opposition to this is Jesus with his platform representing the Kingdom of Heaven.

You see, humanity has been at this for a long time – dividing people, using fear, thirsting and lusting after power.  This isn’t the first election which uses fear and is about power.  Politics and politicians have been using power and fear for a long time.  Their message is that you should put all of your salvation, and hope, and trust in the person in power. They are the one who will save you. They are the one who will provide you peace.

This isn’t new.  When Jesus walked the earth, it was the same message.  The Roman empire was based on fear and power.  Caesar was the messiah, the one who would save the empire.  He did this through fear and power.  The Romans worshiped Mars and Nike.  Mars was the god of war.  Nike was the god of victory.  Peace was a destination that came because Caesar defeated the empire’s enemies and destroyed them.  All hail Caesar!  No wonder they treated him like a god.

Today we hear a similar message.  I took the liberty of rewriting the Beatitudes from today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:1-12).  I rewrote them as a way that politicians proclaim an alternative gospel.  I’m calling them the Politudes.  I made that term up.  Here’s what the Politudes proclaim:

When the Politician saw the crowds, the politician went up to the podium; and the followers of the politician came to listen.  Then the politician began to lay out their political platform and policy ideas, saying:

Blessed are the proud in spirit, for theirs is an elected office.

Blessed are those who make others mourns, for they will make other nations fear us.

Blessed are the greedy, for they will take from others and call it an inheritance.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for power, for they will take it any way they can.

Blessed are the merciless, for they will receive power.

Blessed are the cold of heart, for they will think they are God.

Blessed are the warmongers, for they will be called children of Mars.

Blessed are those who persecute for ideological purity’s sake, for theirs is the campaign of being right.

Blessed are you when you revile and divide people and utter all kinds of evil against your opponents.  Rejoice and be glad, for your political appointment will be great, for in the same way your political predecessors divided many of their countrymen before you.

But Jesus presents a different message, a different vision, a different hope.  He doesn’t look at the political systems we live with and argue over which party should be in power over the other because of this policy or that policy.  He looks at it and points out the truth of how screwed up we are with our systems of government and rules and uses of power – those systems and individuals that hold different values from the Kingdom of God.

Jesus isn’t interested in the fate of the Republic or the empire for that matter.  He’s interested in implementing a completely different way of governing and living.  It’s the Kingdom of God that Jesus preaches.  And he has a different platform.  It could be summarized in the Beatitudes:

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

These are a different set of values.  These are a different set of ideals.  These are a different way of looking and living life.  Jesus turns the whole system of governing right side up.

When you look at the Beatitudes they are about relationships – a right relationship with God and with others.  They are salvation through the reconciling work of God – reconciling broken relationship.  It’s not about grabbing power and creating us vs. them scenarios.  It’s not a message based on fear.  It’s not a message that says look to the capitol and elected leaders for your salvation.  It is far different.  Our salvation doesn’t reside in some politician.  Our salvation is in Jesus and what God is actively doing for us today.  His is the message of true hope.  His is a true vision where peace and mercy aren’t just some unreachable destination that is promised, but where peace and mercy are the way of living.  He is the true Messiah who saves his people by conquering through love, mercy, grace, and peace.

I don’t know what will happen on Tuesday.  I do know this much.  Regardless of the result, Jesus is our salvation.  Jesus is our hope.  Jesus lays out a vision for God’s people.  God has voted and has selected each one of us.  And Jesus calls on us to not just swear allegiance to the Kingdom of God, but to live out what the kingdom is all about.  And for that we can be thankful.  Amen.

Advice on voting

31 Monday Oct 2016

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Not so long ago, several websites posted a supposed letter from Mike Rowe responding to a fan of his asking him to get out and encourage people to vote.  You can read the whole thing here.

Here’s the paragraph that highlights what Rowe thinks about celebrities urging people to get out an vote:

I can’t personally encourage everyone in the country to run out and vote. I wouldn’t do it, even if I thought it would benefit my personal choice. Because the truth is, the country doesn’t need voters who have to be cajoled, enticed, or persuaded to cast a ballot. We need voters who wish to participate in the process. So if you really want me to say something political, how about this – read more.

Rowe makes the claim that voting isn’t a civic duty, it is a right.  Want to understand the difference, then read the article.  He explains is well and in simple terms.

Which brings me to my main point – people wonder what pastor’s should say about voting and urging people to vote.  I imagine there will be a range of answers on this.  Here’s mine, in case you care:

I’m not going to urge you to vote – you do what you want regarding that.  If you are old enough to vote, you shouldn’t have to be urged to go an vote.  If you don’t feel like voting, great, don’t.

What I will say is this – regardless of how the election turns out, God is still God.  Regardless of who will be taking over the leadership of the nation, God is still the leader of our lives and our salvation.  Regardless of what promises politicians may make, God is faithful to God’s word.

This is the message we pastors have a responsibility to share – Good news to all regardless of party identification.

Re-Registering…Ugh…

28 Monday Mar 2016

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I did something last week that I was not looking forward to.  I re-registered into a political party here in the US so I could vote in the upcoming primary in Pennsylvania.

I’ve been a registered Independent, or Non-partisan as the terminology goes here, for 10 years now.  I left my previous party allegiance because I was tired of electing good people to office who then turned around and supported corrupt political leaders (that’s not an exaggeration either – those political leaders have spent time in jail since that time).  I got tired of the purity tests.  I got tired of being told I would have wait my turn.  I got tired of hearing the “promises” made to other people who would have made great legislators and judges – knowing full well that it was a bunch of BS designed to keep those people out of a primary.  I got tired of hearing people make arguments that the other side used against “our” candidates without anyone seeing the hypocrisy of the situation.  I got tired and had enough and I re-registered as an non-partisan voters.  I felt good about that decision and never regretted it.

