In a previous blog, I quoted Frederick Douglass who said that there are 3 boxes that defend our rights:

· The Ballot Box

· The Jury Box

· The Cartridge Box

Gary DeMar writes that the late Congressman Larry McDonald said that there was a fourth, the Soap Box. The Soap Box is…

This is the second blog post in our ongoing educational series, “FROM PRAYER TO ENGAGEMENT: EDUCATING CHRISTIANS ABOUT THE POLITICAL PROCESS”

What is a Political Party?

A political party is an organizational tool that is used to put forth ideas and to move agendas forward. Ordinary people join together in political parties to better define themselves in relation to the voting electorate and to make their message clear.

The people within the parties connect around issues, belief systems, and even personalities—leaders or candidates. When committed Christians are involved in a political party…

Romans 13 commands Christians to be subject to the governing authorities.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

(Romans 13: 1-2).

This passage is frequently invoked by pastors and laymen alike as an excuse to avoid civic and political activity. But what is the responsibility of an individual citizen of a republic when the government becomes oppressive?

Part of our call within Christians Engaged is to help political activists spiritually navigate through what is sometimes the muck and mire of political activities and how to ever watch over our own hearts and spiritual lives as we engage as salt and light in our culture. To this end - I share my own heart cries concerning my latest trip to DC. I pray it is a blessing to you.

Most of us have heard this quote:

“Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” 

It is from Lord Action, a British historian of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

I pondered this quote last week as I wandered around the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC.

I was very honored that my Member of Congress had given me his only available ticket.

The annual Prayer Breakfast is an exclusive gathering of ministers, dignitaries, elected officials and thought leaders gathered together by a group called “The Fellowship.”

It is easy for Christians in American to find themselves busy, confused, and misdirected.  We live in a country where the median family ranks among the top decile of global wealth.  We are told we can say what we want, live how we want, eat what we want, and believe what we want.  Between family duties, attending church, performing various roles of service, and work obligations, we feel like…

This is the first blog post in our new educational series, “FROM PRAYER TO ENGAGEMENT: EDUCATING CHRISTIANS ABOUT THE POLITICAL PROCESS”

“I want to get involved in my party of choice, but I don’t know where to start.”

Is this something you’ve thought about or talked about with friends or family?  There are various ways to be involved in your party like volunteering on campaigns or joining a local political club, but one very effective and satisfying way is through the convention process…

This month, I lost a dear friend, County Judge of Henderson County, Richard Sanders. He truly was the gentle giant as people described him.

Richard was a football player in high school, real estate developer, regional representative for Congressman Jeb Hensarling for 8 years, and then a two-term County Judge, the top administrator, for the county that he loved.

Throughout his career, Richard embodied the ideal public servant, and was a true example of why good, Christian people are needed to help navigate the muck and mire of local, county, and state government.

My hope in sharing this profile is to not only testify of what this humble man meant to me, but to inspire us all that public service is a worthy profession. We need more men and women of character and courage to step up and serve.

After doubling up on homeschooling so we would have extra vacation days the week of Thanksgiving, I was ready to be done with any form of studying! Instead I sat down to work on this new project - Christians Engaged - and immediately put myself back into study mode. I decided that I wanted to know more about what the word ENGAGED meant.  If we were going to ask people to “engage” - what was it and what were we hoping to see occur? What would be our messaging? …

When something really historic happens, we often mark the day by noting where we were on that day, and by what we were doing at the moment…

On August 28th, 1963 when 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak, I was a 16 year-old high school student preparing my clothes for the first day of my junior year. School would be starting in a few days and I was watching TV as I ironed my new school clothes. I was scared, excited and resolved at the same time…

The Christmas story in sum: God incarnate, Man divine. Jesus was fully God and fully human. An essential truth of the Gospel. The Bible teaches that Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Jesus possessed every essential quality of being human, yet remained fully God.

On the morning of January 1, 2012, I woke up with an urgency in my spirit. I knew it had to do with America. People everywhere were becoming concerned with America’s direction but most didn’t seem to know what to do. That included me.

When I got into politics as an activist over 15 years ago and then as a career, my father, a former pastor, questioned whether I was doing the right thing. He didn’t want me to leave what he considered to be the “call on my life” to teach the Bible. He had this idea in his mind that Christians couldn’t really get involved with politics without corrupting themselves with the “evil”. He believed it was a corrupting game. I told him politely that I believed he was wrong.

Have you ever been intrigued by true stories filled with mystery, love affairs, crimes, assassinations and coups,  military strategy, law and courts, prophecies given and fulfilled, science and creation, the rise and fall of nations,  family discord and restoration, ancestry, adoption, details and destinies of individual lives, and supernatural miracles and events?  

Years ago, I read the statistics connecting Christians and voting. I was shocked! Only 50% of all Christians are registered to vote, and of the half that are registered to vote only half of those ACTUALLY vote, and of the half that actually vote only half of those actually vote Biblical values. The implications of these statistics are mind-boggling. I quickly realized that if we could raise those statistics even slightly, we could change our country.

The CHURCH of Jesus Christ, all of us together regardless of denomination or worship styles, have a power at our fingertips that we aren’t using. It is a secret weapon that isn’t really that secret, but it might as well be - we aren’t using it to it’s potential. What am I talking about? The power of our VOTE. Yes, simply VOTING.

We think about prayer. We think about God sometimes. Maybe sometimes. Are we asleep or awake? dHere a quote from our culture over the last few months. I must say I never saw this messenger coming.

“People who don’t believe are asleep. They are the walking dead, but this is the awakening!”

Guess who said that?