Tag: vote

Use Your Write-In Vote to Elect Messiah

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Wouldn’t it be great if every Believer in God and Messiah used their right to a Write-In Candidate and submitted “Messiah, the son of God” instead of who is on the ticket?

There are millions of people who are “Born Again”: Christians, Messianic Jews, Hebraic Roots Movement, and even members of the other established Christian religions which aren’t associated with the idea of being “Born Again.” What if they all rejected the slated political candidates and wrote-in “Messiah, the son of God” as their choice?

NOTE: I am using the title “Messiah, the son of God so there is no confusion because there are many names we use for him: Jesus, Christ, Yeshua, HaMashiach, as well as other names which identify the Messiah God promised to the world. Messiah, the son of God is pretty much a universal description that I believe everyone will recognize.

Of course, this won’t ever happen, but wouldn’t it be cool if it did? And if it did, would Yeshua appear to take office? That would raise another interesting question: would he really have to be sworn in, since he never lies? He could just take the oath of office without having to swear at all.

You may be asking why I would present an idea and in the same breath say it can’t happen? For this reason: it won’t happen but it should be the ideal on which we decide who we do vote for. What I mean by that is this: when we vote for someone, we should consider the political and personal history of the candidate against what the Bible says a leader should be. And here are a couple of guidelines for that:

Exodus 18:21-22– But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens

Titus 1:5-9– An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.  Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.  Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.  He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

1 Timothy 3:12– A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. 

Based on these biblical requirements for being a leader of the people, we would have almost no one in the Capital, on the bench or in the White House. Given this situation, maybe we should write-in Yeshua at the next election!

I hear, just as I’m sure you do, people always complaining about the people in government. I find it sad that they fail to remember that our government is a representative government, meaning that the people running the show are there because we put them there, or (worse yet) we left them there. In my opinion, the reason our governmental system has worked so well over the centuries is this: because politicians do what they need to do to get re-elected, there must be enough good done for the people in order that they will re-elect that representative. Therefore, despite the politicians’ main goal to be doing what is best for them, they end up doing what is good for the country.

One last point I would like to make, which is a personal opinion: if there isn’t anyone I want to have in a position of leadership, then I won’t vote. I have a right to vote, and an obligation, but that obligation is NOT to put someone in office that I don’t think deserves to be there. I will not vote for the other person just because he or she is “not as bad”- when it comes down to electing the lesser of two evils, I will not be a part of electing either one. An abstention is just as important as a vote and has been used to signify disagreement with a position, policy, or person ever since governments were first formed.

This 2018 mid-term election is over, but when the next one comes along (and there is always another election) and you are called upon to elect a representative, make sure he or she represents what God says a leader should be.

And if there isn’t anyone on the ticket that meets or (at least) comes close to God’s requirements, then you might consider abstaining and just stay home.

The vote is a very important obligation, one that is not to be wasted just in order to please someone who tells you that you HAVE to vote! It is YOUR vote, not theirs, and you can do with it as you want.

Vote or don’t vote: that is the question

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A couple of weeks ago, when we were in the Parashah Shoftim (Judges), my Pastor made a very good argument for voting in the upcoming Presidential election. He pointed out this parashah tells us that we are told to appoint judges, in fact, we are told to appoint righteous judges, to determine justice. This was a commandment given by God to the children of Israel. This is a strong argument that we should vote in an election. Although it was plainly stated that he didn’t think much of either candidate, the argument for one over the other was, essentially, that God is in control and that he (my Pastor) believed one of the two would be more inclined to appoint “righteous judges” within the Cabinet and Judiciary than the other would.

Good argument, but I don’t buy it.

I am not voting for either of these two candidates because I do not think either of them are worthy to be President. I am not being inactive- I am actively abstaining.

I am very vocal with people who tell me I have to vote- NO, I don’t have to vote!  The right to vote is also the right to abstain.

The problem with people is that they are too lazy to think for themselves and too eager to tell others what to do.

If you take a moment to do a Google search for “abstention as a political tool” you will find a number of “hits” that demonstrate how abstaining from a vote is, in and of itself, a vote against what is being offered.

I served my country, and when someone has the nerve to tell me what to do with my vote, I ask them what branch of the service they served in (most never have.) I have risked my life for my country, and the oath I took when I joined the Marine Corps did not end when my required service time on active duty was up (I also served an additional year in the Reserves). I have served my country, and have never stopped being obligated to the oath I took- I have earned the right to not vote.

I don’t want to have anything to do with having put either Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton in the White House. It’s just that simple, and unlike my Pastor (who I respect and have listened to in the past, when there was someone I could vote for), I don’t trust either of these two to appoint anyone except someone like them. As the expressions goes, “Birds of a feather flock together” and as President, both of them will need as many friends in positions of authority as they can get.

My opinion follows: elect Hillary and we put Bill back in the White House; elect Donald and we’ll have a President who will (effectively) be a lame duck from the moment he takes the oath because neither Congress not the Senate will work with him.

But, this isn’t about what I believe, or what you believe, for that matter- this is about doing what is right in God’s eyes. I believe the passage Pastor referred to (Deuteronomy 16:18) is telling us, literally, to appoint righteous judges, meaning we shouldn’t settle for less. If there are no righteous judges, then we are like those people we read of in the Book of Judges, where there was no King so men just did what seemed right to them.

In other words, there was anarchy. And that is what we can expect as the End Times come upon us: anarchy, unrighteousness flourishing, and the stage being set for the Evil One to take over. They say that the “stuff” flows downhill, and the White House is at the top of the Hill.

See my point?

I am not voting simply because my non-vote, my abstention, is a statement that I do not want either of these candidates. Voting for someone who has no chance of winning, just to say “I voted”, seems to me to be a waste of the right to vote.

I want to do what is right in God’s eyes, and God is very clear about who should lead us. I’ll give you three guesses who that is, and the first two guesses don’t count. Yes, very good- Yeshua is our King on Earth and God is the King of kings. Until Yeshua is running the show, we have to settle for earthly leaders, who we should respect and obey (1 Peter 2:17).

However, we are to have no part, whatsoever, in unrighteousness:

Chronicles 19:7– Now then let the fear of the LORD be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the LORD our God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe.”

2 Corinthians 6:14- Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Ephesians 5:11– Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

The bible is clear that we must respect those in authority over us because God is in charge, and if they are there it is because He allows it. But He also tells us to have nothing to do with unrighteousness, so that means, to me, that if there is no righteous judge to appoint, then leave what happens up to God and have nothing to do with unrighteousness. It’s His show, it’s His call, and I want to play the game on His turf, so I should vote for those that represent righteousness and abstain (as a vehicle used to show a negative vote) from voting for anyone that I believe to be unrighteous.

You have the right to vote, and the right to abstain. No one, and I mean NO ONE!… has the right to tell you what to do with your vote.

Be a part of righteousness in all that you do, and refrain from being a part of unrighteousness: that isn’t from me, it’s the way God tells you to be.