December 25, 2018
The Savior gets my Life, the President gets my vote
Dana Mathewson
Tim adds:
Basically I think he's making the case "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's". He's right. As Christians we have a duty to vote, be politically active, and hold to bedrock principles (which means doing the same thing over and over again, but not necessarily expecting different results - just setting a standard.) Victory will not come through the political realm.
I often wonder if the rise of conservative media was actually harmful in the end; too many on our side think we can wwin the war through politics. But politics is the Devil's religion (as Fay Voshell pointed out here) and he was the first politician - sweet talking Adam and Eve with promises he had no intention of keeping. (He was the first lawyer too, splitting hairs over the technicalities of getting A and E to committ Sin.) And this IS a war, and it is the same war that started in Heaven long before the creaton of this universe. Our duty is to fight that war, but not to simply wage it on the enemy's turf. Politics will not solve our problems. Oh, we may win some victories and it is absolutely necessary to engage the enemy in the political arena, but in the end that is not wehre victory will be found.
Sadly, too few on our side understand that. I am always disheartened when I write an article and submit it to conservative outlets to have it rejected or yawned over by the readers because I make this point or deal with moral, religious, or philosophical issues; everyone wants meat-and-potatoes politics these days, because they understand it more readily and enjoy the fight. Our conservative intellectual leaders have promoted this false notion that this is the only arena that matters when in fact it is probably the lesser one, but since everyone is a materialist these daysw (even many of the faithful, who may believe but are still dazzled by the power of technology and societal; intricacies, they keep focusing on the Enemy's strongholds. We cannot win while our culture slides into the abyss.
As Selwyn Duke pointed out here at The aviary we cannot make America Great without making her moral. The two are inseparable.
As the Bible says "righteousness exalteth a Nation, Sin is a reproach thereunto". Or in layman's terms, you can't heal a cancerous patient by taking him to the dentist. We are all about filling cavities when the patient is metastasizing...
But if we repent of our sins God will heal the land and there will be peace. That was His promise to Israel, and He'll live up to it with us as well. Repentance needs to be our first and utmost priority. All else is immaterial.
Not sure just how to parse this out on the website. It's all
essential reading.
https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2018/12/23/untitled-n2537979
Jack Kemp helps out:
I am not qualified to comment deeply on Christian thought but I am qualified to do some editing and chosing quoted excerpts from an article, having done it for years. And perhaps my being a bit removed from the author's Christian viewpoint but not his moral viewpoint helps me to edit.
The best quotes from this article are:
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https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2018/12/23/untitled-n2537979
Jack Kemp helps out:
I am not qualified to comment deeply on Christian thought but I am qualified to do some editing and chosing quoted excerpts from an article, having done it for years. And perhaps my being a bit removed from the author's Christian viewpoint but not his moral viewpoint helps me to edit.
The best quotes from this article are:
Politics can get very dirty. Christians try not to get dirty (in the moral sense of the word).
Politics is always divisive. Christians try to unify around Jesus.
Politics demands party loyalty. Christians give their ultimate loyalty to the Lord, not a party.
Politics is filled with compromise and mixture. Christians are called to avoid both.
Politics is sure to disappoint. Christians are accustomed to look to One who never disappoints.
Politics is always divisive. Christians try to unify around Jesus.
Politics demands party loyalty. Christians give their ultimate loyalty to the Lord, not a party.
Politics is filled with compromise and mixture. Christians are called to avoid both.
Politics is sure to disappoint. Christians are accustomed to look to One who never disappoints.
BEGIN QUOTE
The problem is that we can't drop out, even if we wanted to. It would mean chaos for the nation and calamity for the church.
Of course, there's always the question of whether we have a God-given responsibility to vote and be involved.
Of course, there's always the question of whether we have a God-given responsibility to vote and be involved.
BEGIN QUOTE
But there's something more fundamental still. If we don't cast our votes, we will quickly lose our voice not just politically but in other ways. We will quickly find our rights disappearing. Hostility to Christians will become the national norm. We will be silenced on many fronts.
BEGIN QUOTE
So, what do we do? In the closing chapter of Donald Trump Is Not My Savior: An Evangelical Leader Speaks His Mind About the Man He Supports as President, I lay out seven principles to help us navigate these difficult waters.
BEGIN QUOTE
This, too, is part of being salt and light. This, too, is in harmony with our calling as believers. Let's just keep our priorities straight. As I've repeated over and again, the Savior gets my life. The president gets my vote.
Basically I think he's making the case "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's". He's right. As Christians we have a duty to vote, be politically active, and hold to bedrock principles (which means doing the same thing over and over again, but not necessarily expecting different results - just setting a standard.) Victory will not come through the political realm.
I often wonder if the rise of conservative media was actually harmful in the end; too many on our side think we can wwin the war through politics. But politics is the Devil's religion (as Fay Voshell pointed out here) and he was the first politician - sweet talking Adam and Eve with promises he had no intention of keeping. (He was the first lawyer too, splitting hairs over the technicalities of getting A and E to committ Sin.) And this IS a war, and it is the same war that started in Heaven long before the creaton of this universe. Our duty is to fight that war, but not to simply wage it on the enemy's turf. Politics will not solve our problems. Oh, we may win some victories and it is absolutely necessary to engage the enemy in the political arena, but in the end that is not wehre victory will be found.
Sadly, too few on our side understand that. I am always disheartened when I write an article and submit it to conservative outlets to have it rejected or yawned over by the readers because I make this point or deal with moral, religious, or philosophical issues; everyone wants meat-and-potatoes politics these days, because they understand it more readily and enjoy the fight. Our conservative intellectual leaders have promoted this false notion that this is the only arena that matters when in fact it is probably the lesser one, but since everyone is a materialist these daysw (even many of the faithful, who may believe but are still dazzled by the power of technology and societal; intricacies, they keep focusing on the Enemy's strongholds. We cannot win while our culture slides into the abyss.
As Selwyn Duke pointed out here at The aviary we cannot make America Great without making her moral. The two are inseparable.
As the Bible says "righteousness exalteth a Nation, Sin is a reproach thereunto". Or in layman's terms, you can't heal a cancerous patient by taking him to the dentist. We are all about filling cavities when the patient is metastasizing...
But if we repent of our sins God will heal the land and there will be peace. That was His promise to Israel, and He'll live up to it with us as well. Repentance needs to be our first and utmost priority. All else is immaterial.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
09:41 AM
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