I was doing my devotions this morning and read this post from James White.  I copied it…so that you can read it as well.  I have to admit I was so enraged in my spirit at the depravity of this Presidential Campaign to entice young girls to voting as losing your virginity.  As a father of a young college age daughter who is being solicited for her vote for this current administration who has crossed another moral line by claiming sex (losing your virginity) outside the boundaries of marriage is ok and acceptable is shameful and embarrassing that one would even hold such and office in our land.  I say it again…VOTE VERTICAL!!

Here is the link for the original post.

-Chuck Pelham
www.twitter.com/chuckpelham

The Virgin Vote

By James Emory White

The Obama campaign placed an ad on its website titled “Lena Dunham: Your First Time.”  Dunham is the creator of HBO’s hit series “Girls”.  Talking directly to the camera, she likens voting for Barack Obama to losing your virginity.  [Editor’s note: Link to video under “Sources” at end of blog.]

 “Your first time shouldn’t be with just anybody.”

 “You want to do it with a great guy.”

 “It should be with a guy with beautiful (suggestive pause)…someone who really cares about and understands women.”

 “Also, it’s super uncool to be out and about, and someone says ‘Did you vote,’ and you say, ‘Uh, no, I wasn’t ready.”  (Dunham then gives a critical smirk to such a response).

 “My first time voting was amazing.  It was this line in the sand.  Before I was a girl, now I was a woman.  I went to the polling station, I pulled back the curtain, I voted for Barack Obama.”

So let’s add this up.

An ad designed to get out the female youth vote for the presidential campaign intentionally uses losing one’s virginity, clearly outside of marriage and while in college, as an analogy to voting for the first time.

Just as losing your virginity before marriage is special, so is your first vote.

Who you sleep with the first time should be a great guy, so should the person you vote for the first time.

Just as you shouldn’t pass on an opportunity to lose your virginity to an able-bodied candidate, you shouldn’t pass on voting for an able-bodied candidate.

And, of course, when you lose your virginity, it will be amazing.  It will transform you from a girl into a woman.  So will voting for Obama.

This isn’t about politics.  It’s not trying to make you vote for one person over another.

It’s bigger than that.

It’s about moral outrage.

I was, and still am, stunned.

Stunned that this was intentionally produced.

Stunned that it was put on a campaign website.

Stunned at the sexual ignorance and moral decadence.

Stunned that it was approved by Obama’s campaign, a candidate who is the father of two young girls.

Stunned that there isn’t more outrage and indignation.

I know, it’s a post-Christian, increasingly amoral world.  You don’t need to remind me.  Which means I shouldn’t be stunned.  But when a new line is once again crossed, and once again without blushing, it still wreaks havoc with my spirit.

Quite frankly, I hope it always does.

So if no one else will say it, I will:

Mr. President, you should be ashamed of your campaign.  You should remove this ad from your campaign website at once, publicly denounce it, and tell the country you’re sorry it was ever made.

You’re a better man than this.

You’re a better father to your daughters than this.

And we are a better country than this.

James Emery White

Sources

Video: “Lena Dunham: Your First Time,” watch online.

“US election: Barack Obama campaign advert compares voting to losing virginity,” The Telegraph, October 26, 2012, read online.

“Critics blast Obama campaign for new ad that likens voting for Barack Obama to a young woman losing her virginity,” Fox News, October 26, 2012, read online.

“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place” (Ps 51:6).

History tells us that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes popular mystery series once played a practical joke on 12 respected and well-known men he knew. He sent out 12 telegrams with the same message on each: “Flee at once. All is discovered.” Within 24 hours, they had all left the country!

Well, it’s obvious that these men had something to hide or cover.  Their actions revealed their character and they fled.  This kind of lifestyle not only robs us of our potential but it robs future generations of potential as well…it creates a legacy that you don’t want to leave behind.  Check out some of these examples… Around 1923, the most powerful men of the day ruled the world of money:

–          Charles Schwab, president of the largest steel company in America.

–          Samuel Insull, president of the largest utility company.

