"The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made 'bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God' (Isaiah 52:10)."
--Life of John Quincy Adams, p. 248.
As the Political Season reaches its crescendo on this last weekend before the mid-term elections I'm sure everyone has seen their share of campaign advertisements. There certainly has been no shortage of them in this hotly contested climate. I am a political junky, so no matter what the ad I enjoy watching, reading or hearing them. I know, I have a problem!
Most of the time, even the most negative ad is ok with me. Negative ads have been around forever. In 1828 supporters of John Quincy Adams called Andrew Jackson's (his opponent for the presidency) mother a prostitute, so "mudslinging" certain isn't new. However, when I seen a certain ad in my local newspaper this week, I have to admit I was at first astonished, then angry and now as I reflect, saddened.
Tim Bagwell is running for Congress in the 19th Congressional District in Illinois. This happens to be the largest district in IL. He is running against incumbent John Shimkus. Mr. Bagwell ran an add entitled: John Shimkus..."Not Quite Right!" In this ad, Mr. Bagwell states "there is something 'not quite right' about John Shimkus." Then proceeds to list out seven different ways in which he believes that Mr. Shimkus isn't quite right. This list includes things such as, John walking out of a speech given by President Obama on health care, John hiring staff that once worked for George Ryan and John voting against a law that would have required the addition of bittering agents to anti-freeze. Mostly typical negative campaign agenda items.
Then there was this: "He(John Shimkus)Tweets the Bible on Twitter." Say again? That's correct, Tim Bagwell believes that there is something not quite right with John Shimkus, because he spreads the Word of God via Twitter. What has our country come to? This would be disturbing enough if it happened in New York or California, but it happened here in Southern Illinois. Keep in mind that Tim Bagwell didn't say that John misquoted the Bible or that John used the Bible to justify his actions for voting a certain way. No, Mr. Bagwell simply has a problem with John expressing his faith by spreading the inspired true Word of God.
Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13 to "devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching." Paul knew that the Scripture needed to be spread, apparently Tim Bagwell has a problem with that.
Nobody knows how this election will turn out and everyone will have to make up their own mind on who they will vote for, but in trying to get more votes, Mr. Bagwell certainly showed what kind of man he is and what kind of job he would do for us in Congress.
Thomas Jefferson once said "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever;" --Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, p. 237. Maybe we all should reflect before voting on Tuesday.
I will close with Matthew 10:32 - 33 where Jesus says "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."
MH
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Jeremy’s Wedding
Picture courtesy of Jennifer L. K. Thompson Photography
Congratulations Jessa and Jeremy
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
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