An Apologist's Take On Yesterday's Historic Election

A Biblical perspective . . .

McCain V. Obama

As I've mentioned in a previous post, John McCain hasn't always been my candidate.

But he is now!

It has become cliche to say, "I vote for the person, not the party." Well, in this year's monumental election, that is the exact mindset that we should adopt.

Although many true Conservatives may take issue with McCain on certain policies and his history of playing ball with Senate Liberals, John McCain stands much closer to the ideals of Conservatism in comparison to the alternative candidate. For me personally there are four important areas where the candidate's values are most important to me in this election:

1. Iraq / The war against Islamic terrorism
2. Abortion
3. Supreme Court nominations

First, McCain--not Obama--knows what it means to persevere in spite of difficulty. He knows what it means to fight hard for the sake of individual and national freedom. He knows what it means to sacrifice for the greater good. Barak Obama thinks that he knows about sacrifice because he has worked in the southside of Chicago; McCain knows that he knows about sacrifice because he almost gave his life for the sake of his country. because of his experience as a soldier and his years in American politics, McCain knows how serious a threat Islamic terrorism is to the safety of this country and our allies (particularly Israel, of course). With this sincere understanding, McCain will continue what the current administration has begun by using America's great military power to root out terrorism in all parts of the world, thus keeping this country safe and strong. In the process, McCain will continue to work with the country of Iraq to fully rebuild and strengthen its government.

Second, McCain--not Obama--understands and believes in the value of human life starting from the time of conception. As President, I trust that McCain will not allow any legislation to pass that further opens the door to more abortions, while an Obama presidency could indeed see a rise in late-term, partial-birth abortions. This too boils down to a fundamental difference in each man's values. Simply put, McCain values the life of the unborn; Obama does not. I often wonder how this fits into the

Third, McCain--not Obama--holding closeer to conservative values will therefore nominate Supreme Court Justices who will be more likely to uphold the original meaning of the Constitution should the seat open during his presidency. This is important for every possible reason--abortion cases, 2nd Amendment issues, gay marriage rulings, and any other cases dealing with individual freedoms.

I appreciate a recent post by Douglas Groothuis over at the Constructive Curmudgeon. He writes about how, now that Hillary is another part of the 2008 Presidential Campain history, Obama is the Democratic party's presidential nominee (and if you ask any true Democrat, he's America's Savior, too). Yet Groothuis gives an honest, but critical look at the dangerous implications of an Obama victory on November 4th. I especially enjoyed his description of the Democratic candidate:

"...an inexperienced, pro-abortion, tax and spend, internationalist, racially confused (think of his church affiliation) extreme liberal who does not understand Islamic fascism or how to deal with it. "

Obama is younger than McCain.

He is black.

He has younger children.

He's a wonderful orator who inspires audiences everywhere.

And he can definitely bring change to America.

...But how many of these things actually qualify Obama to lead the greatest nation on the earth for the next four to eight years?

If these truly are the qualities that many Americans respect in the man, why him? I'm sure there are many other young, well-spoken, black, American men with young children who could also change and inspire America as Obama proposes vaguely to do.

So what sets this candidate apart as a qualified future U.S. President? Is it his Senate voting record? (I hope not!) Is it his economic or foreign relations experience? (What experience?) Is it the innocence that has followed him throughout his campaign? (Don't forget Tony Rezko and Rev. Wright!) Is it his value-system? (You mean the one that values baby-killing?) Or is it his enthusiastic charisma? (DING! DING! DING!)

I hope that on Novemeber 4th, Americans everywhere remember the importance of values and character and vote for the better candidate, John McCain.

Groothuis ends his post on a strong note with the following encouragement:

"Christians should wake up, get in gear, and make a difference. In this election, to my mind, this means: pray for, vote for, and contribute to John McCain for President."

Amen to that!

You can read the entire post here.

I Voted Today

...and of course, I voted for Romney.

However, judging by the early exit polls, Mitt may have a tougher time than I thought in a number of states on this Super Tuesday 2008.

Stay tuned for more!!

CNN's Update: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/dates/index.html#20080205

...and click here to check out Medved's USA Today column!

My Candidate

Well, folks, I've gone ahead and decided on a candidate for whom to vote! It's taken me a long time to get to this point. I have probably changed my mind 11.5 different times between the end of 2006 and now. But after much thought, research, and analysis of the presidential hopefuls on both sides of the aisles, I have come to the conclusion that there is only one real potential President in the running at this point in time.

