In this primary season, as no other in my memory, the stands of the presidential candidates on issues of importance to a Christian have been very difficult to determine. Even though there is broad agreement among Christians on a great number of moral issues, there has been no agreement on the best presidential candidate who supports those positions. National Christian leaders seem as confused as rank and file Christians, one endorsing one candidate, one another and some not knowing who to endorse.

The media has made things much worse. It is almost impossible to determine where candidates stand on important issues, either from the mainstream media or conservative media such as Fox News or Rush Limbaugh (see my post Should Christians Listen To Rush Limbaugh?). The candidates themselves, as well as separate groups, have been distorting or outright lying about the positions of their competition. On top of that, multiple candidates have been very inconsistent in their stand on a number of issues. What they are saying today is not what they voted for or governed by in the past and who knows where they will come down to in the future. Inconsistent positions on fundamental moral issues is a dangerous character flaw which leads to governing by watching the polls, rather than by moral principle.

Recently, the respected Christian organization, American Family Association, published their Voter Guide for the 2008 Presidential Primary. It features the stands of the Republican and Democratic candidates on eight issues. The issues are the human life amendment, traditional marriage, gun rights, business freedom (opposing laws forcing business to favor homosexuality), limit taxes, opposing gay pride, Iraq war and moral education. Even though I have been following the campaign, I was shocked at the stands of a number of the candidates. There was a lot that I didn't know.

Download the Voter Guide and find out what you didn't know about the Presidential candidates. Then forget what the media is telling you about who's in or out of the race at this point. As a Christian, your responsibility is to vote for the candidate that best stands for biblical principles and let God sort out the election.

Real Answers for Real People
Full Life Community Church - St Louis
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Today, we are concluding our message series "Dealing with Difficulties." In this series, we've looked at how the Bible teaches us to handle the tough times that we all have to face. As we finish the series, I hope you've noticed that we are now not just focusing on difficulties. Last Sunday, we talked about "The Joy of Thanksgiving." As you focus on God and His power through thanksgiving, you gain strength and joy to face life's difficulties.

Today, I've entitled the message "Living Your Dream." It seems to me that most people are just wrapped up in the difficulties of life. Most do not have a dream for their lives beyond escaping their current difficulties. And of the few that have or have had a dream, most aren't actually living out that dream. Without a dream or vision, life becomes a sad exercise in monotony, just a joyless day-to-day grind. The Bible says (NLT) Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. God wants to see you have dreams for your life and more than that, to see those dreams fulfilled.

God doesn't want you to live an average, humdrum kind of life. He wants you to have a dream and live a life of adventure and joy. Today we're going to look at the life of a man you may not have heard of. His name was Jabez there are only two verses in the Bible about him They are found in 1 Chronicles 4. You may have skipped over them if you were reading through 1 Chronicles, since the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are a genealogy of over 600 names. Right in the middle of the genealogy, we read about a man named Jabez. The Bible says that Jabez was "more honorable than his brothers." In other words, Jabez stood head and shoulders above the others of his generation. Jabez lived above average in God's eyes, he lived his dream.

Let's read those two verses about Jabez and see what was different about him. NIV 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. Now things didn't start well for Jabez. His mother must have had a very traumatic delivery, so she named her son Jabez. In Hebrew, Jabez sounds like the word for pain. So Jabez was constantly reminded about his painful beginning, as was everyone who heard his name. I can imagine the jokes. Here comes Jabez, isn't he such a pain. Yet somehow Jabez ended up being more honorable than the others of his generation. He stood out above the rest, he lived his dream. What secrets can we learn from Jabez that will help you live your dream?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 25, 2007 message entitled Living Your Dream via flash streaming audio, podcast or mp3 file.

Real Answers For Real People
Full Life Community Church - St Louis

Thanksgiving is almost here. Thanksgiving is a time for family and food. Lots of it, turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. God has given us both family and food to enjoy, yet I believe there is something else He wants us to learn this Thanksgiving. It's a lesson that is not just for one day of the year, but something you can practice every day. Thanksgiving is not meant to be about us, it's meant to be about God. He's the one that we are to thank. He's the one that we are to be thankful to.

However, often it's far easier for most of us to come up with things that are wrong in our life, than to thank God for what is right about our lives. Why should you be thankful? The Bible uses the word thanks 150 times, it's not a small topic in the Bible. But you may say, Pastor, it's so hard to be thankful, I have so many problems. Let me explain something about the Bible. It's not just a rule book, it's a manual for life. When you ask for God's help and follow the Bible's commands, you will be blessed. One of the blessings that comes from being thankful is being filled with joy. Think about it for a minute, are you more joyful when you are being thankful or complaining. The answer should be obvious. The more thankful you are, the happier you'll be.

