Archive for the 'Politics' Category

Page 2 of 4

Instead of asking casinos for financial advice, look to the ladies of the Red Brick Church

Published on November 19, 2010 in Church and Politics. 1 Comment

Would you click through to my guest column in the Register Star and comment about whether or not you think bringing a casino to Rockford will help our financial situation?

***********

The Rockford Register Star is one of the most influential papers in Illinois.  The Register Star editorial board recently argued that Rockford should pursue a downtown casino (see here).

I responded with a guest editorial in which I contend that the route to true financial recovery is not taxing the gambling industry.  Instead, we should cultivate sound financial values in our citizenry.

Government leaders who face the brutal task of making decisions about budget cuts are looking for answers. In this column, my proposal is that they receive counsel from a group of ladies right here in northern Illinois.
Many Sundays at the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley, I have noticed how classy the ladies from my parents’ generation look.

I’m more than a little biased, and our men may be a different story, but where the ladies are concerned, there isn’t a better looking group around. Often, as I shake hands at the front door as people leave, my wife and I comment about how nice we think the ladies look.

When my wife and I do directly compliment one of these ladies, perhaps on a particular dress or jacket, there is a typical response we often receive. The lady who received the kind word will say quietly, “Pastor, I got this on sale for 40 percent off.” Or, “Pastor, would you believe that this dress is over 10 years old?”

The reason, of course, that the ladies from my parents’ generation respond to a compliment about an outfit in this way is because being frugal is deeply ingrained in their value system. Granted, they like the minister noticing that they look nice. But it wouldn’t do for him to think they are throwing money around like sailors on shore leave.
So, there you have my recommendation. . . .

Read the rest here and consider commenting on the Register Star web site.  What’s important on the Register Star web site is not so much that you agree our ladies look nice (they do).  Rather, give input on the decision about whether or not casinos are the right solution.

Al Mohler reflects on the mega-shift of last night’s election

Published on November 3, 2010 in Politics. 0 Comments

Al Mohler:

The meaning of the 2010 election is destined now to be the Great Debate of the next political season. While this is true after most election days, it is especially true this year, given the scale and scope of the political change this election will bring about. The scale is seismic and the scope is vast. In terms of national politics, this election amounts to a megashift.

Read the whole thing here.

The nastiest election ever?

Published on November 2, 2010 in Politics. 0 Comments

It’s election day.  Vote early.  Vote often.

And, let Joe Carter help you consider if this is the nastiest election ever.

Joe Carter:

Whenever I hear a pundit or politician say—as they do every two years—that this season has seen the nastiest, most negative electoral campaigning in American history, I wonder: “Who was their history teacher?” Because the midterm elections of 2010 ain’t got nothing on the election of 1800.

 

HT: Justin Taylor

Collin Hansen: “Pay your taxes but trust in Christ”

Published on September 25, 2010 in Missions and Politics. 0 Comments

In what sense is the United States a Christian nation?

In what sense isn’t the United States a Christian nation?

Collin Hansen reflects on working on Capitol Hill and a sermon by Mark Dever in which he considers the role of Christians in the United States of America.

Enjoying a sunny fall day, I walked around the National Mall on Saturday afternoon. Before visiting any other favorite sites, I ascended the temple steps where Father Abraham presides on his throne over American civil religion. Designed to recall the Greek Parthenon, this memorial secures Lincoln’s place in the American pantheon. If you champion a social cause and want to leave your mark on America, you must at some point make the pilgrimage to this hallowed ground. All the better if you can deliver a speech that incorporates elements of Lincoln’s famed Gettysburg Address.

Only three weeks earlier self-appointed political prophet Glenn Beck claimed Lincoln’s imprimatur by packing these same steps for a rally. But religious nationalists who invoke America’s greatest president never seem to understand the irony of his memory. The man who saved the Union understood that God transcends and judges it. God’s ways often surpass our understanding. We cannot manipulate him to baptize our pet causes. Read Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, a stunningly moving model of public theology written by a man whose true beliefs elude historians still today. No, actually read the speech and marvel at this man’s magnanimity after four years of shockingly bloody killing. He captured in this speech a mature political philosophy that shamed the many warmongers masquerading as pastors in both the North and South. Even today, the church cries out to God for him to raise up more pastors and theologians who can help the evangelical public understand that for all this nation’s blessings, Jesus Christ didn’t robe himself in an American flag.