His name is

MITT ROMNEY

To tell you the truth, in some ways I've sort of surprised myself on this one. A year ago, I would not have considered Mitt as my "fave." In fact, I was actually at one time adverse to supporting Mitt simply because of his glowing support from one Hugh Hewitt (who, although I like Hugh, seemed almost infatuated with the guy). But as the candidates have all had their time and chances to promote themselves and each explain their positions on things such as foreign policy (the war on terrorism), the economy, the Supreme Court, illegal immigration, abortion, and gay rights, Romney seems to be the only candidate to continually match my personal views on each topic.

I know that I will likely receive much flack for my decision to support this candidate due to his religion, but I believe that I'm prepared to answer such questions and objections. This is a poltical election. We are voting for a President, not a pastor. Thus, whether the candidate's personal religion is Christian, Mormon, or Catholic, I will vote for the man for his policies, not his religion.* This means that I would not vote for Huckabee solely because he is a Christian, nor will I conversely ignore another candidate because he is a Mormon.

I'm sure I will post more on this topic in the coming weeks and months (assuming that Mitt gets the GOP nod come Super Tuesday). In the meantime, as I do my best to be a thinking American voter, I am a Christian who rests on God's sovereignty. May His will be done.

* - That being said, I have concluded that I could not ever vote for a Muslim candidate. This conclusion is based off the tenents of the religion. Islam is an eastern religion that is based on, in part, the doctrine of Jihad. It is, at its core, a religion founded and continued upon violence. Mormonism, while antithetical to Biblical Christianity, maintains similar values as Christianity based largely upon the priniciples of the Bible.

1-18-08

It's one thing to read about something, isn't it?
It's quite a different thing altogether to experience something personally.

For the past 6.5 months, I have spent way too many hours of my life preoccupied with researching, web-searching, and imagining what terrifying events January 18, 2008 might bring to us.

Tonight, I found out 1st hand.

It's called Cloverfield. By now most of America has seen a preview on television, the internet, or right before Transformers in July. Probably the most recognized symbol of this movie is the ominous graphic of the Statue of Liberty--without her head.


Now I know exactly why she is missing her head.

I just returned from seeing a pre-screening of Cloverfield with my wife and a friend. As the credits rolled less than 2 hours after the Paramount logo twirled onto the screen, I sat in my theater chair
motionless;
speechless;
almost smiling.

Producer J.J. Abrams is a genius. I will say nothing in this post about the movie's characters (any of them!), nor about the plot line. But quite frankly, I'm glad to know that Abrams and Matt Reeves (the movie's director and personal friend of J.J.'s) will enjoy amazing financial success from the upcoming nationwide release of this movie. I say this because Abrams (and Reeves, too) is a genius.

Without giving anything important about this movie away, Abrams is a genius not because of a completely original idea for movie (because, as you see, it's not!), but because of the way he has packaged this movie from start to finish: with the mysterious trailer at the beginning of one of the biggest movie releases of 2007 which kept geeks like me scowering for more info ever since, to the amazingly creative internet ad campaign which never seemed much like movie advertising as it did story-telling, to the entirely novel way the film was written, shot, and cut.

To tell you the truth, Cloverfield is quite a simple story--a story more about human relationships than anything else. But it's a simple story that pulls you in early, takes you for a tornado-of-a-ride, and then drops you back into your theater seat motionless, speechless, and almost smiling. While Abrams himself would admit that the generic idea of the story isn't at all original, the premise in which this idea is set absolutely is.

For your own good, I would implore you to see this movie on 1-18-08 (this Friday!). It could change your life.

And to Abrams, Reeves, and the rest of the Cloverfield team: Thank you for sharing your gifts.

-David


P.S.
For snapshots from the movie, visit http://www.1-18-08.com/.

P.P.S.
Flip the pictures over.

Lakeshore, Mississippi

It's going on three years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the shores of Mississippi and Louisiana.

On Saturday, a group of five men left from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport to join forces with 140 other people in Lakeshore, Mississippi--"Ground Zero" of Hurrican Katrina--to continue with the rebuilding project in that community for 7 days.
My brother Paul is one of those men.

Paul shared a website with me today that is an ongoing blog chronicling the work being done throughout the week: http://www.arbcainlakeshore.com/. It shows pictures of some of the devasted structures and landscape. It shows men and women hard at work to rebuild Lakeshore. And most of all, it shows the love of Christ being put into action. These 140 men and women from churches across the country and Canada have a common purpose: to shine the light of Jesus Christ to the people of Lakeshore through their words and ministry for the glory of God alone.

From what I understand, this mission was organized by Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in conjunction with Lakeshore Baptist Church there in Mississippi and the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (ARBCA).

