The reactions from last week's election have been all over the place. Some well thought out and some very emotional. Some euphoric and some distraught.
There are many places you can go for opinions on who is right or how to feel. We want to give you the prayerfully thought out and Biblically based responses from people that you know and trust.
Mark Westerfield - Senior Pastor
Allen Frans - Family and Youth Pastor
I believe the Bible. It has the final word on everything. My opinions naturally default to selfishness and what is best for me. My itching ears long to hear people in authority tell me what I want to hear and not what I need to hear. What I want to hear feels good and does not usually cost me anything. What I need to hear is uncomfortable and forces me to take action.
1 Peter 2:17 says,
“Respect everyone. Love the Brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
So this is my filter for my response. It all boils down to 2 things: God and people.
We were made to be in relation with God, others and ourselves. When I try to isolate or judge, I am missing the standard God has for me. I am to respect everyone, whether or not I agree with them, look like them, think like them or act like them.
I am to love people. Love comes with a cost. If it is genuine, it is sacrificial.
I am to fear God. This fear is one of awe because I recognize WHO has the real power and authority in my life and in my world. God is the one on the throne of heaven. Our world is just His footstool. He calls the shots.
Finally, I am to honor the king, the lowercase king. I am called to honor those in authority. Parents, teachers, bosses, and yes, the President of the US, are all people in authority. I am to pray for them, encourage them, and not speak ill of them. If God can transform the heart of Saul, who made it his mission to destroy the church, then He can transform anyone. I need to be careful about making a big deal out of their sin, and spend time repenting of mine.
If I want to “make America great again”, then I must start by making my heart pure. Only then will I be able to love my family, my neighbors, and my country with the love of Christ, which is the only thing we should put our hope in.
Jim Rowan - Missions Pastor
To My Millennial Daughter,
You sent me a text saying that I had won. I am not feeling the thrill of victory. I am only sad about all of the things that I sense that I have lost. I have lost my trust and respect for the FBI. I have lost my faith in our political process. I have lost a sense of fairness and honesty in the system in which I was raised.
We have so many problems, I am trying to help with all that I have, the only tool in my belt, prayer.
I am praying that our new Administration will not carry a big stick. I am praying that Lady Justice will once again become blind so that no matter who is being judged the judgement will be fair, honest and equitable. I am praying that a nation which has lost all semblance of moral authority will not try to impose its' will on nations that are smaller and weaker. I pray for fairness and integrity to bloom within our leadership.
But mostly I pray that God will touch the hearts and minds of our new President, his staff and counselors to draw them near to Him and His ways. There is a need for justice and a need for order and law but there is an equal or even greater need for the citizens of this nation to embrace kindness, fairness, compassion and love. Most of us don't have that innately hard-wired into our psyche, it is something that we need to cultivate and develop. I pray that this will become a priority for each and every one of us.
Maybe I have won. This election has driven me down onto my old arthritic knees to beg for mercy from the God that I choose to honor. I pray that in this, our continuing hour of need, all of us, as Americans and as citizens of this one little dirt ball flying through space, will seek and aspire to higher ways, to a grace and goodness beyond our personal ability, so that we may bless those around us. I love this nation, I have served her and bled for her, and I ask God to bless her again.
I love you,
Dad