Its almost time to vote

Tonight the news reports are announcing that Barack Obama has become the nominee of the Democratic Party for the Presidency of the United States. I watched his acceptance speech and he is very eloquent. I appreciated the fact that he was very polite and very gracious toward both Hillary Clinton and John McCain, lifting them both up as noble Americans who care about the American people. Instead of putting them down, he went on to highlight what he wanted to do. Maybe there is something different about him?

I watched as Hillary Clinton gave her speech outlining what she has done for the last sixteen months as she campaigned for the nomination. She told her supporters that the fight was not over. She declared that no matter what happened next, she was going to fight for them in one way or another. Obama actually picked up on that and said that Hillary would be in the middle of anything that happens in vital issues such as health care.

It got me thinking about the upcoming election. I've said this before. I believe it is important for all of us to get to know the candidates and then to go out and vote for the person we believe reflects our faith and values. I don't care if you are Republican or Democrat, it is the voting and exercising our rights in this democracy that is important. That is how the process works and if we want to keep our freedoms, then we need to do this even if it seems inconvenient at times.

As to who wins, I believe God will use whoever wins to accomplish his will. Last winter I preached about how God used Cyrus, the Babylonian king, to rebuild Israel. He didn't believe in God, yet he allowed Ezra and Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. What god wants for America, God will get. After all he used a backwoods country lawyer to free the slaves and settle a war. He used a army general who was often discouraged and on the verge of despair to bring the nation together in its infancy. He used a crippled man who tried to hide his weakness to bring hope to a nation lost in depression. He used a Hollywood actor to restore a sense of luster to a Presidency that had been tarnished by scandal and weakness. This actor helped us believe in ourselves again.

So I'm not worried so much about who wins this fall. I will just continue o pray that god's will be done. I hope you will do the same.

Cal