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Oct 30
It has been a while. Our Arkansas Baptist State Convention adjourned yesterday so I am breathing a little easier. It was a good convention. Our speakers did a great job sticking with our theme “Reaching Generation Next Now!” plus preaching great messages. The Worship Choir from FBC Rogers knocked the ball out of the park. What an awesome time of worship! I am grateful to all who made the event a good experience.
We are going to elect a president in a few days. I struggle with how involved in the political process a pastor should be. We always lead with the Gospel, but we must be salt and light. I received a letter from the left wing liberal Barry Lynn warning pastors about endorsing candidates from the the pulpit. One of my friends at the convention told me that that this idea or law was not in effect until Lyndon Johnson got mad at a bunch of preachers in Texas and had it enacted. I actually typed out a bunch of stuff sharing my concerns but have deleted much of it and will just leave these few thoughts that I believe to be objective and accurate. This is not an endorsement at all just a critical observation.
I have been greatly amazed at the extreme of the media bias in this presidential election. You would think that the election was already bought by the candidate and decided by the media if you watch TV and read the papers. I am still planning on voting.
I am most concerned about the extreme pro-abortion position of Sen. Obama who voted against a bill in the Illinois state senate that would have mandated comfort care for a baby born alive after a botched abortion. Sen. Obama’s extreme liberal positions earned him the ranking as the most liberal senator in the U. S. Senate. This is further supported by what little record he has in the Senate of voting against the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices Roberts and Alito. It seems that more and more questionable associations arise for the Illinois senator with his pastor for 20 years espousing anti-American hatred and racist remarks, self professed terrorist William Ayers, among a couple of those associations. All of these items and an apparent attempt to present himself as a centrist is misleading and hypocritical.
Our country is twice as lost as it was 25 years ago, so it should not surprise some of us that many people today and even many in churches today do not care that much about the unborn. It is a reflection of the culture that we live in. The church has become a reflector of the culture much to its shame. It should not surprise us that the number one concern of most people today is money regardless of morals. That’s why polling indicates that a lottery measure will pass 2 to 1 on Tuesday. (Let’s still vote against this.) Character does not mean as much as what’s in it for me. This is our opportunity as authentic followers of Christ to be radically different from this culture. Jesus was counter culture. His love for His enemies was counter culture. His passion for the lost, down and out, poor, cripple was so different than the culture. As the economy declines or crashes, as 401k plans evaporate, as people lose jobs, as mothers abort their babies with broken hearts, this is the time for authentic followers of Christ to share the message of hope which is in Jesus Christ alone. Although both presidential candidates claim to be followers of Christ, neither have publicly nor will declare the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the hope for this nation. This is the message not for the government but for the Church—the authentic followers of Christ. Until next time. . .Wes