Election Season

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted,a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace,
and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
-- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

And yes folks, a time for elections! My six year old made this announcement at the dinner table the other night, "the twins are voting for McCain, my best friend is voting for Obama, the neighbors are for McCain, and of course I am voting for Obama." This was very important for her to announce to us, so important all conversation had to stop at the table. You see even our six year old wanted her vote to be counted. It was important that she let us know that her other six year old friends had all been talking about the election, and she wanted us to know they were in the "know" as well. You know what, something interesting was happenning there that we weren't experiencing....they had not been fighting, they had simply talked, and then went back to the playground and laughed and went back to being friends again.

Oh how I wish it were so for us grown-ups. One person reported to me she had been told if she voted for Barack Obama she wasn't a Christian! I myself have had my own nightmare recently in the September issue of worship leader magazine our staff used a photo of my daughter who was wearing an Obama for your Mama shirt. We used that as a photo illustration to make the point that kids have not left the church for lack of time, but rather lack of interest. It wasn't a photo endorsement, as I don't ever share my personal views, however, rather than get the point, I got hate mail. That mail was so hurtful, calling me and my daughter left wing, abortion loving, femi-natzi's...well folks here is the truth, and you may want to brace yourself for this: I am a democrat and I am going to vote for Barack Obama. However I am capable of disagreeing with one or even two issues with a person or president and still being for that person, if I wasn't I would basically have no friends. But I am not abortion loving, trust me on this one. I am a lover of my three beautiful children, and I am a lover of adoption, life, children, and most importantly the Lord. You could accuse me of these things. We've lost the ability to disagree civilly with our brothers and sisters. We have become mean spirited even with our christian brothers and sisters.

It is amazing how mean people have gotten over this election, we really need to check ourselves people! In about 3 days we will have a President that we will have voted for, but God will have chosen. Yep, he chooses, and affirms our leaders. Like it or not, this democrat has had to pray for a Republican president for 8 years that my Lord affirmed. Romans V. 1, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority excpt that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." In other words, we vote, we show up and do our thing but God is the author of outcomes. And we don't get to not behave in accordance with scripture along the way! Acting horribly towards each other, or towards those we don't agree with (and I am guilty even last night of this), isn't glorifying our Lord in the process.

Lets make this next 3 days a sweet election season, and whoever the Lord puts in authority, lets make it our steadfast commitment to pray for them, submit to their authority - later in Romans it says that He is Gods servant to do good....for those who do what is right......lets be those people.

Anyway, enough on this, except to say, whoever reads this, even one person, be kind to your neighbor on the left of the aisle or the right, and stop the mudslinging. If John McCain wins, I will commit myself to pray for him and his wife and family for all his days in office, and if Barack Obama wins I will do the same - will you?

Let kindness and peace rule in your hearts!