A First...Encouraged In The Political Arena
It's been almost a week since I have posted anything on here. There are a lot of reasons why, which can pretty much be summed up in one word. Busy! It has been a pretty good week, very productive, but very tiring as well. Things are going well in GROWTH, The Zone is busting at the seems with kids, and I'm having a lot of fun with friends. All is well, just very busy.
I have been reading a great book lately. I havent had much time to read lately, so tonight when I was home for a quiet night, I made a pot of coffee and promised myself time with this book. It is Uprising by Erwin McManus. I've read some of his other stuff, and I really think he is one of my favorite authors...mostly because he is an intellectual, a humorist, and a realist all at the same time. This book is great though. I really feel myself being challenged as I read each chapter. The deeper I get into the book, the more personal the challenges become.
Tonight there was an interesting perspective in the book that I wanted to mention. McManus talks about integrity and how it is at the core of who God wants us to be. He talked a lot about power, and how a lot of people say power corrupts, but really it just exposes what is already there...the real integrity of the person. This was a personally challenging piece for me to read, since often I find myself in positions where I am the chief decision maker and am frequently looked to for leadership. I am now spending time examining that which is within, so I can make room for God to do the necessary work to make me more like Him.
This section also made me think about some other stuff too. I have been watching the Republican National Convention this past week and I have to say it was the first time I really enjoyed it. I'm not normally a person who is prone to strong political views, mostly because I think you can only trust politicians as far as you can throw them. This week, though, I thought I would spend some time expanding my political knowledge and partake. One of the things that I have always been careful of, since I am in a church leadership position, is openly expressing strong political views. This is "high emotion" territory often times, so I make my decisions based on my faith, I have interesting conversations, and I will even debate a little here and there. But rarely do I "go for it" in a political conversation. And, I havent spent a great deal of time studying the politics of George Bush, but I am somewhat aware of his stance on several issues.
So with all that said, as I was reading tonight, I started to think about our President and the speech that he made the other night at the convention. I believe integrity is wrapped up in making decisions based on right and wrong...not on feelings. And I have to say that our President, I believe, is a man of integrity. His stances on abortion rights, gay marriage, and even the war in Iraq (I'm still workin this one out in my mind) I believe are based on right and wrong. And I was so encouraged to hear him give credit to God as His reason for making such decisions! I'm sure there may be things that I dont agree with George Bush on, but for tonight, I was encouraged and that is a rarity when it comes to politics for me!
Someone said to me this week, when asked if they were democrat or republican, that they vote for whoever is going to put the most money in their pocket. I was amused and saddened by this statement all at the same time. I will be voting for the person I think displays the most Christ-like character...the one that displays the most integrity. This is simple to discern since we have the Word of God and can know Christ's character with a little effort. So that's the challenge I have given myself. Know Christ's character more...Know the candidate's characters deeper...and not vote for the one that you think is gonna stab you in the back and steal your wallet!
I have been reading a great book lately. I havent had much time to read lately, so tonight when I was home for a quiet night, I made a pot of coffee and promised myself time with this book. It is Uprising by Erwin McManus. I've read some of his other stuff, and I really think he is one of my favorite authors...mostly because he is an intellectual, a humorist, and a realist all at the same time. This book is great though. I really feel myself being challenged as I read each chapter. The deeper I get into the book, the more personal the challenges become.
Tonight there was an interesting perspective in the book that I wanted to mention. McManus talks about integrity and how it is at the core of who God wants us to be. He talked a lot about power, and how a lot of people say power corrupts, but really it just exposes what is already there...the real integrity of the person. This was a personally challenging piece for me to read, since often I find myself in positions where I am the chief decision maker and am frequently looked to for leadership. I am now spending time examining that which is within, so I can make room for God to do the necessary work to make me more like Him.
This section also made me think about some other stuff too. I have been watching the Republican National Convention this past week and I have to say it was the first time I really enjoyed it. I'm not normally a person who is prone to strong political views, mostly because I think you can only trust politicians as far as you can throw them. This week, though, I thought I would spend some time expanding my political knowledge and partake. One of the things that I have always been careful of, since I am in a church leadership position, is openly expressing strong political views. This is "high emotion" territory often times, so I make my decisions based on my faith, I have interesting conversations, and I will even debate a little here and there. But rarely do I "go for it" in a political conversation. And, I havent spent a great deal of time studying the politics of George Bush, but I am somewhat aware of his stance on several issues.
So with all that said, as I was reading tonight, I started to think about our President and the speech that he made the other night at the convention. I believe integrity is wrapped up in making decisions based on right and wrong...not on feelings. And I have to say that our President, I believe, is a man of integrity. His stances on abortion rights, gay marriage, and even the war in Iraq (I'm still workin this one out in my mind) I believe are based on right and wrong. And I was so encouraged to hear him give credit to God as His reason for making such decisions! I'm sure there may be things that I dont agree with George Bush on, but for tonight, I was encouraged and that is a rarity when it comes to politics for me!
Someone said to me this week, when asked if they were democrat or republican, that they vote for whoever is going to put the most money in their pocket. I was amused and saddened by this statement all at the same time. I will be voting for the person I think displays the most Christ-like character...the one that displays the most integrity. This is simple to discern since we have the Word of God and can know Christ's character with a little effort. So that's the challenge I have given myself. Know Christ's character more...Know the candidate's characters deeper...and not vote for the one that you think is gonna stab you in the back and steal your wallet!
posted by Danny Sells at 9/04/2004
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