Hosea and The 2012 Election

In my personal Bible study time each morning, I've been reading through the Old Testament prophets.  The last few days I've been reading the prophetic book of Hosea.  Hosea was a man called of God to preach a message of judgement and a call to repentance to the people of Israel about 2700 years ago.  His words were not received well then, and the people to whom he was speaking  refused to hear his message.  As a result, they (the people of the northern 10 tribes of Israel) were taken into captivity by Assyria just a few years later and would be destroyed as a people.

On a day after our countrymen willingly embraced a presidency which which is pro-abortion, anti-God, and anti-marriage, I read these words, which ring out through the millenia to us today:  Speaking of Israel (and I think, America today) Hosea writes:

"Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God.
For a spirit of harlotry is within them.
And they do not know the Lord."  Hos 5:4

"They will go...to seek the Lord, 
but they will not find Him:
He has withdrawn from them." Hos 5:6

"(Israel) is oppressed, crushed in judgement,
Because he was determined to follow man's command."  Hos 5:11

"I will go away and return to My place
Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face:
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."  Hos 5:15

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." Hos 4:6

Strong words!  Yet as I have read these words today, I can't help but believe they are true for us as well.  I believe that judgement is coming to America.  We have forsaken God, and He has promised to withdraw Himself from those who willingly refuse Him.  I don't know what all this means for us in the future, but we as Christians need to be more prepared to be salt and light in this dark world than ever before.  Isn't it true that a candle glowing during the day will get little attention, but in the pitch black of night it becomes a beacon to all who will follow it?  Whatever the future holds, I want to be that light to those around me.  I want my life to be like life-preserving salt.  And I want to point to the One who holds out hope to those "who acknowledge their guilt and seek His face!"

As I wrote last night after the results of the election became known, I am not in despair, and, if you are a Christian, neither should you be!  The writer of Hebrews speaks these words to us, which are as true today as they were almost 2,000 years ago:

"Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need..."  Heb. 4:16

"...we who have taken refuge...have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast..." Heb. 6:18,19

Not In Despair!

I've been re-reading Eric Metaxas excellent biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy"  This man spent the last two years of his life in Nazi prison before his life was taken.  Yet he never complained nor considered his fate harsh.  He refused to be in despair even in the midst of the most trying circumstances.

Like many of you, I'm disappointed at the apparent loss of this race by Gov. Romney and the spectacle of four more years under President Obama.  I suspect that this may mean the end is nearer than we expected.  However, my hope is in God, come what may!  I'm not in prison and I'm not being tortured for my faith.  So how can I be in despair when others like Bonhoeffer who has suffered those things and worse refused to be in despair? If I'm a child of the king, there is no reason to allow despair in my life!

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed... Therefore we do not lose heart! Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 
II Cor 4:8-9,16-18

Why I'm Voting For Mitt Romney

I recently posted concerning President Obama's record the last four years and why I won't vote for him. However, my vote for president this year won't be just a vote against President Obama, but will be a vote for Mitt Romney.  He was not my first choice during the primaries.  However, since then I've read many articles about his life and his family as well as about his plans of where he wants to lead our country in the next four years.  I've actually come to be very impressed by what I've found.  While there are many reasons why I think Mitt Romney would make a great president, I'd like to give you five reasons why I'm voting for Mitt Romney next Tuesday:

1. Mitt Romney is a proven business leader-Gov. Romney has been a leader all of his adult life.  This extremely smart man has both a law degree and an MBA, both from Harvard.  He  began his business career at Bain & Co., then spun it off into a phenomenally successful start up company named Bain Capital, which has been an investor in or acquired such business as Staples, Sports Authority, Dominoes Pizza, and Sealy Corp.  While Bain Capital thrived under Mitt's leadership, Bain & Co. went into a financial tailspin until they asked Mitt to come back and save the parent company.  He went back to Bain & Co. for two years, taking a salary of $1 while he worked to put his former employer back on a sound financial footing, which he succeeded in doing.  In 1999, Mitt took on the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, which at that time was $379 million short of its revenue goals.  While salvaging the Olympics and making it successful, he returned his $1.4 million salary and additionally contributed $1 million of his own money to the Olympics!   In contrast to Mitt Romney's experience in both the private and public sectors, Barack Obama had zero experience in managing anything before he ran for president-not even a lemonade stand!  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_career_of_Mitt_Romney)
2. Mitt Romney has executive experience in the public sector and knows how to reach across the aisle- Mitt become a successful governor of Massachussetts, taking the state from a $1.2 billion deficit to $600 million surplus. He worked with an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature to cut spending by $1.6 billion and to reform the state's  health care system.  Also, during his tenure as governor, his state's unemployment rate dropped from 5.6% to 4.7%. (http://www.mittromney.com/learn/mitt)
3. Mitt Romney is not afraid to address the fiscal and economic crises our nation is facing-The U.S. is facing the daunting problems of staggering debt and an insolvent Medicare program as well as an extremely sluggish economy.  Governor Romney has detailed plans to on how to tackle these issues. (http://www.mittromney.com/JobsPlan)  In contrast, Barack Obama's can't even propose a serious budget.  Under his leadership, the Democratic-led Senate has not passed a budget in over 3 years!  Perhaps even more amazingly, the president proposed a budget earlier this year that was defeated 99-0!  He couldn't even get one member of his own party to vote for it!  (http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/may/16/obama-budget-defeated-99-0-senate/ http://bit.ly/RBR4tV)  Obama's  plan to "soak the rich" will not even begin to bring in the revenue needed to bring us back from the fiscal cliff we are on, and the excessive regulations, including "Obamacare" and "Dodd-Frank" that he has put in place are actually putting a huge damper on our economy, not allowing us to achieve more than meager growth at best. 
4. Mitt Romney shares my values-Why would a Christian guy like myself vote for a Mormon candidate?   Well, if I were voting for a church position, I wouldn't vote for Mitt Romney.  I don't believe Mormon theology and it is questionable at best whether they should be considered followers of Christ, as they reject many of the tenets of traditional Christianity.  However, when it comes to voting for president, I have to choose the candidate that most closely holds my values.  There is no doubt that Mitt Romney holds for traditional family values in a way that our current president simply does not.  Although he once considered himself pro-choice, he has been pro-life since his days as governor of Massachussetts.  He has stated that he would appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of Scalia and Thomas.  He defends the sanctity of marriage and promises to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.   In contrast, Barack Obama has been by far the most pro-abortion president in the history of our country.  And he has promoted same-sex marriage, undermining the traditional view of marriage as one man-one woman which virtually all societies have embraced for millenia.  (http://www.mittromney.com/issues/values)
5. Mitt Romney is a good man-Much has been made by Democrats about Mitt Romney's tax rate, as if it is unpatriotic to try to pay as few taxes as possible.  (Who do you know who wants to pay more taxes than they absolutely have to?).  However, the main reason that the Romney's tax rate is so low is because they give an enormous amount to charity.  In 2011, his charitable contributions totaled 29% of his income.  (http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/21/tax-records-romney-donated-29-percent-of-income-to-charity-in-2011/ http://bit.ly/VkEuFI ) Concerning his character, many who know Mitt Romney have testified that he is a very caring individual, not only giving enormous amounts of his money but his time as well to others.  One story that Gov. Romney has not used much in this campaign really reveals a lot about his character.   The story is told in detail here and it's worth reading: (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/pressed-for-anecdote-romney-recounts-tale-of-missing-girl/) .  In short, one of his partners at Bain Capital had a daughter who went missing after a party. Out of concern for her welfare,  Mitt essentially shut down the company for several days while they combed the streets of New York City, eventually finding the young girl.

 The decision that we make this coming Tuesday will affect each of us in America for the rest of our lives. I honestly believe the future of our country hangs in the balance.   I would encourage you to be prayerful about your decision on who to vote for.  I've tried to look at the facts, not at the spin, and I've tried to share those facts with others.  We have a choice of what kind of nation we want to be.   Next Tuesday, I'm praying we make the right choice!


Want to read more?  Here's links to some of my more popular posts:
Lincoln & Obama-Two Views of Welfare
TR on Lincoln-The Great Statesman
A Christmas Story-Put It On My Account
Reflections On 30 Years of Marriage-Part 1