January 25, 2019: I am NOT a Christian!

To my dismay,
I have learned over the past few years that

I am NOT a Christian!

During the time that Barrack Obama was the president of this great nation, I saw several people post on social media the following:

If you support Obama, you CANNOT be a Christian! It just doesn't work that way!

Ironically, I have seen the same post about Donald Trump. "If you support Trump, you CANNOT be a Christian!"

So, I cannot support a Democrat president or a Republican president without jeopardizing my relationship with God and Jesus Christ? What about Independents? Is my soul safe if I support them? Are Libertarians safe to back? Is there a list somewhere that I can refer to before I choose a candidate to vote for? To whom has God given the authority to make these decisions?

Seriously, there is a lot of unchristian behavior going around in politics, and it is not limited to any one party. For too long, the American people have been forced to hold their noses and vote for one candidate or the other because in their subjective opinion, that candidate is less bad than the other one. It has been a while for me since I have had two shining candidates to choose from. Every person that Washington puts forward for us to vote on is marred with flaws and we find ourselves having to ask the question, "Whose flaws are the least disgusting?" Every voter has to make that decision for themselves.

Barrack Obama had "Fast and Furious", Benghazi, and sent billions of dollars to a country that makes it clear that its goal in this world is to destroy America and Israel. He turned Nasa into some kind of good will program for Muslims. He traveled to other countries to apologize for America, and declared America to be a Muslim nation despite the historical record of it being founded on Christian principles.

Donald Trump has made some disgusting comments that are extremely demeaning to women, he uses ridicule regularly to mock his political opponents, for example, Pocahontas. His tone and mannerisms drag down the dignity of the office of the president of the United States. He has been accused of having an affair while married, and critics are convinced that he plotted with Russia to steal the election away from the Democrats.

Which of these two could be said to uphold Christian values? When was the last time a president spoke out in support of the beliefs laid out for us in the Bible?

The kinds of statements mention in the beginning of this post are irresponsible and full of hate. They are definitely not helpful in any way. I am so weary of people who, failing to be able to intelligently discuss their viewpoints, resort to name calling and false innuendo.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior as a teenager, recognizing Him as the Son of God, and confessing my sins. I have studied the Bible all my life, and done the very best to live in accordance with the guidelines set forth there. I have served in many positions in the government of the churches I attended, including youth pastor and Christian counselor to many members of the congregation, and still serve to this day in the music ministry of my current church. I stand ready to testify about the greatness of God at any time.

My Christianity is not diminished in any way because I voted for some political candidate. There are Christians on both sides of any political argument. We will never solve the divide between the political parties leading our country with hate speech.

The Christ that I serve tells us that the greatest commandment in the Bible is to love one another, and I agree. Until we start opening our hearts, we will never find the unity that is so vital to leading this great country.