Take a moment to visit this website, which is being updated daily this week, and pray for the workers as well as the surrounding community.

Below outlines how we can pray specifically for this ministry.

Please pray for us and our work in the following areas:
The salvation of men through the outward proclamation of the gospel and the good works of our hands.
The spiritual edification of the volunteers as we worship, serve, fellowship, witness, and study the Word of God.
The physical safety of our crews as they conduct difficult and often very dangerous tasks.
The health and growth of Lakeshore Baptist Church and God’s granting wisdom to pastor Don Elbourne.
The humility of each volunteer as we serve –may God keep us from being prideful and boasting in anything other than the cross.
Patience and flexibility: Hallmarks of disaster relief mission work.

Michael Calls It Right in Iowa...IT'S MIKE!

Since my first year of college, I have been a huge respector (okay, "fan"!) of radio talk show host, movie critic, political commentator, and outspoken conservative Jew, Michael Medved. And today just proved another reason why I'm a "Medhead."

Last night/early this morning, Medved posted an article predicting the GOP winner in the Iowa Caucus today. Guess what?...He nailed it: Mike Huckabee.

Now, Medved has yet to endorse any one candidate (and I am trying to follow his example, although, as of late, I have been impressed more with both Romney and Huckabee than the others), but I sure do appreciate his recent defense of the Huck. Huckabee has faced more undue criticism over the last month or more than any other candidate. Sadly, this criticism has poured out of the mouths of critics on BOTH sides of the media (e.g. Limbaugh from the Right and Russert from the Left). Medved accurately outlines one glaring example of this harsh criticism in another article here.

Check out the above article links, and if you do, I hope you will be enlightened about one Republican candidate vying for the Presidency "of this greatest nation on God's green earth!"

Exerpt from Tim Russert's interview with Governor Mike Huckabee:

Tim, I've been asked more about my faith than any person running for president. I'm OK with that. I hope I've answered these questions very candidly and very honestly. I think it's important for us to talk about it. But the most important thing is to find out, does our faith influence our public policy and how? I've never tried to rewrite science textbooks. I've never tried to come out with some way of imposing a doctrinaire Christian perspective in a way that is really against the Constitution. I've never done that.

365 Days & Counting...

Today is election day in the United States, and 264.25 days from today our nation will gather at pollling stations in each of our 50 states to elect for ourselves a new President. In doing so, we will be electing both the President and his (or her) 2nd-in-command, the Vice President. The new President will then decide on a handful of close, trusted officials to serve on his or her Cabinet. Additionally, it is expected that within the next President's 4 to 8 year term, at least 2 Supreme Court Justices will need to be replaced. This, as time will tell, will be the most important role of America's next President: nominating new judges to the Supreme Court bench.

Let us be wise citizens as we listen over the next few weeks and months to the candidates discuss their principles and policies. And let us be fervent in our prayers as we are now exactly one year away from voting into office the next Commander-in-Chief of this greatest nation on God's green earth!

Candidate Considertions, Part I

(I titled this "Part I" because I anticipate more blogs on this topic to follow over the coming months.)

I was recently discussing politics with a good friend of mine and dear brother. As one would expect, the topic of the 2008 Presidential election came up. Being that we are both staunch Republicans, each of us was interested in which candidate the other might support in next year's GOP primaries.

We both admitted our unsurety on the matter at the present, however my friend assured me who he would most likely not be voting for either in the primaries, nor the November election if need be: Rudolph Guliani.

I will concede that I understand the reasoning behind this notion: Guliani has a track-record of pro-choice and pro-gay rights advocation. Based solely on these issues, I would rather not vote for the man either.

However, I think we need to think smarter than that. The office of United States President is larger than one or two issues. As soon as February's primary election results surface, we Republicans need to unite together as a party behind the GOP's candidate, whether that be Rudy, Romney, or Fred (sorry Tancredo, Huckabee, Brownback, Paul, & McCain, but I think your chances for the GOP nod are quickly diminishing). If we do not, and instead split our votes between the GOP nominee and any other third party candidate, we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

The recent "threats" from members of the religious right, such as Dr. James Dobson, to disavow itself from the Republican Party if Guliani is the nominee and support some third party candidate is utterly ridiculous and completely ignorant of the broader landscape of American politics. Consider these powerful words from Carol Platt Liebau on the matter:

In short, if the religious right decided to support a third candidate, it would become the biggest loser in a Giuliani-Clinton contest, whatever the outcome. Even so, it is tempting for those opposed to Giuliani’s pro-choice stance to speculate that a Hillary Clinton presidency might shock the country into greater receptivity to policies espoused by people of faith. But it’s worth remembering that similar hopes, coupled with discontent with the presidency of George H.W. Bush, inspired some to vote for Ross Perot in 1992. As a result, America endured eight years of a Clinton presidency – and set Hillary Clinton on the path she’s pursuing now.

