Here is the link to my latest press release stating my continued support for Fred Thompson as President. Below is my explanation for my position…

Walking in the Light

My blog is titled “Salt and Light” and it comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)

As stated under the title of my blog, I write with the intent of “bringing political and moral clarity into the fog of political correctness.”

Another passage of Scripture that speaks of walking in the light comes from the Apostle John’s first letter:

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1: 5-7)

I’ve lost count of the number of messages I’ve received since Fred Thompson withdrew his name for candidacy for President. Many people wonder what I will do since I had publicly endorsed Thompson for President.

Will you now support Mike Huckabee as the only real evangelical in the race?

Please support Alan Keyes now; he’s the only real choice left for evangelicals.

That is just an example of some of the messages; I’ve changed them up a bit so that no one can actually identify their own. I want to thank all of you for your input but I had to step away from all of it and seek guidance from God’s word and the counsel of my pastor.

Now the decision I arrived at was the one that came to mind almost immediately. I’ve previously outlined my dilemma with supporting Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain, or Romney. Those concerns did not lessen any over time; my seeking God’s face did not minimize but illuminated what is at stake.

I’ve been trying, as most everyone else, to determine what the outcome on the election will be if I vote for a particular candidate, and therein lies the problem. It’s a question of focus. I’m trying to sight a ship out on the horizon that is 20 miles out to sea and since you can only see 3 miles to the horizon at sea level; it’s a hopeless endeavor. It’s like trying to predict the future.

A story my pastor loves to share goes something like this:

A poor village man once had a beautiful white steed. All the villagers came to him and told him that he was too poor to own such a fine horse and he should sell the horse and keep the money. The man, said “I dunno, maybe it’s not such a good idea to sell the horse, who knows?”

Not long after that, the King passes an edict that says all young men must join the King’s army and they come to the village and take away all the able-bodied young men to join the army. The villagers marvel and say, “You were right!!! It is a great thing that your son’s legs were broken, now he doesn’t have to go off to war!!!!!” The father again shrugs and says, “I dunno, maybe it isn’t a great thing that my son did not go off to war. Who knows?” And so continues the story…

The moral of the story is that we do not know how God will work out the circumstances of our lives. We can rarely predict with any certainty how our decisions will affect our lives later. Sometimes we think we’re doing the right thing and it turns out completely wrong.

What I do know is that I serve a sovereign God and regardless of who is inaugurated on January 20, 2009, God will still be in control. Now many of you may not share my faith in the God of the Bible; that’s okay. I pray you begin reading the Bible to gain a better understanding, but if not that, may I encourage you to read my book Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide to Jesusland where I help the reader grasp what motivates folks like me.

I awoke last Thursday morning early to use the bathroom and as I was returning to bed to get a couple more hours of sleep, the Holy Spirit instructed me to read Psalm 119 when I got up in the morning. So I get up, shower, shave, get ready for work, grab a cup of coffee and began reading Psalm 119. This is the longest psalm in the Old Testament, 176 verses total, and it returned me to three simple truths:

1. God’s word is good; it instructs me and helps me to understand life better.
2. God wants us to be faithful to His word.
3. God wants us to be obedient to His word.

I don’t have all the answers about this election or even all the candidates for that matter. I know that the four leading candidates that remain in the Republican primary either do not hold to the same conservative values I do and/or have not lived by them in their recent pasts.

I also believe that many Republicans have an unhealthy obsession with Hillary Clinton that is blinding some of our judgment, in my humble opinion. IF, IF Hillary was to win, I do not believe that she would bring many congressional seats with her. Also, I think our base would be mobilized like in 1994 and the Democrats would take another beating in 2010.

In the meanwhile, and I know this is a gamble, the Republicans in office will see us coming, the thundering herd of real conservatives. If they want to survive 2010, they’ll make the current gridlock look like an open sieve and while the Democrats do their normal screaming, they’ll not pass any of their socialist agenda (kinda like right now).

So the worst case scenario for many of us, another Clinton in the White House, would surely wake this country up and if not, then we as a movement are a lost cause. I don’t for a minute believe that…we are a conservative people but as my good friend Dino always says, political correctness makes cowards of too many of us, especially our elected officials. We need to demand character and courage from our elected officials.

I’m more worried about Barack Obama than Hillary. I believe Hillary will have short coattails and only serve one term; “conservative” congressional Democrats are already worried about her nomination.

Obama, on the other hand, is mesmerizing. He could tell the world in his finest Martin Luther King voice and cadence that he’s going to raise taxes, supports partial birth abortion, wants to bring the troops home now, wants to talk to our enemies, belong to a black separatist church of whose pastor Obama says he loves, etc and still woo the crowds, including evangelicals Christians who traditionally vote GOP. Oh wait, he’s already done that.

Some voters look at Obama’s inexperience as a positive alternative to the Washington Insiders. Plus, Obama is going to have HUGE coattails and if he starts campaigning in our at-risk GOP seats, look out. We’ll be saying President Obama until 2016. Obama will also take many evangelicals with him.

I equate the Republican Party to an old run down house. You cannot come in as though it has water damage from a hurricane or flood and rip out the carpet and drywall and replace it with new materials. Our party is beyond that; the building is condemned and it needs to be leveled to the foundation, which is our core conservative values.

Again, these are only at best limited educated guesses and I will not lose a night’s sleep over it.

None of us can say what our world will be like in 10 months from now when we go to the polls to elect a president. For that matter, we cannot predict what the world will look like when we arrive at the Republican National Convention in September. Many pundits were claiming the nominations would be locked up after Super Tuesday and now the Associated Press is saying that Super Tuesday won’t decide nominations.

I’ve been told by many that I’m dreaming if I believe the GOP convention will be brokered, but do they know that for sure? Can we evangelicals say that God cannot work in that way? Please understand that I am not speculating nor predicting; I would not presume to speak for God. I’m merely reminding the flock that we still serve a mighty God.

So I’m going to walk in the light I have now and know that God will provide more light later. That light is showing me to go with what I had planned all along. I will vote for Fred Thompson in Florida’s primary. He will be on many ballots in many states because they’ve already been printed. If he is not on the ballot and your state allows for write in candidates, consider that option.

Some may say (in fact some already have) that I am wasting my vote. First of all, who are you to tell me how to vote in a primary? That’s not being defensive or antagonistic, I really want to know. Under what authority or presumption do you question me so? Is this not America? Am I not allowed to vote for the candidate of my choice according to the rules of my state party?

This evangelical is still supporting Fred Thompson for President. I will not allow money or the media to dictate to me how to vote in the primary. We are to vote for the best candidate, not the most electable or charismatic or with the best campaign staff. I want the best conservative candidate, the one who most closely aligns with my values. The rest are a distant second. I cannot imagine voting for any of them. Come November 4th that may all change…

But for now, I’m still a Fredhead!

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