A BLOG BY ALAN CHAMBERS

It's Hard to Hate a President that You Pray For

My wife, kids and I have been praying almost daily for Barack, Michelle, Sasha, and Malia Obama since they became the First Family Elect of the United States.  We had voted for John McCain and, frankly, were very nervous about an Obama presidency.  During the campaigning process I was very vocal about my support for McCain and my opposition to Obama.  This is the United States and I am very thankful for the right to speak my mind freely.  People of every race, creed, color, orientation, political affiliation, and religion should always have that right.  There is no harm in having or expressing an opinion.

 However, infinitely more important than being able to express my opinion as an American is my desire as a Christian to care about people’s hearts above those right or wrong opinions.  And, while I am, as a citizen of the United States, regularly and carefully sharing my thoughts with our elected officials I am far more often simply praying for the people voters have entrusted with leading us.

 I am sure that the concept of hating a president or elected official isn’t too far from many people’s minds these days.  The media has always been very quick to show the stories of those who seem to hate a president.  I hear from people daily who hate President Obama’s policies and trash him all day long for them.  Sometimes, maybe often times, I sense that conservatives, more specifically for the purposes of this article, evangelical conservatives, hate this president’s policies and try to defeat them more than they love the man as their neighbor and pray for his heart.  I know for a fact that if I didn’t pray for Barack Obama and his family daily that I would be guilty of the same thing.  It is my praying for the Obama family that keeps me from sinning against them with a reckless tongue.

 I have written before about Former Governor Jesse Ventura’s comment that religion is a crutch for the weak.  In the case of praying for Barack Obama my faith is more like a brick wall for me.  I am weak and I willingly and gladly admit it.  I am too weak not to pray for the daily strength to overcome the sin of unhealthy criticism.  I am too weak not to pray for the ability to love my fellow man with which I have so many deep disagreements.  I pray because I must.  I pray because I will fail miserably if I don’t.  Having failed far more times than I care to number, I daily choose to succeed.  In this particular case, I am choosing to succeed at loving and praying for a president that I don’t agree with, that I didn’t vote for and for his heart that I do not understand. 

 God loves Barack Obama and his family as much as He loves me and mine and wants them for His own—if they aren’t already.  I cannot judge him because I haven’t walked a step in his shoes let alone a mile.  So, as a citizen I will be proactive in sharing my opinions, but far more often my wife, four-year-old son and daughter and I will bow our heads, quiet our hearts and pray this prayer:

 Dear Jesus, This morning we pray for Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha Obama to come to know you if they don’t already.  We pray that President Obama would become the best Christian president this nation has ever known.  Guide him, protect him and help him to seek you.  We pray for his cabinet and administration and for every decision he will make for our country today.  We trust you, Lord.  Amen.

 

 

The Clinton's Legacy

Please read this interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about the Clinton's entitled,

The Clintons' Terror Pardons

Ann the Barbarian!

I don't know where I've been, but until yesterday I hadn't heard of Ann Coulter's latest offense. Last week, Ann Coulter spoke at the American Conservative Union's Political Action Conference. During her speech she said, "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word "faggot," so I - so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards."

When asked about it later she stated, "I'm so ashamed, I can't stop laughing." She added: "C'mon, it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards. That would be mean."

Apparently Ms. Coulter isn’t afraid to be mean. In fact, I found her slur downright nasty. As was a comment that she made last fall to a group of conservative Christian leaders in DC. At that event she equated what the pro-gay lobby was doing with pro-gay legislation to oral sex---“shoving it down our throats”. Many of the leaders got up and left in the middle of her speech.

We do not need this kind of childish vitriol. We can disagree on politics, legislation, moral issues, whatever, but this is way out of line. Faggot is a word that school bullies and ignorant people use to inflict emotional pain on their victims. Ann Coulter should know better and her friends and those that pay her bills would do well to remind her of that fact.

America is So Blue!

The biblical saying, "you reap what you sow" is ringing loud and clear in our nation as people wake up to the news that the Democrats have won control of the House and possibly the Senate.  I think Republicans got too comfortable over the last few years and failed to convince voters that their style of leadership was working.

I also think that people have separated the war in Iraq from the war on terror.  While I believe there are direct ties, I think our leaders became overconfident there, as well.  The people have spoken and their displeasure is unmistakeable.

