So ist das leben

On November 4th Starbucks is giving away a tall cup of brewed coffee to anyone who votes. You can see the commercial they put together for it on their main page at www.starbucks.com

Looks like I won’t have to make coffee Tuesday morning!

There have been many nights in the last number of months where Stephanie has patiently listened as I tried to sort through my frustration regarding Christian’s election rhetoric. Obviously this election has been different than others, and so it would make sense that Christians would be speaking of it differently. But the problem was (and is) that it seemed that for the most part Christians were speaking of it wrongly. It’s difficult to pinpoint, but it’s probably because I’ve been guilty of thinking and speaking wrongly about this election as well. But it wasn’t until last week that I finally heard some sound Scriptural advice regarding the election (see my previous post). Finally someone was speaking rightly.

And today I was introduced to this video from Pastor John Piper on his heart for the election. It is absolutely tremendous. With the exception of one opinion (women being commander-in-chief), I think that I would wholeheartedly agree with everything he says. And I not only simply agree, but I’m thrilled that someone has finally crystallized for me a Scriptural attitude towards the election. Stephanie will be happy I’m sure.

I highly recommend these thoughts for your consideration. My prayer is that this will be my heart as we near election day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGjGbZNyIBY&eurl=http://theologica.blogspot.com/

Outline:

1. Womanhood

2. Race

3. Abortion

4. Prophetic perspective

5. Sovereignty of God

6. Gospel

HT: Justin Taylor

Here is some extremely refreshing Biblical counsel from a godly pastor regarding the upcoming elections. It seems that this election cycle more than ever there have been a frightening number of Christians making the mistake that Pastor Minnick used to always bring before the congregation of Mt. Calvary-namely, the mistake of confusing Christianity with republicanism. Praise God that the Gospel transcends political lines. Praise God that he holds the hearts of the kings in His hands. Praise God that all rulers are ordained by Him for our good and for His glory. This is refreshingly Scriptural advice. It’s a short clip-only 2 minutes.

HT: Andy Naselli

Pastor Mike Bullmore on the election

Ever since watching the Vice-Presidential debate last Thursday, I’ve been seriously considering voting third party. These are my reasons…

Obama is simply not an option for me. For those who wonder why, that is another conversation, but suffice it to say we have fundamentally different views on many of the major issues.

That being said, aside from social issues, I also have a fundamentally different view of the role of government, economic libertarianism, and America’s role in the world scene than George W. Bush who is supposed to be a republican’s Republican. Under his administration our national debt has grown by trillions of dollars and we’ve seen one of the largest growth of government in our nation’s history. George Bush believes in Big Government. That is a fundamental difference I have with him.

From everything we know of John McCain he will only continue Bush’s policies on the aforementioned issues. Even where he deviates from Bush, it will not be in any substantial way. 

With the recent credit crisis and subsequent socialist bailout that was advocated by both our current Republican president and the Republican presidential nominee, I have begun asking myself, “Has the Republican party taken an irrevocable step left?” If the answer is yes, then the next question logically follows, “At what point do I cease from identifying myself with a party that is in fundamental disagreement with how I believe government should be run?” 

In his recent article for Reformation 21, Carl Trueman warned Republicans that economic libertarianism and social conservatism are uneasy bed fellows. In other words, it is almost certain that it is only a matter of time before the Republican party will no longer hold to a socially conservative platform. It may be a fair question to ask if the only reason it is still a Republican plank is because it brings in millions of votes (i.e. McCain’s decision to bring Palin on the ticket immediately secured for him the vote of the religious right-even James Dobson broke down! Never mind her experience or knowledge-she’s socially conservative.) 

One last point. I am uncomfortable with throwing my vote behind John McCain for another reason. He has proven himself highly unreliable. It is difficult to ascertain what his core principles are. Arguably his biggest decision to date (the Palin pick) was a 100% campaign choice. It went “our (social conservatives) way” this time, but why do we have any confidence that it will go “our way” next time? For instance, when he picks a Supreme Court nominee. With his base secure, who will McCain be seeking to placate this time? Will he pick a more moderate/liberal justice in order to be a “maverick” and please the other side of the aisle? I don’t see how McCain’s campaign has given socially conservative, economically libertarian, limited government Republicans any assurance that he is a man operating from certain core principles. In fact, I would argue that the “maverick” has only proven otherwise.

