Election 2008 recap

Ok, so our country has just elected our first black man to the highest office in the land, President of the United States. I'm thrilled for Barack Obama that he has made it thus far. And he will probably be a very prayed for president.

I can also honestly say that I'm scared. I'm scared for the unborn babies out there. I'm scared for the possible implications that this could have on our nation. Listen, one of the greatest thoughts that has ever entered my mind is that one day, I will personally stand before a Holy and Righteous God and give an account of my life (this is a quote I saw hanging on someones wall, so I can't take the credit for a quote like this.

But last night, I got a text message from a precious brother in the Lord and it basically said that we need to pray. This isn't a race issue for me. And it's not even necessarily a political party issue for me. Yes, I'm registered Republican and I somewhat hesitantly voted for McCain. However, I'm not looking for a political party to end the woes of the nation. I'm simply registered as I a Republican because I see that many of their issues are closer to that of a Biblical stance. Had it been a black Democratic woman that would have Biblical values and been running that platform, you can believe that I would vote for her.

But, as of today, we will have our first black man as president. Do I agree with his policies and/or religious views? Most likely not. I heard that some folks were making jokes about the segregation and making references to slavery. Folks, that's immaturity and that's not acceptable.

The Bible commands us to pray for our leaders and those in authority over us. I pray that our new president-elect will be blessed with Godly wisdom and that he would surround himself with folks that have God's heart and the countries values as the first and primary goal. I pray for his protection against assassination. I pray that the people of America and the world would pray for him and not disrespect him as they did President Bush.

(It's easy to criticize someone, but its hard to quit whining about something and pray. That isn't to say that she shouldn't speak out about injustice and right the wrongs, but its important on how we go about it.)

Pray, Vote and Obey

I received this email from Bound4Life, and decided to just copy and paste it. Just to let everyone know, I voted for McCain. I don't agree w/ him 100% of the time, but chose the lesser of two evils. I still pray for all candidates and regardless of who gets in, Jesus is still King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His Word endures forever and nothing will change that.

To those who believe that righteousness exalts a nation,

With only a week left until the 2008 election we find ourselves in the eleventh hour of decision. Has everything been revealed that will be revealed? Are there any more last-minute surprises left? Who knows? I submit to you one more time that no further information is needed.

In a recent interview, one of the Vice Presidential Candidates stated that they believed Roe v. Wade was the best we can do in a society as heterogeneous as ours. I don't believe this is true, and neither should you. To suggest this is to say that we knew in 1973 everything we ever needed to know about the baby in the womb and the effects of abortion on women. Plenty of Americans were once content and satisfied with the legal, unchallenged existence of slavery in our nation as well and had squared with the ridiculous notion that a human being could be considered 2/3 of a whole person. History stands in judgment of them because, like it or not, they were wrong. As the nation hurtled toward civil war God raised up righteous voices from His Church to impact a culture that did not treat all men equal. It turned out that God had plenty to say about slavery and the public policy of this fledgling nation. Where would we be today had it not been for the burning men of God like Charles G. Finney who unapologetically coupled the message of the revival tent meeting with the message of abolition?
The moment has come once again for the Church in America to be the razor-sharp edge of divine truth and not the dull blade used to spread the status quo.

For those of you that have worn a Life Band in the last four years I call you to remember it now. For those that don't have a Life Band but believe that the blood of the innocent cries out from our ground I call you to seize this moment. So much is at stake right now in this one election cycle, but nothing is more important than shifting the United States Supreme Court.
You cannot pray for the ending of abortion and promote those who support it.

The Biblical message of "shedding innocent blood" has been taught and preached to more people this year than ever before thanks to GodTV, TheCall events, the 40 Days for Life campaigns as well as many others. This gives us cause for great hope and great sobriety at the same time. I believe God is giving us ample opportunity to align ourselves with Him and His Word, but we will be held accountable for the word we have heard. History will sit in judgment of what we do next.
Yet no poll or pundit can guess the outcome when God breaks in suddenly with answers to the prayers and fasting of His people.

There is no time to delay. Join now with Bound4LIFE and hundreds of thousands that have made the solemn commitment to PRAY, VOTE & OBEY.

PRAY daily for the ending of abortion. America's highest court has made a decree of death, but we make our appeal to an even higher court. The Judge of the earth will see that speedy justice is released to those that cry out to Him day and night.

