Finally Something is Happening

It’s well known I supported Gov. Mike Huckabee in the primaries. From my perspective as a conservative Christian he was the perfect candidate--strong on the issues important to me yet an effective leader in Arkansas who is articulate, passionate and caring for those less fortunate.

I couldn't understand why more conservative Christian leaders--especially some in the Arlington Group--didn't support him. Some said he couldn't beat Sen. Hillary Clinton. Ironically Sen. Barack Obama is now the one to beat.

But now I'm supporting Sen. John McCain. I've long admired him as a great American hero. On the important issues I believe he's right on. However, he hasn't cozied up to the so-called religious right. But that's not a problem to me. Too many leaders in the Christian conservative movement wait to see who asks for their support instead of being principled. At least McCain is principled.

Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values in Ohio, who met with McCain, came away a believer too. He sent out an email that is printed below along with an article about his meeting with McCain.

Burress wrote: "John McCain, unlike most politicians, will not be bullied, threatened, paid off or pressured into changing his position. That was refreshing."

At first some Christians leaders said they could never vote for John McCain. Other leaders seemed to be waiting to see which way the wind was blowing, lamenting that Christians don't seem to know what to do.

The fact is that most Christians will vote for McCain because of his stand against abortion and his support of traditional marriage. Read Burress' email and an article from the Los Angeles Times below to find out more of what McCain is now saying he will support.

But other Christians, if not fully informed, will be lethargic and just stay home on Election Day. Phyllis Schlafly, founder and president of Eagle Forum, told a meeting of evangelical leaders in Denver Tuesday that staying home would be a vote for Obama this year.

Marc Nuttle, an attorney from Oklahoma and author of Moment of Truth, says many people also "vote their pocket book" especially when the economy isn't good or gas prices are high. He said the stakes are high because other issues are involved in this election. (Click here to receive a free copy of Nuttle’s book if you subscribe to Charisma or renew your current subscription.)

I've reported on the meeting I had on June 1O with Barack Obama and another group of leaders--mostly more liberal denominational leaders and middle-of-the-road evangelicals in Chicago. Obama did a great job of saying just the right things to that group, and he sounded like a sincere Christian.

The problem is that his record doesn't back up his nice words, and he is known to say different things to different groups. Even though his personal Christian faith is right for him, he says, others can get to heaven believing in a different religion or no religion. That's universalism, and as I write in my column in Charisma, that's just wrong.

I've gone to a couple of meetings with Christian leaders in the past four months lamenting the current political situation and the dangers a Democratic victory poses to Christian values and religious freedom. At one meeting, not much happened except that we prayed for hours together. There is nothing wrong with prayer, but it was as if they didn't know how to bring together a strategy, only how to pray. For Christians it seems strategy is hard. Prayer is easy.

Now I believe some Christian leaders are waking up and beginning to understand that McCain does not need to cuddle up to the religious right to deserve our support. And they must get out the message to their millions of followers.

But there is a longer-term problem. The religious right (as the secular press calls us) is known for what it is against more than what it is for--a point Tim Clinton, president of the American Association of Christian Counselors in Lynchburg, Va., articulated well at the Denver meeting.

This reputation comes because a couple of the national Christian leaders come across as grumpy and self-righteous. They are sometimes so dogmatic that if you don't support the things they support with the verbiage they use and to the extent they feel it should be supported, you are suspect and probably shouldn't be a part of their coalition.

Thankfully, one or two leaders best known for those traits weren't invited to the Denver meeting.

Instead there seemed to be an awareness that Christian conservatives must show they "care" for people, for the poor and for the environment and aren't just "against" things.

"We're at a crossroads," Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel and dean of the law school at Liberty University, told the Denver group. "We're not speaking with unity and clarity. We've been a fractured movement the past 18 months."

Staver, who called the meeting, had several articulate young people give a tutorial to the mostly gray-haired group on how younger conservatives view things.

To me the meeting showed that leaders are recognizing that we must get out the word to elect John McCain. Egos are being put aside. There seemed to be unity--especially when Mike Huckabee's name was mentioned as a potential running mate.

I'm trying to get an interview with both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama. I want to ask them the same questions and run their answers in Charisma as well as on the Internet. I think that it will be very telling and the average Christian will understand which way to vote.

The election is only four months away. A lot can happen in four months as Hillary Clinton discovered earlier this year. I predict McCain will win—not by a lot—but that's my prediction from where I sit.

Read the material from Phil Burress and please give us your opinion below.

Steve Strang

---

To: Friends of CCV

From: Phil Burress
June 27, 2008


As a result of 40 Ohio Pro-Family Forum leaders meeting with two McCain Campaign staffers last Saturday, six of us were asked to meet privately with him yesterday afternoon. There was a lot of media coverage, but the attached story does the best job of explaining the meeting. However, it does leave out the fact the Ohio Pro-Family Leaders have decided to move forward and start working to educate Ohio Values Voters about the vast differences between McCain and Obama. Personally, I can’t wait any longer and can’t take the chance that Obama will be our next president. I spent an hour sitting next to McCain, questioning him and listening as the group took him to task on issues like embryonic stem cell research. Dr. Willke, Founder of National Right to Life, gave him every reason to reverse himself on that issue. For me this election is primarily about the next Supreme Court appointments, even though McCain is with us on many other issues as well. Watching him, looking at his broken body and thinking about the price he paid as a POW was overwhelming. When he reached to scratch his eyebrow he had to take his right hand to lift his left to do so. I understand the difference between respecting this man as a war veteran, and working for him as candidate for president of the United States. But I must say that it is men like this that guarantee us our freedom. I also understand those who say they will not vote for him and I respect their principled position. Yesterday, though, I saw and listened to a man who likewise is principled. John McCain, unlike most politicians, will not be bullied, threatened, paid off or pressured into changing his position. That was refreshing. I was once one of those people who said “no way” to Senator John McCain as President. No longer. The stakes are too high. And if Obama wins I need to able to get up on November 5th, look at myself in the mirror, and when I pray, say, “Lord, I did all that I could.” Blessings.



Do you subscribe to Charisma or Ministry Today?

Many of you receive The Strang Report because you are on my personal contact list or have signed-up through my blog. If you are not a current subscriber of Charisma, I urge you to begin your subscription today!

Charisma will keep you up-to-date with what God is doing in the world by reporting on stories and subject matters that are not discussed as in-depth anywhere else, and what you read will build your faith. If you respond to this offer by clicking here to subscribe, I’ll send you a free copy of Marc Nuttle’s new book “Moment of Truth” which I recommend in this issue of The Strang Report.

I encourage you to also begin a subscription to Ministry Today, which I believe is one of the most important magazines I publish because it influences the influencers in the church. If you are in active ministry, you’ll appreciate its analysis, prophetic insight and practical help every other month. If you respond to this offer by clicking here to subscribe, I’ll send you a free copy of Sunday Adelaja’s ground-breaking book “Church Shift” with your paid order of Ministry Today.

Share this with a friend

Help me build the list for The Strang Report by forwarding this to a friend. Or, if you have not signed up, do so today!