And National Review columnist John Podhoretz wrote in a recent post, "A third-party candidacy on the Right undertaken by even a minimally serious person will, it is true, almost certainly doom any GOP chances in November 2008."

Justin Taylor posted these of his own thoughts on his blog last week:

1. I do not want Giuliani to be nominated for the Republican ticket. For those who are convictionally pro-life and want to see justice for the unborn prevail and Roe v. Wade overturned, it seems difficult to support Giuliani's candidacy at this stage when there are other viable pro-life candidates.
   
2. The ballgame changes if the race comes down to a pro-choice Republican vs. a pro-choice Democrat.


3. One has to ask whether or not it can be reasonably ascertained if one pro-choice candidate would be better than the other in terms of the cause of life. The key word, I think, is reasonable. We're not talking infallibility here.
   
4. The next president will undoubtedly get to nominate justices to the Supreme Court. No one doubts that Hillary Clinton will nominate judges with a judicial philosophy at odds with constructionalism and originalism.
   
5. I think there are good reasons to believe that Giuliani would appoint constructionalists and originalists, as he has promised to do--in part because I think he will want to placate the Republican base. (Even if he does this for only one term in order to win reelection, which I think is doubtful, then the next point still stands.)
   
6. One must recognize that if it comes down to Guiliani vs. Clinton, a vote for a third-party candidate will undoubtedly guarantee a Clinton presidency (likely for the next eight years). Read that sentence again. Now read it one more time. I think it's incontrovertible, and I'm not sure some pro-lifers have sufficiently recognized this.
   
7. The irony, then, is that being a single-issue voter on the cause of justice for the unborn can actually lead to increased injustice for the unborn.
   
8. At the end of the day, perhaps we can categorize the two positions as (1) principled pro-life purity and (2) principled pro-life pragmatism.
   
9. It seems that the Religious Right (by which I mean the James Dobson Republicans--the elite evangelical political influencers of soccer moms and the like) are in a pickle: Mitt Romney is a Mormon, Fred Thompson doesn't seem like a Christian, and Mike Huckabee doesn't seem electable. From my seat in the bleachers, it seems like they should pick one and stick with him.
   
10. It is a valid, legitimate point that if the Republicans nominate a pro-choice candidate, then this precedence opens the door for the nomination of pro-choice Republican candidates in the future.

While I may or may not agree with all of Justin's points, I appreciate the fact that he is putting some deep thought into this election race and not taking a lazy or passive approach to choosing our nation's next potential leader.

May we all do the same as we pray for God's will to be done.

A Godly Man's Legacy

Dr. D. James Kennedy
1930 – 2007

• Founder of a church, an international evangelistic ministry, a radio broadcast, a television show, a Christian school, a pastoral seminary.
• Minister of the Gospel of Christ
• Defender of God’s Truth
• Innovative in Media
• Political Spokesman
• Educational Visionary
• Advocate of Morality and Social Justice

http://65.240.226.104:8080/Life.aspx

Poodwaddle

I came across this very intriguing website recently. Check it out for yourself.

Broken, Burning Bridge

In light of this week's catastrophe in Minneapolis, I want to point you to two important writings on the tragedy. One is from John Piper who lives and pastors near the disaster in Minnesota; the other from Charles Spurgeon. You can access both articles via Fide-o.blogspot.com.

As we think on this sad providence, may our prayers go up on behalf of the surviving victims and affected familes, and more importantly, may our hearts and minds be lifted to to know see and know "the God of all grace" who administers both mercy and wrath. May many people's hearts be moved by the Spirit to understand the dire state of their lives away from Christ and flee to Him for eternal salvation, comfort, and peace.

A Sovereign God for Tumultuous Times

Foreigners slipping over (or under) our borders into America's heartland illegally is scary enough. Add to that the idea of crazed Middle Eastern Islamists sneaking past our border security and quietly becoming a part of everyday American life is even scarier.

Well, that may be exactly what has been happening for some time now.

How many of us have really been naive enough to believe that Mexicans are the only ones crossing the border illegally? Haven't we all understood that illegal border crossing and alien smuggling can lend itself to potential terrorists?

You bet we've known!