VOTE for pro-life candidates. Pretty self-explanatory here, but voting is an honor, privilege and duty. Participation on November 4th is NOT optional. The Church must show up to make our voice heard.

OBEY God in however He leads you into works of compassion and justice. It's time for the Church to move en masse to become the answers to our own prayers. Let the spirit of adoption come. We cannot rely on big government programs to solve our problems.

Bound and determined,

Matt Lockett
Executive Director
Bound4LIFE Intl.
contact@bound4life.com

Some May Trust in Wall Street...

Lately I've been humming/thinking over the tune that I my church used to sing a lot in PA. Some may trust in horses, some may trust in chariots, but we will trust in the Name of the Lord. Some may trust in government, some may trust in wall street, but we will trust in the name of the Lord. I'm sure you know where this is going.

Amazingly, I haven't been watching much of the elections this year. I know who i'm voting for, and that's about it. I know that the Democratic candidate doesn't value life that much and that the Republican candidate does. Friend, if we can't value life, everything else is kind of meaningless. Just to show my colors, I'm registered Republican. Doesn't mean i agree with everything a 'republican' candidate does, but there values seem closer to the Bible. If a Democratic candidate would be holding better values than the Republican one does, then I guess I'd be voting respectively. But I don't know about all 3 of you who read this, but I have learned not to put my trust in government and money, but I put my hope and trust in Jesus and His Word. This is coming from someone who is starting to get involved in 401K and all that good jazz. I'm not against investing wisely, but i just don't want to put my faith and trust in something that will eventually burn and not pass the test of time. If your into investing, now is the time to buy probably and I'd say invest wisely. And if I had more money to invest, I'd be doing just that. I want to save up for the future. But my first goal is pleasing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Everything else is secondary.

With voting right around the corner, know the issues and what each candidate really stands for. And then get on your knees and ask God what is on His heart. It's nothing really that drastic, just a couple million lives are at stake. I once heard that some folks were voting for a certain candidate b/c they were a good speaker and were very eloquent. That scares me. The Bible warns of flattering speech. I personally get very scared when people just have all these nice things to say about topics. Sometimes it seems we're too afraid to look at the big picture and realize the mess we're really in.

I know, this was one of those really encouraging blogs huh? Sometimes, we just gotta call it like we see it...

In Reflection...

I like to read various articles, even articles that I know I will disagree with. I also like to read other peoples stuff to see how other things read. I know that at times, I can come across quite gruff and rough. At times, I can be very confrontational. But I only like to be like that when need be. I recently had someone tell me that they see me in some very tough situations in the future, and yet for me, it won't seem that bad. I love to have discussions with folks, even when they disagree. But I like to be able to agree to disagree on issues. To me, its a mark of maturity. When you don't blow up on people, but you calmly say "I have a differing view point on that." And yet you can be best of friends.

On one of my recent posts, I had forwarded it to a friend of mine. He wrote back and shared his thoughts. They were very interesting. I find that when you have people give you feedback and its not always the nice stuff, it shows you who you really are.

Just fyi, I haven't really been glued to the news lately to follow the elections. I personally disagree w/ Obama and I know I won't be voting for him (check his voting record, he supports genocide and other immoral issues), and I guess if i have to vote for McCain, I will. But neither of them would be my first pick. I would rather have a politician get in there who isn't the slickest with folks, but yet he gets things accomplished. Flattering speech scares me.

That's it for now. Make it a great one.

Current Election News

So Romney dropped out of the race today. I respect him for his decision. And i'm glad my man man Huckabee is still in. As of right now, he's still the one getting my vote. I can't vote for McCain. He's not a conservative. He's a baby killer. (Hillary and Obama aren't even a passing thought for me.) I want a Godly man in that office. I want a person who fears God more than someone who knows how to wax eloquently with people. Smooth talkers scare me. I'm voting for Huckabee.

I pray that the Lord speaks to every heart and mind and that hearts and minds would be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is saying. Lord, bless those in leadership with Your heart and mind. I pray the fear of the Lord over my leaders. May they fear You over people.

Elections 2008

In all the hassle of the elections that are coming up, i find it really helpful to not listen to the media a lot. I'll look at FOX News and get the scoop of whats going on there. But ultimately, i look at the platform of the person (after all, everyone knows that the candidate actually runs the platform ((the issues)) and then we just vote for the person who runs the platform that we like).