My concern stems from experience working on Capitol Hill in partisan roles. . .

The rest here.

God, the Gospel, and Glen Beck

Published on August 31, 2010 in Politics. 8 Comments

We ought to be concerned that a Mormon television star is increasingly seen as an evangelical leader. 

Dr. Russell Moore interacts with Beck’s role in a recent Washington D.C. rally:

A Mormon television star stands in front of the Lincoln Memorial and calls American Christians to revival. He assembles some evangelical celebrities to give testimonies, and then preaches a God and country revivalism that leaves the evangelicals cheering that they’ve heard the gospel, right there in the nation’s capital.

The news media pronounces him the new leader of America’s Christian conservative movement, and a flock of America’s Christian conservatives have no problem with that.

If you’d told me that ten years ago, I would have assumed it was from the pages of an evangelical apocalyptic novel about the end-times. But it’s not. It’s from this week’s headlines. And it is a scandal. . .

The rest here.

The thoughtful Ross Douthat reflects here.  Regarding Beck’s invitation for Mormans and evangelicals to partner together, Douthat concludes:

Whether or not this is a conscious strategy on Beck’s part, I’m pretty sure that neither serious evangelicals nor serious Mormons should be terribly enthused by his Jesus-and-George Washington ecumenism. But one person who may be regarding it with a certain amount of guarded optimism is Mitt Romney.

Doug Wilson on the mosque and a different kind of spine

Published on August 23, 2010 in Missions and Politics. 0 Comments

God’s people need the “spine” and character to shine the light of Christ in controversies that arise in the public square.  Doug Wilson effectively points this out in a post regarding the mosque controversy. 

Previously, I pointed to a column by Ross Douthat on the building of a mosque at Ground Zero.  Now, Doug Wilson begins a post on the mosque by noticing:

The proposed Ground Zero mosque provides us with a wonderful case study of public square issues, and of the great need for a new Christendom. And since the opportunities in this situation to gain wisdom are enormous, it is not surprising that just about everybody is refusing to do so. . .

He concludes:

Someone really does need to tell secularist America that her gods are genuinely pathetic. And currently, the Muslims are doing this because the Christians won’t. And the Christians who won’t do this are not so much in need of a different kind of theology as they are in need of a different kind of spine.

Here to read the whole thing.

HT: Tim Challies

Douthat on the Mosque Controversy

Published on August 17, 2010 in Culture, Missions and Politics. 1 Comment

Ross Douthat’s thoughts on the NYC mosque/Ground Zero controversy are the most insightful I have heard thus far.

There’s an America where it doesn’t matter what language you speak, what god you worship, or how deep your New World roots run. An America where allegiance to the Constitution trumps ethnic differences, language barriers and religious divides. An America where the newest arrival to our shores is no less American than the ever-so-great granddaughter of the Pilgrims.

But there’s another America as well, one that understands itself as a distinctive culture, rather than just a set of political propositions. This America speaks English, not Spanish or Chinese or Arabic. It looks back to a particular religious heritage: Protestantism originally, and then a Judeo-Christian consensus that accommodated Jews and Catholics as well. It draws its social norms from the mores of the Anglo-Saxon diaspora — and it expects new arrivals to assimilate themselves to these norms, and quickly.

Here to read the whole thing.

HT: Mike Wittmer

Prop 8 got struck down, now what

Published on August 13, 2010 in Marriage and Politics. 0 Comments

Kevin DeYoung:

As you all know by now, last week a judge in California overturned Proposition 8, the voter approved legislation that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. This has once again thrown the spotlight on gay marriage and the debate over homosexuality in our culture.

I don’t have anything new to say about Prop 8 and the importance of marriage, nor do I feel the need to repeat the biblical arguments for monogamous heterosexuality. But I’ve been thinking about the future challenges facing the church regarding this issue. It’s easy to say “we must stand for biblical truth” or “we must reach out to gays and lesbians” or “we must repent of our own sins.” These are all true statements, but they are not very specific. So I’ve been pondering what in particular should Christians do? Here’s the beginning of a list.

