Worldview and Perspective on Presidential Elections

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Politics and the Resurrection

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:1-28, Romans 13:1, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, 1 Peter 1:3, Revelation 21:5

It seems that every four years, the American people come through another exhausting political season. No matter who “wins,” there are feelings of frustration and disgust on all sides as we observe the...

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Abraham Lincoln

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I desire to conduct the affairs of this administration in such a way that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall have at least one ...

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The Forty-Three Year Old Chief Executive

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Simon Sinek

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Scripture

Romans 12:2, Romans 8:5-6, Proverbs 14:12, John 8:32, Proverbs 3:5-6, James 1:5, 1 Corinthians 3:18-19, Proverbs 28:26

On a cold January day, a forty-three-year-old man was sworn in as the chief executive of his country. By his side stood his predecessor, a famous general who, fifteen years earlier, had commanded his ...

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Alan Roxburgh and M. Scott Boren

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The mysterious choosing of the people of Israel forms the imaginative backdrop to the New Testament concept of election . The mystery of the election of the church is not, as in Augustine’s framing, ...

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The Day of Judgment Is Approaching…Or Not

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During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. One day in 1789, the sky ...

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Prayer for those who Influence Public Opinion

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Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may do their part in making the h...

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Even the Almighty took seven

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Proverbs 15:23, Proverbs 16:1, Ecclesiastes 3:1, James 1:19, Proverbs 25:11, Genesis 1:

Franklin D. Roosevelt had hoped the Yalta conference (which discussed the future of Europe and Germany post-WWII) wouldn’t last more than five or six days. Winston Churchill, however, remarked, “I do ...

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Gracious God, you have placed us in a

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Chip Hardwick

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Gracious God, you have placed us in a culture that seems more and more filled with politics. Forgive us for every time we respond to these politics with decisions that do not honor Christ. Pardon us f...

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The Perils of Leadership

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President Lyndon B. Johnson told the story that when Harry Truman became President, Speaker of the House Samuel Rayburn gave him the following advice: From here on out you're going to have lots ...

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Would You Let Your Son Marry A Democrat? Or Republican?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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The last 80 years of American politics have unfortunately seen a dramatic increase in political polarization. One reporter likened the relationship between Republicans and Democrats to the famous Shak...

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Author

G. K. Chesterton

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Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes — our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely ha...

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Father–nothing escapes your notice, is

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:19, Revelation 21:4, Romans 8:26, Acts 1:8, Psalm 46:1, Matthew 5:9

Father–nothing escapes your notice, is beyond your care or too hard for you to take on, whether it concerns nations or individuals. You have a heart for all the world–not just our little piece of it. ...

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The CNN Effect

Author

Ryan Holiday

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Scripture

Philippians 4:8, Romans 12:2, Luke 21:34, Psalm 46:10, Matthew 6:22-23

In the 1990s, political scientists began to study what they called the “CNN Effect.” Breathless, twenty-four-hour media coverage makes it considerably harder for politicians and CEOs to be anything bu...

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Daughter Cheating?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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As a committed Southern Baptist, president Jimmy Carter was often questioned by reporters on a variety of moral issues. One day, a reporter asked, “How would you feel if you were told that your daught...

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Returning to a Better America

Author

Ken Wytsma

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Scripture

Amos 5:21-24, Micah 6:6-8 , Ecclesiastes 7:10, Psalm 146:3-7, Matthew 23:23-24, Philippians 3:13-14

There are many people who will always want to return to the time when America was great. But was there ever a time when America was a wonderful place for everyone? As I saw on a Facebook meme recently...

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Author

Desiderius Erasmus

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Scripture

Ephesians 1:18, Proverbs 29:18, Psalm 119:18, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Revelation 3:17-18, Isaiah 42:7, John 9:39

In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

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Author

Wesley Granberg-Michaelson

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Most leaders focus on how to succeed in a task. A far better approach is to focus on who you are.

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Wait, What Did You Say?

Author

Scott Bowerman

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There’s a funny story about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which is probably apocryphal, but is nonetheless a good illustration of the importance of listening. The story goes that Roosevelt was...

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Interpretive strategies have gone through cycles

Author

R. C. Sproul

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Scripture

Exodus 20:1–17, Genesis 22:1–14 , Micah 6:6–8 , Luke 10:25–37 , Matthew 5:17–20, Psalm 82:3–4

Interpretive strategies have gone through cycles of strict-constructionist (or Originalism) and broad-constructionist (or Living Constitution) perspectives. Originally the procedure of interpreting th...

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Author

Reinhold Niebuhr

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Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutes into the realm of relative values.

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Author

Eugene Cho

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Many Christians are not only passionate about politics but are also involved in politics on some level. And yet, I would argue, at times, we are played by politics. At times, our identities and values...

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Two Examples of Long Memories

Author

Kenneth E. Bailey

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The Reliability of Scripture

As an amateur yet serious student of the American Civil War, I am constantly amazed at the sheer volume of material, which was preserved orally for half a century and longer, surrounding the key figur...

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Which Doll is Prettiest?

Author

Melinda Joy Mingo

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In the 1940s, two black psychologists who were married to each other, Kenneth and Mamie Clark, were instrumental in the civil rights movement, conducting important research about the effects of race a...

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Author

Phillip Yancey

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I see the confusion of politics and religion as one of the greatest barriers to grace. C. S. Lewis observed that almost all crimes of Christian history have come about when religion is confused with p...

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The Anatomy of a Crisis: Sermon Illustration Thursday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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All crises are judgments of history that call into question an existing state of affairs. They sift and sort the character and condition of a nation and its capacity to respond. The deeper the crisis,...

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When Scandals Become Blasé

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

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Scripture

Hebrews 13:4, Matthew 18:6-10

In his thoughtful book, Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes , Jonathan K. Dodson describes what has become a reality of modern-day life-scandals happen every day, and no-one...

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Nothing to Hide

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 139:23-24, Ephesians 5:11-13, Hebrews 4:13, Genesis 2:25, Genesis 3:7-11, Isaiah 47:3, Revelation 3:18

The relationship between wartime leaders Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt has been well chronicled by historians of the period. On one visit to the United States, Roosevelt wheeled hims...

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A Triumphal Procession

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:8-11, Luke 19:36-44, John 12:16-19, Revelation 19:11-16

Two thousand years ago, triumphal processions were massively popular. It was, in all likelihood, the only chance most people would have to see the leaders and heroes of the day. For the Romans they t...

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Where Were the Humanists?

Author

Timothy Keller

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Scripture

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, Isaiah 41:10, Revelation 21:4, John 14:1-3, Romans 8:38-39, Psalm 34:18, 2 Corinthians 5:1

Not long after the December 2012 Newtown shootings, and all the speeches by civic leaders, memorial services, and funerals were over, Samuel G. Freedman wrote a column in The New York Times titled “In...

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Faithful and Good God–our Father,

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 46:1, Matthew 11:28-30, Philippians 4:6-7, James 1:5, 1 Peter 5:7, Isaiah 41:10

Faithful and Good God–our Father, Redeemer and Companion. You know all about us–and love us anyhow; nothing we are or do surprises you or puts you off. Therefore, we turn to you with assurance and tru...

worldview and perspective on Presidential Elections

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