–          Howard Hopson, president of the largest gas company.

–          Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange.

–          Albert Fall, Secretary of Interior in President Harding’s cabinet.

–          Jesse Livermore, the great “bear” on Wall Street.

–          Ivan Krueger, head of the world’s greatest monopoly.

–          Leon Fraser, president of the Bank of International Settlements.

These men were “movers and shakers,” in their day.  They had it all…money, power and influence.  But within 25 years of having it all things begin to unravel and their life was spinning out of control.

–          Charles Schwab, left behind an insolvent estate with debts and obligations totaling $1.7 million.

–          Samuel Insull, died of a heart attack in a Paris subway station with 20 cents in his pocket.

–          Howard Hopson, died in a sanitarium

–          Richard Whitney had just been released from Sing-Sing prison.

–          Albert Fall died at home, broke.

–          Jesse Livermore committed suicide a week after Thanksgiving in 1940.

–          Ivan Krueger committed suicide.

–          Leon Fraser committed suicide.

Something was lost in the process of their gain and in their life.  I say it was the result of their inner man.  Truth is always established first in the inner man and in that place is where the integrity battles are won or lost.  I trust today that you will make a lifestyle of living by integrity.  You can’t separate what you do from who you are.  Whatever is on the inside eventually is revealed on the outside.
Chuck Pelham

Sources: Paul J. Meyer, My Work Is My Ministry, Paul J. Meyer Resources, Os Hillman, devotions, volume 2

As a Pastor I am often approached by candidates during the election year who would like me to help endorse their agenda or campaign and many times rely on my level of influence to further their hope of being elected.

A while back I came across some helpful hints that I have used ever since and would like to pass them along to you.  Here’s how I process my decision on voting and what I look for in political candidates running for any office.  Here are a few things to consider:

• Don’t select a candidate by party affiliation, for all parties have both good and corrupt individuals within the organization.
• Don’t select a candidate by their appearance, popularity, or money.
• Don’t select a candidate by what they say or promise they will do, for this is often meaningless when they get into office.
• Don’t select a candidate just because you know them, or some friend knows them.
• Don’t select a candidate because of their intellect or the most experience in politics.
• Don’t select a candidate because they say they are Christian…most profess this during election year.

The best candidate to choose is the committed, qualified, God-fearing Christian who is seeking office not to further their own interests, but to please God and to serve their community, state, or nation justly and honestly.

In many cases, the electorate may not have the choice of a qualified, born again Christian candidate!  What do you look for then?  First, we have to inquire more about the candidate & learn their qualifications:  Does the person have an affiliation with a church or Christian organization?  But, more importantly, what is their character like?  Behind the scenes is just as important as in the spotlight.  Are they a person of Godly standards, principles and have Godly morals?  Are they seeking to serve the electorate as a statesman?  Finally, are they honest? Are they humble?  Are they willing to stand up for what is right even though it may cost them the election?

When you have a comparison of the qualifications of the candidate, pray and ask God to give you wisdom about the matter, particularly if two or more candidates seem to be equal in their qualifications.  Once you feel sure of the answer in your heart, promote and endorse the person of God’s choice and then be sure to vote.

I also understand that many times the choice seems impossible to make; neither candidate is a good choice.  What do we do in such a case?  Ask yourself:  Which person would the devil want more in this office?  Upon determining that, vote for the other candidate, the lesser evil of the two.

Lastly remember, by praying and fasting with God’s people for our nation, we present a channel through which God can work.

Chuck Pelham

Sources

John G. Talcott, Jr., Former President of Intercessors for America.

Matt 6:17-18 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,  so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

If there’s ever been a time for fasting to the Lord, it’s now.  The economy is on a downhill slope, government is on a socialist bent, laws protecting life and conscience are being tossed out the window, self-reliance is being undermined, the family is under siege, and the decadence of society doesn’t look like it’s going to abate any time soon.

I was reading an excerpt from James White on “Under-protective Parent” and wrote down a few observations that I thought would be a good guide as it relates to parenting today’s culture.