Today, we're going to look at what the Bible has to say about "The Joy of Thanksgiving." Do you want joy in your life? Then begin to put into practice the principles you're going to learn today. Do you want joyful children? Teach them these principles. Do you want better relationships in your life? Who would you rather be around, someone who is constantly complaining about the dark side of life or someone who is optimistic and thankful? Learning to be a thankful person can transform your life.

Today our main text is Psalm 100, a short psalm of five verses which begins like this. NIV Psalm 100:1-2 A psalm. For giving thanks. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Notice the combination of joy, gladness and giving thanks. God doesn't just suggest, He commands all the earth to give thanks and shout for joy to the Lord. This is not just for Sunday mornings, it's not just for one day in November, no, it's for every day of your life. I want my life to be full of joy and thanksgiving, and I know you want the same for yourself and your family. So how can you enter into the joy of thanksgiving?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 18, 2007 message entitled The Joy Of Thanksgiving via flash streaming audio, podcast or mp3 file.

Become Part of the Family at
Full Life Community Church - St Louis

It seems to me that these days a lot of people are overwhelmed with life. What I mean is that just the task of making an income and holding together a family is too much for many people. The average credit card debt is $10000 per family and rising, despite most families having two wage earners. On the relationship front, about 50% of marriages end up in divorce. One of the current presidential frontrunners is on his third marriage, as is his current wife. My point is that the simple things of life are simply overwhelming many people.

God wants to provide all you need with respect to life, from making an income to prospering your family. However, he has much more in mind for you than that. His purpose and plan for every believer is that they impact their world for Him. God wants you to be blessed and for you to be a blessing to others. He wants you to reach people who don't know God and bring them to Jesus.

God wants you to be an overcomer. An overcomer is a believer who isn't defeated by life, no, an overcomer is someone who wins great victories in life through God's power. NIV 1 John 5:4 For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Are you an overcomer this morning? If you are a believer, you should be an overcomer. You should overcome difficulties, problems, crises of all kinds through your faith. Why? So you can do something to help others find that same kind of overcoming faith in God.

Today my message is entitled "Becoming An Overcomer." I'm going to talk about how you can go from being overcome by life to becoming an overcomer. Someone who is a positive force for God to impact the world around you. NIV Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. As I go through the message today, keep in mind what you need to overcome in your own life so that you can be freed up to impact your world.

In this series "Dealing with Difficulties" I am drawing principles from stories in the Bible The stories in the Bible were not put there just because they are interesting, but because they serve as examples of how we should respond in similar situations. The story we're going to be looking at today involves a king facing an insurmountable problem. A vast army was poised to annihilate him and his people. How could he overcome such an obstacle?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 4, 2007 message entitled
Becoming An Overcomer via flash streaming audio, podcast or mp3 file.

Become Part of the Family at
Full Life Community Church - St Louis

The dictionary defines courage as "the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action." Do you have courage? Are you a courageous person? The only way that you know for sure that you have courage is when you face a difficulty, danger or crisis in life. How you respond to a crisis will determine how much courage you have.

Todd Beamer was a passenger on board Flight 92 on September 11, 2001 when it was hijacked by terrorists. Todd and his fellow passengers showed courage in crisis. The easy thing would have been to do nothing, to be paralyzed by fear. Yet, due to his faith in God, Todd was able to lead the charge to overcome the hijackers. They stopped the plane from reaching it's intended target of Washington DC.

Today I've entitled my message "Finding Courage In Crisis." In this message series I've been talking about dealing with difficulties. However, sometimes, difficulties escalate to the point that they become a crisis. A crisis is a situation where action must be taken to avoid complete disaster. In every group of this size, there will undoubtedly by several people who are facing a crisis in their live or in their family. Even if you are not facing a crisis today, there will come a day when you will face a crisis. Will you be ready? Will you find courage at that time to take action?

NIV Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. These were God's instructions to Joshua when facing a crisis. Note that the opposite of being strong and courageous is being afraid and terrified. How can you be strong and courageous? By trusting that God goes with you. Whatever difficulty or crisis that you may be facing today, God says to you "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified by your situation. I am with you and I will never leave you or forsake you."

Today we're going to look at a story from the New Testament about the courage of the apostle Paul to learn about finding courage in a crisis. In Acts chapter 27, we find Paul is a prisoner on board a ship headed for Rome. God's purpose is for Paul to preach the Gospel to the Emperor in Rome. The ship, with Paul aboard it, is about to head for a life-threatening crisis. This crisis was one that could have been avoided. Some crises can be avoided, others are outside of our control. In this particular case, the crisis could have been avoided, but Paul was not in charge. So the end result was that Paul got involved in a crisis because of other people's wrong decisions. So how can you find courage for a crisis?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 28, 2007 message entitled Finding Courage In Crisis via flash streaming audio, podcast or mp3 file.

Become Part of the Family at
Full Life Community Church - St Louis

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