1. We should not disengage. It’s tempting to say “We’re going to lose this one. So let’s just try to love people and not put up a fight” But laws do have consequences. Seeking the peace of the city means we defend marriage because we believe it is for the common good. We need thoughtful, winsome Christians engaging with this issue on television, in print, in the academy, in the arts, and in politics and law.

2. Pastors need to teach on sexuality, preferably in the regular course of expositional preaching. A special series on sex is needed at times, but that can look like special pleading. It’s better for congregations to develop a biblical view of sexuality as they go through Ephesians, 1 Corinthians, Genesis, and the Gospels (yes, Jesus did talk about homosexuality; see Mark 7:21).

3. We should assume that there are people in our churches right now struggling with same gender attraction. Leaders need to verbalize this (not specific names obviously) in sermon application and in pastoral prayers. We need to convey that the church is a safe place for those fighting this temptation. Second to Jesus Christ and his gospel, those struggling with same gender attraction need gospel community more than anything else.

4. Youth groups need to talk frankly about sex and sexual identity. The public school teachers I talk to tell me that teenagers are more and more likely to experiment with their sexuality. They’ll choose to be gay for a season just because they can. These issues will only become more prevalent.

5. We must not be afraid to talk about homosexuality.  Don’t be silenced by Christians calling for umpteen more years of dialogue or those who say you need at least one gay friend before you can open your mouth. The Bible speaks openly about sexuality and we must not be embarrassed to open God’s word. BUT when we do speak we must do so with broken hearts not bulging veins. . .

The rest here.

Proposition 8 Decision

Published on August 7, 2010 in Marriage and Politics. 0 Comments

Dr. Al Mohler:

The importance of the decision handed down yesterday by U. S. District Judge Vaughn  R. Walker in California’s Proposition 8 trial will be difficult to exaggerate. Proponents of same-sex marriage immediately declared a major victory — and for good reason. The editorial board of The New York Timesdeclared the verdict “an instant landmark in American legal history,” and so it is, even if later reversed upon appeal.

Judge Walker’s decision is sweeping and comprehensive, basically affirming every argument and claim put forth by those demanding that California’s Proposition 8 be declared unconstitutional. That proposition, affirmed by a clear majority of California voters, amended the state’s constitution to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. In one brazen act of judicial energy, California’s voters were told that they had no right to define marriage, and thousands of years of human wisdom were discarded as irrational.

Here for the rest.

Collin Hansen’s post includes the thoughts of Pastor Bob Bixby and Pastor Steve Dewitt (click here).

Never in the field of military-conflict had so much rested on the shoulders of one man

Published on June 6, 2010 in Politics and Quotes. 0 Comments

At 2145 hours on June 5th, Eisenhower gave the go ahead for the Invasion. Today is the 56th anniversary of D-Day.  Normandy may be one of the places my family will visit during our trip to Europe.

Keeping in mind that Eisenhower was from a very modest background in Kansas, and that by the time World War II came along it appeared that he would never have the opportunity to lead in any meaningful way, it is stunning that he quickly ascended to lead the Allied command in Europe and a few years later to be President of the United States, indeed, that it was Eisenhower who gave the final word to invade Normandy.

It is also an interesting study in Providence to consider how Stephen Ambrose came to be Eisenhower’s biographer.  Ambrose wrote an obscure doctoral thesis on a nearly forgotten Civil War leader.  It was printed in a limited way, but Eisenhower happened to read it and asked the young Ambrose to come meet with him.

Here are two Ambrose quotes about Eisenhower:

Eisenhower realized that “optimism and pessimism are infectious and they spread more rapidly from the head downward than in any other direction.”  He learned that a commander’s optimism “has a most extraordinary effect upon all with whom he comes in contact.  With this clear realization, I firmly determined that my mannerisms and speech in public would always reflect the cheerful certainty of victory—that any pessimism and discouragement I might ever feel would be reserved for my pillow.(D-Day, 61).

At the same time, after lunch on June 6.

Eisenhower sat at his portable table and scrawled by hand a press release on a pad of paper, to be used if necessary.  “Our landings . . . have failed,” he began, “and I have withdrawn the troops.  My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available.  The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do.  If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”  (D-Day, 190).