Yes, I am a pastor. If you read my blog with any regularity you probably know that. If you are a first time visitor, Welcome – I am a Pastor. This is my personal blog, not affiliated with the church I lead. You may know that as a pastor I cannot publicly endorse any candidate for any political position. This post is my personal thoughts as a citizen of the United States.

I believe this is a historic election, as I believe every election is a historic one. This one holds special interest for me, because it will be an election of firsts. This will be the first presidential election that my oldest daughter Sarah, gets to vote in. It will be the first election in which a black American will be running for President (which I think by the way is way over due)! It will be the first election where a female is on a major ticket (another way cool happening). So, this is historic and you should convey this to your kids.

I have a degree in business and have worked in management for large companies and have started several enterprises, for profit and non-profit from scratch. I am not an economist, but I have the acumen to observe the trends and patterns in the U.S. economy over the last twenty-nine years of my adult life (FYI: I am forty-seven). The United States economy rises and it falls as it has since the inception of capitalism and will continue to do so. It is the nature of capitalism and is what keeps the economy healthy. Economies cannot continue to grow and grow and grow without times of regression. It just happens, look it up. Why the ranting about the economy? Because the economy is not one of my primary concerns and as a follower of Christ, I don't think it should be one of yours. The church at Laodicea as recorded in Revelation 3 is the epitome of the church/Christians today. When John wrote this letter, Christ revealed to him that the Christians in Laodicea were only concerned about their financial condition. They were worried more about their bank account rather that the kingdom. According to the scripture, that attitude makes Jesus sick.

To be blunt and frank, I am voting biblical values, morals, and social issues that I believe are what is closest to the heart of God. I do want to let all political candidates know that you will never eliminate poverty, no matter how hard you try, no matter how many programs you fund, we will always have poor people. How do I know that? Jesus said so in Matthew 26:11, "The poor you will always have with you…" What we need to do is to teach and convince Christians to re-distribute their wealth to churches who are best equipped to take care of widows and orphans.

I am voting for life. I believe that all life is/was created by God an he loves his greatest creation dearly – us! To many, an unborn child is an inconvenience, a problem to be rid of as quickly as possible. We are selfish people. It is not just the fault of the woman when an unborn baby is aborted, it is also the fault of the man who has the wherewithal to create that life. I believe that it is a woman's choice to do what she wishes.  Here is the problem, she chose to have unprotected sex. She chose to take the chance of getting pregnant and having a life formed in her womb. She chose! The man made all of these choices as well and he is as guilty. Premarital sex in the Bible is called fornication and it is a sin. Sex outside of marriage is called adultery and it is a sin. The taking of a life is called murder and it is a sin. I believe that abortion is a sin because it involves the intentional, pre-meditated murder of an unborn child.  The Bible is also clear on when human life begins, read Jeremiah when God says that He knows us when He knits us together in our mother’s womb.  Every follower of Christ should take these teachings seriously. Unborn children are innocent human beings.  If you claim to be pro-life, you must believe that.  Abortion is the shedding of innocent blood, taking life created by God.  If you are pro-life, you must believe that.  Abortion is murder, murder is a sin, and supporting a pro-choice candidate says that you are pro-abortion.

I am voting for marriage. I believe that marriage is not a governmental issue, as it was instituted by God not by a state or federal government. Biblically and culturally for thousands of years marriage has been between one man and one woman. It really ticks me off that we have 2% of the population in America who are homosexual who have been able to change this institution. What is going on? Again as a follower of Jesus, I must obey God rather than man when it comes to God's teachings.  Homosexuality is a sin and it is a sin condemned by God: Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:10.

The economy changes, but the word of God does not. If you are a Christian, look beyond your bank account and trust in Jesus' words in Matthew 6 that he will provide for his followers. We (Christians) have become such a consumer driven society that care more about comfort and wealth than we do the kingdom of God. Just as the church at Laodiciea made Christ sick, I can only imagine what he church in  in America in 2008 is doing to him today.

Christian friend, are you more interested in financial comfort more than the heart of God? If so, please heed the words of the one who has forgiven you of your sins, "No one can serve two masters. You will either love the one and hate the other. You cannot serve both God and money."