Questions I need to answer for myself: What exactly do I believe regarding socialism? I am understanding of the British/European idea that you can be a conservative Christian and be socialistic. I know enough of history to understand that the Republican Government/Biblical Christianity alliance is a relatively new one. Socialism and Republicanism are simply ways of doing government, they are not Bible. But I very strongly do not believe I will ever be there. I am at least open to giving it a hearing however.

If I am against Big Government, socialism, and preemptive-strike foreign policy (which I am), how long do I stick with the Republican party simply because they offer a socially conservative platform? Is that the only issue I should be concerned about? I am also open to John Piper’s “one-issue voting” idea. I’m comfortable with it on one side (not voting someone who is pro-choice), but a little uneasy with it on the other side (always voting pro-life regardless of the candidate’s other positions). But again, I am open to considering this more.

So is voting third party the more idealogically consistent option?

Fair is fair. Here’s some of Sarah Palin’s funniest verbal blunders taken from an equally funny article entitled “Diagramming Sarah: Can Palin’s Sentences Stand Up To A Grammarian?”

From the Katie Couric interview:

It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where—where do they go?

From the Charlie Gibson interview:

I know that John McCain will do that and I, as his vice president, families we are blessed with that vote of the American people and are elected to serve and are sworn in on January 20, that will be our top priority is to defend the American people.

Daniel Kurtzman’s political humor blog posted the “Top 5 Joe Biden Gaffes” a few weeks ago, and in light of last night’s debate I thought I’d repost them here. They’re hilarious.

5. “I guarantee you, Barack Obama ain’t taking my shotguns, so don’t buy that malarkey. They’re going to start peddling that to you. I got two, if he tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem. I like that little over and under, you know? I’m not bad with it. So give me a break. Give me a break.’” –Joe Biden, threatening his running mate

4. “A man I’m proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next President of the United States — Barack America!” –Joe Biden, at his first campaign rally with Barack Obama (Watch video clip)

3. “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.” –Joe Biden, apparently unaware that FDR wasn’t president when the stock market crashed in 1929 and that only experimental TV sets were in use at that time

Continue Reading »

It looks as if Obama will take Michigan. I was hoping that it would be more of a battleground state this election cycle, but alas… It seems to me that this is one of the first steps in the already-shifting of momentum that probably is going to finally end up in Obama’s court.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Finally a sane voice in this crisis. To this article I can only say “amen.”

Editorial by Jeffrey Miron, Harvard Prof in Economics:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

In many ways yes. Of course. I have appreciated much of what Bush has done-namely his appointment of conservative justices. But for years now I have said that however you slice it, George Bush is NOT a fiscal conservative. Statistics show that he has spent more than any other president in our nation’s history-inflation included. The “we’re at war’ argument falls flat when you look at the numbers for non-defense discretionary spending (the highest rate of growth since LBJ-who also had a war to fund). The Bush administration is 5 times larger than the 2nd Clinton Administration. His latest budget was a record-breaking size-over $3 trillion. This caused even many conservatives to raise some eyebrows. The House Republican Study Committee, made up of 100 conservative members of Congress, said in a statement that the budget “includes too much spending” and expressed concern about the increasing deficit. We have come to learn that “compassionate conservatism” really means “spending lots of money to help people (Katrina, Aids in Africa, etc).” However you slice it, George Bush is NOT a fiscal conservative.

I read a blog post today by Lincoln Mullen who was a contemporary of mine at BJU. He gives some thoughts regarding the housing crisis in light of Bush’s fiscal policies. Here’s what he had to say…

I rarely comment on politics, but these facts are worth noting. On the day President George W. Bush was inaugurated, the national debt was $5,727,776,738,304.64, or $5.7 trillion. This past Friday, the national debt was $9,727,009,619,894.34, or $9.7 trillion. In other words, in less than eight years, the national debt has increased about $4 trillion. Now, the Bush Treasury wants to buy some $700 billion dollars in bad mortgages, and it is asking Congress to raise the statutory limit on the national debt to $11.3 trillion. A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon we’re talking about real money.

I believe that this has the potential to be the primary legacy of the Bush administration.

http://weblog.lincolnmullen.com/

Another reason to love libraries/museums/archives. Check out this this article. Really interesting…

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/18/eu.mozart.discovery.ap/index.html