It is great to be a Christian in America.  I love the freedom that we have to lease ourselves a building, put up a big sign, and gather together to honor Jesus.  That is a right that I hold dearly!  We may be teased, but we are not persecuted for our faith.  We do not suffer to serve our King and for that I am grateful.

I am also keenly aware that the society we live in is flawed.  Government makes selfish decisions, politicians cheat and lie to protect their own interests, and trust should not be given easily to anybody in America.  As we are entrenched in the politics of getting a new president, it is easy to get confused and even disgusted by the candidates.

However, in all of this, one thing holds true.  Your vote is your right and it is precious.  In my opinion, no Christian should abstain from voting on election day.  We have our religious freedom because of the foundation of America.  The way we show our gratitude is to involve ourselves in the process of making our country better than it is. 

Tomorrow is the last day to register to vote in the 2008 election.  You can go to www.clarkvotes.org to get registered.  And then spend the next month educating yourself on what the candidates stand for…not just the Presidential ones, but all of them!  Line up their values to the Word of God…not just on the “hot” topics like abortion, but on topics like finances and healthcare.  God has a lot to say about money…and so do our candidates. 

And then pray for the people that get elected!  They need our prayer covering, not our criticism.  The Bible is full of leaders that God used both in their successes and their failures.  He’s still in control, so don’t be discouraged on November 4.  Whether “your” candidate gets into office or not, God’s candidate for the job will be elected. 

Vote and pray.  That’s our mandate and our right!  And I will continue to be a proud American who is working to make America better.

Don’t tell anybody, but I am a big fan of Dancing with the Stars.  I’m faithful to my Monday show and the Tuesday night results show.  I look forward to watching the stars get better (and thinner) as the season wears on.  It’s not that I enjoy dancing at all, but rather the progression of people trying something new.

This year reality show star, Kim Kardashian, joined in the show.  She is beautiful, talented, and I thought she was a sure bet for doing pretty well at this type of genre.

And then she danced.  She had the look, she had the right dance partner, the music was great, the lights were perfect, but something was tragically missing!  Watching her was like watching someone just going through the moves.  She got all of the steps right, but the fire behind the task was not lit.  She lacked one thing that would have made it great…passion.

Kim Kardashian talked about having fun and loving the dresses, but it’s not about fun or the dress…it’s about the dance.  You’ve got to love the dance and stay focused on what you are doing.  It’s not just about doing something well or right…it’s about doing something that is so exciting that it gets you up in the morning.  It’s about passion.

That’s where some churches also go tragically wrong.  They make it about the perks and not the objective.  The objective is to love the world like Jesus did.  If we can remain passionate about the job set before us, no matter what mistakes we make in the dance, we remain interesting to our audience.

I wanted to scream at my television on Monday.  Kim looked perfect on the dance floor!  But the outward appearance didn’t translate into something enjoyable to partake in.  It was boring!  And it was no shock that this statuesque beauty was the second person voted off on Tuesday.  Even vain America would rather watch passion than beauty…