”Brother Tim, there’s a man in the parking lot puking
his guts out!”
My chairman of deacons came to me saying that yesterday. I
won’t tell you my first thought, but my second, more pastoral thought was, “okay,
I will go see if he is okay.”
The deacon and I go over to the van but he is not sick...
but praying...
I’ll tell you the rest of the story at the bottom of this post....
...You will just have to skip down (or better yet, read this entire post)
because political advertising is popping up everywhere...
Today is the last day to early vote and Tuesday is the election. So here are
some election thoughts:
SHARIA LAW and SOCIALISM: Government is first of all to protect its country’s
citizens. “Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can
live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and
pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the
truth” (1 Tim. 2:2–4).
Which party protects the lives of the unborn?
Also, Socialist and Islamic governments around the world have less freedoms
than we have in the United States.
Socialism and Sharia law would definitely be against Christian values.
VALUES: Secondly, Christians should seek a government that reflects God’s
values. “For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that
exist are appointed by God” (Rom. 13:1). Think of the Ten Commandments and ask:
(#1 & #2) What policies might tempt citizens to look to the government for
what ultimately can only be found in God?
(#3) Who affirms God’s name?
(#4) Who encourages holy worship?
(#5) Which party affirms parents and parental rights? Who would most likely
protect children from being mutilated in the grossly mis-named “gender-affirming
care”?
(#6) Who is against murder of innocents? Which party is against abortion?
(#7) Which party strengthens marriage, defined by Old and New Testaments as one
man and one woman? (Matt. 19:4-5, Mark 10:6-10, Gen. 1:27, Gen. 5:2, Lev.
18:22)
(#8) Which candidate risks violating the principle behind “You shall not steal,”
through wrongdoing, misconduct, or government action?
(#9) (this is a tough one, I’ll admit) Which party is the most truthful and
honest?
(#10) Which party is most likely to encourage citizens to covet what belongs to
others?
LIBERTY: Thirdly, vote to punish “evildoers” and encourage “those who do
good…yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God” (1
Peter 3:16, NKJV).
CHARITABLE GIVING and TAXES: Which party best represents 2 Cor. 9:7, “So let
each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for
God loves a cheerful giver.”
HELPING THE POOR: Which do you think is better at helping the needy, the local
church and agencies or the government (don’t answer if you live in Michigan)?
INFLATION: During 2017-2020: 1.88%;
2021-2024: 4.93%;
2025-2026 (so far): 2.92%
LOVE NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF: Which policy loves others like we love ourselves?
For instance, if you would leave your doors unlocked and welcome those who
violate the law into your homes to stay illegally, vote accordingly.
GENDER: Which party most closely aligns with “So God created human beings in
His own image. In the image of God, He created them; male and female He created
them” (Gen. 1:27).
SENDING A MESSAGE: Last of all, if you think not voting or voting for the other
party is going to “send a message,” why not vote for the one which most closely
aligns with the Biblical commands and then actually SEND A MESSAGE? Tell
whomever how you feel about the areas with which you disagree.
...
okay, back to the man on the parking lot.
Once the man finishes praying, our deacon and I go to him and welcome him. He
is very nice late 50s to early 60s, man who says to us, “Thank you for checking
on me. We often stop at churches because we have the same god and it is a
peaceful place to pray. We pray five times a day.” He is from Jordan originally
where Christians and Muslims worship side by side. He also said we have the
same god as Adam and Abraham had.
“We believe Jesus will be coming again and he will destroy the antichrist...”
he said.
We engage in more conversation and finally I ask, “May I share with you what
the Bible says about Jesus?”
“Oh I know, but yes you can share.”
“First you know of course that the Qur’an was written hundreds of years after
Mohammed, right?”
“Yes, four hundred years,” he answered.
“The New Testament which tells of Jesus was written only a few years after
Jesus died, with the gospel of John and the book of Revelation written before
100 AD. The New Testament teaches that Jesus was the Son of God and John most
clearly says that He was God in the flesh.”
He looks skeptical and shakes his head but is still so polite.
“I know, we disagree but God loves you and I would not be very loving if I didn’t
tell you this. You are right, Genesis tells us in 3:15 that one day Someone
would come to destroy the serpent, the devil, and crush him on his head, but
the serpent would bruise Him on his heel. That is a picture of Christ.”
He still looked skeptical but still so nice, so I continued...
“Moses was in the wilderness, and serpents were killing the people, but Moses
put a serpent on a pole and said if people would just look at that in faith,
they would be healed...
“In the New Testament, in the gospel of John, Jesus said that he would be like
that serpent, He would be raised up and whoever would simply believe would be
able to avoid judgment and hell. ...
“God loves you Hazheem and I would not be loving if I did not tell you this.
Jesus is indeed coming back and he will destroy the antiChrist. But whoever
does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, will be cast in the
lake of fire with the anti-Christ....
“I know we don’t believe the same on this part but if I gave you a Bible would
you read John and see how Jesus said he would die on the cross and be raised
from the dead in the gospel of John?”
He was still so nice but said “I have a Bible, written in Arabic.”
“That’s great. Muslims around the world are having dreams about Jesus and
coming to believe more about him,” I said. I did not know for sure if his Bible
would be the same type of Bible, so I said, “If I ran inside our church and got
you an English Bible and maybe you could read it and compare it to the Arabic,
would you take it?”
“Oh sure,” he said, so I literally ran inside and got a Bible and also a copy
of my book, “The Gospel of John One Day At A Time” and gave it to him. “This
will help you understand John’s Gospel, but if you don’t read anything else,
read the preface.” I put a timeline of the gospel of John right where the plan
of salvation was in my preface. https://www.amazon.com/clp/1478786140?lv=shuf&channelId=500
“You wrote this?” he asked. He smiled and took the hardback copy of the book
and also the Bible. Our deacon (who later told me he had never met a Muslim
before) and I shook his hand and I ask you to pray for Hazheem, that he would
read it.
