Straight From Pastor Ey

I find it funny that nowadays we try to guess a person’s candidate based on the color of his shirt. (There are times I toy with the idea of wearing a different colored shirt every Sunday just to throw people off the track.) We have spirited discussion on politics even among us pastors. That’s why we should all the more heed what columnist Andrew Jackson wrote in his “How to Engage in Politics without Losing Your Soul” (Christian Research Journal, volume 31, number 4, 2008), “ Don’t bring the polarization of partisan politics into the family of God. Every Christian has freedom of conscience before God, and we must guard against allowing political perspectives to divide the church”. Politics is not just a battle between good and evil. It is also a choice between good, better and best. So, if a fellow believer chooses a candidate different from ours, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that person has crossed over to the dark side. As long as a person gave careful thought to his choice,

Based on Andrew Jackson’s “How to Engage in Politics without Losing Your Soul” ( Christian Research Journal , volume 31, number 4, 2008), we already saw that we are not to confuse the kingdom of God with any political party or human government. Also, we are not to elevate a candidate to messianic status. Instead, we are to pray for all the candidates. Not one candidate can solve all our nation’s woes. Though a leader may inspire, he needs followers to roll up their sleeves and make a government really work. It’s a herculean task to deal with our fragile economy, our ballooning budget deficit, the systemic corruption not just in the government but also in society as a whole and the alarming peace and order situation of our country. Remember that not one of us is as good as all of us. Thus, it takes all of us to change our country. Jackson also added, “ Don’t forget that your ultimate security is in the unshakeable kingdom of God. Many Christians often elevate the outcome of presidenti

Though we are non-partisan as a church, we encourage our people to participate in the coming national and local elections. In his “How to Engage in Politics without Losing Your Soul” (Christian Research Journal, volume 31, number 4, 2008), columnist Andrew Jackson expressed his concern that “many Christians zealously become active in partisan politics and actually ‘lose their souls’; that is, they lose their public, uniquely Christian witness, act contrary to the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and become divisive agents within the church.” This election will surely bring out the best and the worst in us believers. He then spelled out Biblical guidelines so we can “keep our souls,” that is, make sure that only the best would come out of this political exercise in us. First, “Don’t equate the biblical kingdom of God with any human political party or nation.” Even when a pagan empire ruled, during the time of the early church, God’s kingdom was not hindered at all from advancing. When Jud

“Couples who say ‘we’ fare better in fights” than those who don’t , according to the September 2009 issue of the Psychology and Aging journal (Source: LiveScience.com). “The study found that using personal pronouns, such as ‘we,’ ‘our’ and ‘us,’ when talking about a conflict was associated with more positive behaviors between the pair, such as affection, less negative behavior (like anger), and lower physiological stress levels during the disagreement. On the other hand, using words that expressed ‘separateness,’ such as ‘I,’ ‘you,’ and ‘me,’ during the discussion was associated with marital dissatisfaction.” Study researcher Benjamin Seider, a graduate student in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, opined, “Our thinking is that, using the ‘we’ words in that context can maybe help realign the couple, and help them to see themselves as being on the same team as opposed to adversaries”. Couples need to see that they are fighting for each other than against one another.