My friend Phil Burress was quoted in the Wall Street Journal last weekend as he talked about being disappointed in Republicans, even in the President.  But his good advice was to go to the polls, hold your nose and vote Republican anyway.  I took his advice because I agreed that it was the right thing to do overall, not because of the people that we were having to vote for.

I do think the Foley scandal, Ted Haggard's fall and other moral issues had an effect on the elections, but I believe the war was the prevailing factor.

Once again, however, people came out and voted for marriage.  7 out of the 8 states with marriage amendments on the ballots voted for their passage sending a loud message to our newly elected Democrats and the others they will join in Congress come January.

Being the minority party again will re-energize the leaders within the GOP and those that work to keep them in power.  I think this is good for the Church---we need to realize that politics won't save us and that the people need more attention than our elected officials.

Seriously, Congressmen, What About the Children?

Everyone is trying to cover their own butt related to the Mark Foley scandal.  Nancy Pelosi and other House Democrats are calling for investigations to see "who knew" about the predatory emails that former Rep. Foley (R-FL) was sending to high school age Congressional pages.  I just read that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert said there was nothing more he could have done and House Majority Leader John Boehner say that he thought the "ball was in (Hastert's) court" concerning the 2005 allegations. 

Regardless of who is talking about this situation, be it the media, Republicans or Democrats, NO ONE is mentioning the children.  Frankly, I care far less about who knew than I do about these young men who were violated by Mr. Foley.  Where is the apology from the House leadership of both parties to these young men and their families?  Where is the assurance that this won't happen again? This shines a spotlight on the absolute selfishness of our leaders and highlights their lack of regard for anything but their own personal wellbeing.

The little faith that I had in our elected leaders is quickly dwindling.

Shame on Good Morning America, Democrats & Republicans! What About the Children?

Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) is in big trouble for his alleged inappropriate (at best) emails to underage congressional pages.  As if the story isn't shocking enough, it just keeps getting worse.

This morning Good Morning America's Chris Cuomo reported that there is a chance that Republican Leadership has been aware of Rep. Foley's issues  for the last 5 years and that Congressional leaders had reported inappropriate behavior as recent as 2005.

The anchors, reporters and contributors of GMA seemed almost giddy when reporting that this case might have negative political implications for Republican leadership, the President and that it could cause the Democrats to win control of both the House and the Senate when the people go to the polls in 36 days.  It seems that the Dems are going to milk this crisis for all the political capital that it is worth in an attempt to win seats.

Regardless of who knew what and when, this is about wrong vs. right.  Rep. Foley has a problem that is far bigger than his public office or whether or not this will hurt his fellow Republicans at the polls in November.  Shame on GMA, Democrats and Republicans alike for even thinking about politics at a time like this.  That is disgusting.

Rep. Foley is accused of attempting to molest children---possibly having succeeded in his attempt(s).  Pedophilia is a sickness that needs to be addressed in our over sexed culture.  If Rep. Foley is found guilty of these charges then he needs to go to jail and to seek therapy. 

If Republican leadership did indeed know of Rep. Foley's past indiscretions then they should also resign and face charges for withholding information on crimes against children.  If that means Republicans lose seats this year or even the White House in 2008 then so be it.  Children come first.  End of discussion.

Lastly, this morning I was reading a gay weblog where the blogger "hoped" that Foley was innocent because being found guilty might not bode well for the GLBT community.  As with the Dems and Republicans, who cares how this affects the GLBT community or any other group for that matter.  How about hoping that Foley is innocent for the sole purpose that it means children weren't hurt.

Will John Edwards the Next Politician to Declare that He is a "Gay American"?

I admit that I was incredibly into my hair--when I had enough to worry about--But this is RIDICULOUS. Can you say (or spell) narcisism?

Check out the 'New Breck Girl'.

Will July 4th be the Next Anniversary Hijacked by the Gay Political Elite?

Forgive me if that question offends you, but after watching the over coverage of the Massachusetts same-sex marriage battle and the under coverage of the 50th anniversary of a true American hallmark, the Brown vs. the Board of Education victory, I believe no holiday is safe from being usurped.

Fifty years ago, on May 17, 1954, this country witnessed the end of segregation in our nation’s public schools with the renowned court case Brown vs. the Board of Education. You’d think there would have been more media fanfare of this important milestone. Black Americans, both those who led the courageous fight to see racial oppression and inequality end and those that today benefit from that liberation, deserved better. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much reported on the anniversary of Brown vs. the Board of Education on the nations airwaves because members of the Gay Elite hijacked a legitimate civil rights triumph with their battle for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and trumped Black Americans for coverage.