For myself, I will be pulling the lever for Huckabee. he seems to have the best conservative platform, and his life lines up with it.

I have a deep respect for McCain in that he's a POW and faught to defend my freedom, and for that, i thank him and our other men and women in the armed forces.

And i deeply respect Guiliani for what in New York during 9/11. I'm grateful for the leadership he gave during that time (of course, i'm sure there are those who were there and have different opinions, and possibly even merited against him.

I'm glad that Thompson dropped out of the race because he was in deep against Huckabee. And had Huckabee not run, i probably would've voted for Thompson. But it just seems that with Huckabee being a good bit younger and having more notoriety, he seems like a good choice. I think Thompson was pulling votes away from Huckabee. and i'm hoping and praying that those who were pulling for Thompson will now pull for Huckabee.

Below are some sites to help those of you who may be struggling in how to know if your registered to vote or even who to vote for. I pray that the Holy Spirit gives you wisdom and clarity in direction as far as who to vote for when the time comes.

http://www.vote-smart.org/election_president.php
http://election.msn.com/podium08.aspx?GT1=10252
http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/

I'm sure that there are plenty of other sites out there. If you know of one, please email that to me so i can look it over.

Election Year '08

We're quickly approaching the 2008 election year. And the candidates are coming out in full force. Right now, my decision is between Thompson or Huckabee. I don't know how Guliani is running on the conservative ticket. I mean, i respect him for how he handled 9/11, but ones personal life is a good indicator for a lot of things. I won't even go onto the Democratic side.... I'm not even venturing over there because talking about them will just be a waste of my time.

To be honest with everyone, i would rather have someone who stumbles over their words and yet can stand their ground over someone who knows how to win a crowd, but just caves in at the slightest faint warning of opposition. Smooth talkers scare me. I want someone in their who stands for conservative values.

I recently heard that a Christian conservative leader endorsed Guliani. I was... befuddled. Perhaps his thinking was to get behind a person who is running on the conservative ticket and we won't be throwing our vote away. Maybe it was... i don't really know what it was. It was stupidity as far as i'm concerned. I pray that this whole election ordeal will awaken a sleeping church. Someone told me recently that we need to pray for the church to have discernment. There just seems to be a lot of confusion when it comes to this stuff. We need to start to pray for this election specifically.

Your not understanding of all this stuff is no excuse. There's a lot of stuff i don't understand. That doesn't mean i give up on it. That means i take the time and research it. Find out whats going on. You say you care about your kids but you take take two minutes of your day to find out whats going on in society. "Shawn, what are you talking about?"

Look, your childrens future is shaped by what happens today. We sit around and talk about whats going on in the war, but we don't take to pray for our leaders. We sit around a gossip and slander one another, but we're too lazy to figure out the truth of whats going on in the world.

I was amazed and shocked with myself sometime ago. I realized i knew more about a particular movie star than i did about the Bible. My laziness showed up. My idolatry and spiritual adultery showed its ugly face. I knew i had to do business with God and right away.

I'm not expecting everyone to be a genius when it comes to politics. But what would happen if we would simply stop buying mazagines up? What would happen if we would really take a stand and just let people know that we're not going to put up with the filth around us?

All i know is that this world is crying out for a reality of God. And as a member of the Body of Christ, I think its time that i started show people a reality of God. It has to start in my life and heart first. If i can't stand under the pressure, i can't expect someone else to. I walk down through the malls and i see people hurting all over the place. It's amazing what happens when you understand and walk in your identity in who Jesus is inside of you. You walk with an authority that is unique because you have the DNA of God the Holy Ghost in you. Your able to serve and work in such a way that is just phenomenal. Your able to move with a certain meekness and strength and power. Your meekness doesn't mean weakness. It means a security in who you are in Jesus that you know that Jesus loves you and you have nothing to prove to others.

Anywho... this whole election stuff is just on my heart. It scares me to see an apathy towards it. Like people are thinking 'so what?' Oh nothing, just the lives of your children and grandkids and great grandkids will have to deal with. That's all. nothing major. so go ahead.. kick back and catch the next episode of All My Children or whatever you'd like to do. its not like your kids lives are hanging in the balance...

And by the way... the whole time i'm sitting here writing this, the Holy Ghost is convicting me of apathy in my own life. Talk about eating your own words.