But here I am, in 2016, feeling like I needed to re-register in a party so I could voice my vote in the primary – So I could say, “nope, I don’t like the front runner and think this person would be a disaster.”

I’m leaving this a bit vague.  You might think you know what party I’m registering in.  But then again, I feel the same about both parties and their front runners.

After the primary I’ll be re-registering as a non-partisan voter.  It’s my home for now.  I don’t fit into either party and frankly don’t want to be associated with either party.  God bless you if you do.

Several years ago I made a determination that I would not be voting for the lesser of two evils.  You’re still voting for evil.  That has meant that I have written in many people over the years – some people I disagree with politically but have great respect for and I believe would do a good job because of who they were.

For me, when I vote, I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror and no be ashamed of who I voted for.  These same two rules apply to me still.  Thankfully I have a candidate that I can vote for who will be on the ballot and I look forward to voting for this person.  Look, I won’t be kidding myself into believing that this candidate is going to win – either the Pennsylvania primary or their party’s nomination.  I highly doubt it.  But it is my hope that my vote will be another voice that expresses its dissatisfaction with the front-runner of a party.  Supporters of the front-runners will say I’m just delaying the inevitable, or that I’m wasting my vote.  I disagree.

Even when I write in a candidate I am not wasting my vote – I am voicing my opinion that I think the other options are terrible.  I am saying that I am voting, but I will not be compelled for vote for people I have severe doubts about just because they are the only ones on the ballot and they were popular.  I am saying that I know full well my candidate won’t win, but I won’t rubber stamp the election of someone who I think will do a terrible job or worse.

I’m not thrilled that I have to do this.  But I felt compelled to do this.  I can’t wait to re-register.  And I’ll be praying for the nation as this election continues on – that’s about the only thing I look forward to in elections – that hope in the future is not placed in the hands of humans, but rather with God.

Thoughts on the presidential race

03 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by in Politics, Society, Theology

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I’m going to blow some holes in what you are thinking about politics – that’s my hope anyway.

I have heard, and I agree with the sentiment, that this election cycle has included some really crappy candidates.  Seriously flawed candidates.  I hear you.  However, this is not something new – or at least the feeling about the candidates is not new.  In fact, this feeling is just about as American as apple pie.

As far as I can tell, the feeling that we’ve had crappy candidates and elected officials who are a danger to the country goes back to the beginning of the country.  This shouldn’t really surprise anyone.  The country came into being because the founders didn’t trust the government who was leading them.  Ever since, we’ve never been happy with our leadership.  Elections end up being about the right to vote for the guy that you know you are going hate within 4 to 8 years.

“Oh, but the founders were all loved!”  No, they weren’t.

We have this mythology around the founding – that all the founders were wonderful, that Washington was supported by all, that they all got along and thought very highly of each other, that they didn’t play politics, etc.

The fact is, this is total myth, or worse, a complete lie.  We want to believe this make believe story.  We want to believe the lie that elected officials are some how special and better than everyone else.  HA!!

I’ve been listening to several audiobooks in my car about the founders and early presidents.  It’s been a great reminder of the reality of history and humanity and American culture.  In an audiobook on Thomas Jefferson, the author tells the listener about disputes and power plays.  It talks about the criticisms of Washington – some going so far as to push for impeachment of Washington.  Jefferson and Hamilton leading differing parties and clashing with each other.  Jefferson saying that people should be attached to parties.  Politics in other words, is about power.  It always has been and always will be as long as we humans are involved.  Doesn’t matter if it involved men or women.  We are not saints, but sinners.

I’m also listening to a book on Andrew Jackson.  Again, another popular president in his time.  Except for the people who thought he was dangerous and helped drive further division in the country as it crept towards civil war.

So all of this leads me to a few conclusions.  First, what this all says to me is that the best government is a limited government with restrictions on government officials firmly in place and people watching over these restrictions to ensure that officials follow them.  Second, comparing the US with other countries by saying this system or that policy from this country or that country should be done here is a mistake.  The US is far different from many other countries and taking a policy from one place where it works and imposing it here will not generate the same results.  The reverse is true as well – imposing our way of doing things on others doesn’t work out too well.  There are too many variables – different histories, culture, beliefs, relationship between people and government, etc.

Third, in light of how so many people are feeling (not being happy with the slate of candidates or feeling like they are dangerous), I’m going to start something.  #impeachthenextpresident.  Of course I’m being facetious here.  I’m actually just jumping the gun here.  You know full well that regardless of who gets elected there are going to be calls from the other side that the next president is doing something unconstitutional and should be impeached.  Just remember, it started here.  You can thank me later.

Seriously though, what I think we have is a serious situation best stated from a post from Grumpy Pastor, a brilliant pastor-blogger:

The United States is so anxious, it couldn’t elect a leader to actually lead everyone out of a wet paper bag.

What we are experiencing is both new and old.  I walked you through the old.  The new is complex and I believe has something to do with a concept of cycles of civilization (something for another blog post).

My consolation is that regardless of what happens and who is elected, I am reassured that my hope does not lie in any human leader.  My salvation doesn’t rest in a politician.  My life is in God’s hands and I am loved by God, not for what I can do, but because I am God’s child.  And so are you.  Peace.