Caffeinated Thoughts: God's still on His Throne.

Well after Tuesday people were either happy or disappointed. I was somewhat disappointed, but not surprised. I am very thankful for the politcal ads being done. This season seemed to be extraordinarily bad.

Well, I want to encourage you that God was not surprised. He didn't gasp and say - "I can't believe they voted that way."

Romans 13:1 says that "there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God," (ESV).

He is in control. God is no respecter of political party. He is not partial to elephants or donkeys. As Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX and president of the Urban Alternative has said, "when Jesus comes back He won't come to take sides, He has come to take over!"

This is a time for socially conservative evangelicals to ponder and reflect - what can we learn from this. A few things:

While being involved in the poltical process is important as good citizens, our world will not be redeemed by any Congress or President. Salvation does not come from the Oval Office, the U.S. Capitol, Governor's Mansions, or statehouses. It comes only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our top priority needs to be sharing the love of Jesus Christ in word and deed with a fallen world that is desperate, albeit doesn't always realize it, for His love.
Evangelicals should not necessarily be tied to one political party. I think many of us, myself included, were too stuck on the GOP. There are things that Republicans have stood for or allowed that isn't biblical as well. We can rejoice in this election cycle that a number of pro-life, pro-famiy Democrats won. Also 7 of 8 states that had a marriage protection amendment on the ballot approved them. Arizona is the only state that did not. Out of the states that did pass them, South Dakota was the only one that did not pass it overwhelmingly (may analysts suggest that is due to the liberterian nature of the state). All of this is a good reminder that we should vote values, not party.
We can also rejoice that born-again Christians are emerging in the Democratic party and that they are being given a greater voice. George Hunter III of Asbury Theological Seminary, who confesses that he is an evangelical Democrat, said that part of being salt & light means Christians being involved in both party. I have to concede that to him, as that is true. Let's hope these new folks will find a voice with the national Democratic leadership.

That brings me back to my original point that to truly impact culture, we need to impact people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ one by one. Anyway, there has been a lot of great analysis of the election, and I would like to share some of those links.