Now there is some substantiated evidence coming to the surface showing a smuggling operation involving the trafficking of Iraqis and other Middle Easterners in New Mexico. According to the ABC News blog,

The FBI is investigating an alleged human smuggling operation based in Chaparral, N.M., that agents say is bringing "Iraqis and other Middle Eastern" individuals across the Rio Grande from Mexico.

An FBI intelligence report distributed by the Washington, D.C. Joint Terrorism Task Force, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, says the illegal ring has been bringing Iraqis across the border illegally for more than a year.

In light of Secretary Chertoff's "gut feeling" about the raised likelihood of another stateside terrorist attack in the near future, this information is not surprising, just frightening.

We live in tumultuous times. But we serve a sovereign God, creator of the universe, sustainer of our lives. Let us remember to praise Him for His goodness and trust Him always.

Psalm 37

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.

Live Earth = Lame Effort

I'll gladly admit that I did not pay any attention to what Al Gore and a large handful of popular music artists were doing with this "Live Earth" campaign to focus the world's attention on Global Warming.

But from what I'm reading online, this worldwide concert was a major flop. Why am I not surprised?

Additionally, Boundless explains how completely repulsive the attitude and mood of the whole event was.

What a waste of time, energy, money, and musical talent.

Lame.

Moving On Up

Sorry I have been out of the game lately, but I believe I have had good reason: Paige and I have just closed on the purchase of our first house!!

We are praising the Lord for His goodness to us through the entire process. It is quite the improvement from the apartment which we were rapidly outgrowing with our continual accumulation of "stuff" (books, furniture, decorative pieces, books, and more books). We are completely excited to be proud homeowners as we near the 2-year mark of marriage (7/16).

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lam. 3:22-23

We look forward to many joyful years in this home. Our hope is that this home may be a place where we grow closer together in our marriage, raise obedient children who come to know Christ, and serve and show hospitality to others, all to the glory of our great God.

Ruth Bell Graham's Promotion to Glory

Today Ruth Bell Graham, the beloved wife of Reverend Billy Graham, went to be with her Savior in Glory. For more complete information, visit Between Two Worlds.

Thanks to Justin Taylor for his post on this topic.

Which Is Worse?...

Movies with all-out nudity and explicit sex scenes . . . OR . . . Movies with smoking and unhealthy food-eating?

Now the latter may receive a harsher rating than the prior.

Read it for yourself!

What strange, sad times these are. Welcome to relativism/non-absolutism/post-modernism at its best.

(Should I be laughing or crying. I do not know.)

Blair's Stand: "No Quid Pro Quo"

While Britain is no Israel, at least they are willing to stand their ground for their captured soldiers in Iran.

(Israel would have already rescued their soldiers, bombed the heck out of Tehran just to teach them a lesson, and hopefully killed Ahmadinejad in the process!)

15 Royal Navy personnel were captured by the Iranian government last week based upon faulty charges by the Iranians that the sailors were illegally inside Iranian waterways. Britain's Ministry of Defense can prove otherwise.

Now Iran wants to charge the sailors with espionage, an offense punishable by execution.

Now it is time for the prisoners to be released. Iran is an extremist regime led by a wacked-out Muslim terrorist and they have no right to hold the British sailors. I'm hoping that if the prisoners are not released promptly, Blair sends in the SAS to get them. I would like to think that we would do similar for our soldiers.

Blair seems resolved on this issue:

"The important thing for us is to get them back safe and sound, but we can't enter into some basis of bargaining," Blair said. "What you have to do when you are engaged with people like the Iranian regime, you have to keep explaining to them, very patiently, what it is necessary to do and at the same time make them fully aware there are further measures that will be taken if they're not prepared to be reasonable.

"What you can't do is end up negotiating over hostages; end up saying there's some quid pro quo or tit for tat; that's not acceptable," he said.

Read more.

Let us remember these British soldiers in prayer, as we should all service men and women who defend the freedom of America and democracy worldwide.

Blogs

Hugh Hewitt was right about blogs!...More and more they are becoming an incredible wealth of information and opinion. As Hewitt called it, it's the "'Information Reformation' that's changing your world." Here are just two links to Blogs in the national headlines:

Bush Cites Baghdad Bloggers...Even the President recognizes the importance of bloggers.

A Blogger's Code of Conduct...good idea or bad idea??

What do YOU think?!

Important Iraq Find

Yesterday U.S. forces found a major weapons cache in Iraq. What makes it so important?

...the weapons are from IRAN! (Like we didn't see that coming!)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. officers said Monday they had discovered a factory for assembling sophisticated roadside bombs from Iranian-made components _ the first such facility uncovered in a religiously mixed province north of Baghdad.

Read more...