So What's This All About?

In case you didn't know, I'm in the multi-year-long process of posting a Christian devotional at the TAWG Blog. The TAWG Blog is, and always will be, mostly apolitical. For the most part, Bible-believing Christians will find little to disagree with there. But I also firmly believe that God's word can--and should--inform everything in life, and this should include politics and popular culture. How should we vote? How should we respond to hot topics such as abortion, capital punishment, taxes, and other issues? Which party, if either, is closer to the Biblical ideal? Tony Campolo and Ron Sider, Evangelicals whose political leanings are on the Left, have made the case in several of their writings that God wants his followers to vote politically on the Left more than on the Right. At times, some of them have gone so far as to equate voting on the Left with obedience to Christ, either subtly or not-so-subtly contending that the converse is true as well: If you vote Republican, you're sinning against the Savior.
I don't agree. I think that to the degree they actually resort to the Bible, they're misinterpreting it. With a whole bunch of caveats, I think politically conservative positions are a lot more compatible with the Scriptures than the Leftist positions.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
So there are two main purposes for this blog. One is to make a case for my political beliefs based on Scripture. The other is a bit more vague, basically to work out my political beliefs and figure out what's based on Scripture and what's based on my own biases. I certainly don't have all the answers. Some of this stuff I'm still figuring out. And I'm certainly open to correction. As long as you make your case civilly and based on Scripture, feel free to make a comment, and I promise I'll post it and consider your arguments thoughtfully and prayerfully. Who knows? Maybe we'll learn a little something from each other.
May God bless our common striving together towards both the "little t" truth and "Big T" Truth. Our watchword here is a line from C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle: "Further up and further in!"

P.S. -- Below on the left is "Topics I've Covered" which lists everything I've posted topically. It's come to my attention that some people would like to see everything just listed for them. If that's you, you can get it here. Thanks to my friend Stephen Young for the tip!

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Lincoln's Bumpy Road

From Bill Bennett's American Patriot's Almanac:

On September 9, 1836, Abraham Lincoln earned his license to practice law in Illinois— a sweet victory for a prairie lad with less than a year of formal education. Like all others, Lincoln’s life was bumpy with both successes and setbacks. “I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end,” he said.
1832 Elected captain of an Illinois militia company
1832 Defeated for state legislature
1833 Failed in business
1833 Appointed postmaster of New Salem, Illinois
1834 Elected to state legislature
1835 Sweetheart died
1836 Received license to practice law in Illinois
1838 Defeated for Speaker of the Illinois House
1841 Suffered deep depression
1842 Married Mary Todd
1844 Established his own law practice
1846 Elected to U.S. Congress
1849 Failed to get appointment to U.S. Land Office
1850 Four-year-old son died
1855 Defeated for U.S. Senate
1857 Earned large attorney fee in a successful case
1858 Again defeated for Senate
1860 ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

 Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. You’ll read about heroes, their achievements, and key events that took place “On This Day” in American history. Click here to subscribe.


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