Hijacking has become commonplace for members of the Gay Elite. For instance, in the 1950’s ‘gay’ was a term commonly used to describe happiness and joy. In the late 1960’s homosexual activists stole the word from the American language and today ‘gay’ is synonymous with the word homosexual. It may seem insignificant to you, but I assure you commandeering a word meaning ‘happiness’ was extremely calculated and helped to begin the watering down process of how our society views homosexuality and those who identify as homosexual.

Another example of this hijacking involved the rainbow. Once a secular and Christian symbol for promise and hope, today the only rainbow stickers, signs and flags you’ll find are on the bumpers, porches and t-shirts of those who identify as ‘gay’. Indeed, there is no mistaking the move towards equating the rainbow’s message of hope and promise with the gayness of homosexuality. In the early 1990’s when I was living as a self-identified homosexual man, the ‘gay’ community co-opted another term; this time it was one that carried far more weight and had much greater worth: the word family. In my ‘gay’ days we began to identify our own as ‘family’.

The polls in America are clear: black, white and Hispanic, Republican and Democrat, male and female Americans overwhelmingly support marriage as the union involving one man and one woman for one lifetime. Yesterday, however, homosexuals became beneficiaries of an incredibly successful and well fought campaign to overhaul the way America views them. Fifteen short years ago homosexuality was a moral taboo, an inappropriate topic of conversation on sitcoms, in the news, at the dinner table and in public. Today, same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts and on its way to your state, town and neighborhood, like it or not. The incredibly organized, politically powerful and well-funded Gay Elite have won this battle that will redefine the foundation of what every society since the beginning of time has held dear: marriage. The amount of opposition homosexuals felt as they fought to redefine marriage felt about as powerful as a strong breeze on a warm day at Disney—you know, the home of the annual ‘Gay Days’ event that draws tens of thousands of ‘gays’ to Orlando on the first Saturday of June.

I believe we have only ourselves to blame. While a faithful few have been battling to preserve marriage by trying to rally the troops at great personal cost, unfortunately the majority of conservative Americans, politicians and even Christians have seemingly sat idly by and done nothing. Many Americans were content to watch this on the news and chose not to stand up for what they believe. Honestly, I believe that a great number of Americans are apathetic, inwardly focused, embroiled in their own perversions or so passive that it would take a catastrophe to move them. If you do not know what to do, ask those of us who are on the forefront of this battle and we will gladly put you to work!

It’s not too late. I believe that our only hope is for the Church to rise up, put its hand up to the advancement of immorality, inside and outside the Church, and its hand out for those needing to be liberated from the captivity of sexual sin. Hero Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best: “The Church is neither the master of the state nor the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.” I am praying that America’s conscience is restored and that the Church is victorious.

Exodus is Influencing

Last week I continued my work with the Marriage Amendment Project in Washington, DC. The MAP is a diverse coalition of leaders from around the nation dedicated to preserving marriage as it was intended: one man and one woman for one lifetime. For more information on the MAP: Protect Marriage and For Marriage

While in DC, Leslie and I had the incredible opportunity to attend a number of events commemorating The National Day of Prayer, including a small gathering at the White House where President Bush spoke about prayer and its importance.

Below are some fun photos with new and old friends including: Lt. Colonel Oliver North, Vonette Bright (Co-Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ), Dennis and Melinda Jernigan and one of President Bush praying.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. Floor Statements on Same-Sex Marriage

The Massachusetts Legislature is today wrestling with how to respond to their Supreme Court, which has made same-sex marriage the law of that state.

Even if the Massachusetts legislature is successful in passing a constitutional amendment to block same-sex marriage, it won’t come before voters for ratification for another for two years. And beginning on May 17, the state will begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Once these same-sex couples sue for recognition in their home states, the wildfire will begin. Same-sex marriage is likely to spread to all 50 states in the coming years. So regardless of what Massachusetts does today, it is becoming clear that the Congress must act, and act soon. And the Senate will begin working on the issue in the weeks ahead.

We didn’t seek this fight, and we don’t relish it. But the courts have brought it to us, and the people will respond. We will not let activist judges redefine marriage for our entire society. We reject intolerance, we reject hatred. We must treat all our fellow citizens with kindness and civility.

But marriage should remain what it has always been in our nation: the union of a man and a woman. It is my hope that Massachusetts Legislature will act today.