Skip to main content

Straw Polls and Values Voters

It seems as though the media has been inundated with the latest popularity polls and results for who may be our next president. Straw polls and their results have been headlining the national and local newspapers for weeks, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Conservative Christians even held their own Values Voters forum where they questioned candidates on moral issues, and then took their own straw poll of the candidates. The delegates voting were chosen by national conservative leaders.

The September 17, 2007 press release from ValuesVoters.com states: “This isn't about partisanship. It's about values. It’s not about the letter behind the name, rather it’s about the values of the heart and the policies that effect the public.”
(Source: http://www.valuesvoterdebate.com/ )

My sincere hope and prayer is that the Values Voters will look beyond political party affiliation when they choose a candidate to support. Christians should have Biblical standards for choosing political leaders, regardless of what office the candidate is running for. We should not be choosing the most popular or the most likely to succeed, but instead we should choose the man who meets God’s requirements for civil leaders.

I would like to share this “Checklist for Evaluating a Candidate” written by Buddy Hanson of the Christian Policy Network (http://www.graceandlaw.com/ ) with you and America’s Values Voters, while asking that the Christian earnestly seek to please God rather than man with their vote in the upcoming elections:

  • He has a regenerated heart and therefore seeks truth rather than prestige or personal profit and power. Deuteronomy 1.17; Chronicles 19.6-7
  • He has a humble attitude and will not succumb to flattery or be bought by favors or bribery. Deuteronomy 16.19
  • He trusts in Christ’s sovereign control of His Kingdom and puts the best interests of the people (God’s interests) above the pressures of private and special interests. Deuteronomy 17.17; Leviticus 19.15; Psalm 118.9
  • He demonstrates a godly lifestyle, governing himself and his household well. (The personal habits of conduct of those who seek office are rightly matters of concern). 1 Timothy 3.4-5; Proverbs 25.28
  • He exercises sound judgment; he upholds God’s principles of self and civil government. 1 Timothy 3.6-7; Mark 12.16-17
  • He “loves righteousness and hates iniquity.” Exodus 18.21



(Source: The Christian Prince by Buddy Hanson, chapter one, and page 15.)

When choosing a government leader, we must seek out those men who have a well developed Biblical worldview. All too often we hear candidates speaking of their faith, but their Christian walk doesn’t match their talk. We must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in the voting booth. If there isn’t a godly man on the ballot, then perhaps our best course of action is to simply pray and write in the name of a godly man or the words “none of the above.”

After all, heaven is watching to see what we will do and who we will choose.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts:

Kent State, the Summer of 1970 and the Grace of God

  Me in 1975 - Seeking God. Al Baker recently wrote an article on the tragedy of the Kent State demonstrations and the killing of four students in May of 1970:  Four Dead in Ohio ( FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS )  . I remember being 12 years-old at the time this happened and the disagreement between my father (a full-time Air National Guardsman) and myself. I could see that he was pained over the event, but he defended the soldiers who fired on the students and I was shocked at his defense of their actions. I also remember that my friends and I embraced the rebellious culture of the time and soon found ourselves acting like our "heroes;" while we were only in our early teens we became somewhat jaded and mistrusted those in authority. By the time I turned 17 years-old, I began to have a yearning in my heart to become a Christian - I wanted to become a new creation, but I didn't know how. (As a child I remember watching televangelists and reciting the "sinner's praye
Post a Comment
Read more

Is Satan Real? Here's My Story.

Is Satan real? I think so and here's my story of a frightening experience that drove me straight toward  Christ. My story begins in the early 1970's while visiting the Wisconsin Dells area with my parents, I had brought a friend on vacation with us and she and I decided to walk around the local town square while my parents shopped for food and other items for our two week camping trip at Castle Rock Lake .  Historic Juneau County Courthouse on the town square in Mauston, WI Image Source:  Juneau County Courthouse - Juneau County Courthouse - Wikipedia My friend and I were both in our early teens; but we looked older. So, we were quite flattered when some local teenaged boys sitting on the lawn of the Courthouse noticed us, and we stopped to talk to them. We told them we were from Missouri and would be camping at Castle Rock Lake for the next couple of weeks.  Source:  Castle Rock - Juneau County Government (wi.gov) I explained that my dad was in the Missouri Air National Guard
Post a Comment
Read more

Dementia - Seeing through a glass darkly....

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.  ~1Corinthians 13.12 KJV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I came across this article by Dr. Barry York written in 2014 and posted at Gentle Reformation , which I never read until today. If you have a parent/spouse/friend etc. with dementia and you aren't certain of their salvation, please read this. I think you will find it encouraging. It gives me great hope as my father suffered from dementia before his death earlier this year and who assured me he had asked the Lord for forgiveness while being ill. Salvation in a Dementia Ward Walking down the long hospital hallway, I approached the room in the emergency area where they had told me she would be found. As I came near the door, I found a security guard sitting there. He looked at me with sympathy as I identified myself and, with a warning and sad shaking of his head, gave me permission to enter.
Post a Comment
Read more