More Sleigh Bell!

Were the classic Saturday Night Live cowbell sketch with Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken executed in a Christmas setting, Walken would be Arthur Fiedler and Ferrell would be the person who played the sleigh bells on the quintessential Christmas favorite " Sleigh Ride." Of course, Blue Öyster Cult would be the Boston Pops Orchestra. (If you're not familiar with the SNL sketch, click here to see an excerpt at NBC's website. Mild language warning .)

"I've got a fevah (fever)... and the only prescription is more sleigh bell!" Although I'm not sure Arthur Fiedler put it that way, this is what comes across in the Boston Pops recording (link goes to Amazon.com's MP3 store), and although one rarely hears a percussion instrument droning in an orchestral song from start to finish, I'd have a hard time imagining "Sleigh Ride" without it.

The 1867 lithograph "A Brush for the Lead" by Currier and Ives

For this post I made a moderate effort to find the name of the Boston Pops member who played the sleigh bells on this song but I came up empty. If you know, I'd love to hear from you. It's a little odd; the person who has one of the most important parts in the song has gone relatively anonymous since 1949.

Fiedler has enjoyed fame as a conductor, the Boston Pops Orchestra has been in the limelight (if you consider orchestras as being in the limelight), and according to a reference at Wikipedia, "'Sleigh Ride' ... has been performed and recorded by a wider array of musical artists than any other piece in the history of Western music."

But for all that, the sleigh bell player remains an unknown. He did his job, did it quite well, and his effort has assumed its place in history. If he could have foreseen the popularity of the song (written in 1948, lyrics added in 1950), do you think he would have said to himself, "I can't see the benefit for myself in this. It will just promote the conductor, the orchestra, and the record company will make loads while I'll remain a nobody," and as a result decided to let someone else play on the record? I rather doubt it.

Raise your hand if you can tell that I'm about to draw a really obvious parallel here.

As we put our gifts to use as one of many parts of the body of Christ, we are called to play our part and do so to the best of our ability. We are not given direction or license to envy someone who has a seemingly more important role or to have resentment if someone else gets credit for what we think was our work or our accomplishment. That's not easy.

"Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ." - Colossians 3:23-24 (NLT)

"In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary." - 1 Corinthians 12:22 (NLT)

I've got a fevah... and the only prescription is more sleigh bell!

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Christmas 2012 Freebie Number 1

I've no idea how many of these I'll be passing along, but here's the first freebie of the 2012 Christmas season!

I stumbled across classical guitarist Jon Sayles' holiday music site and found a plethora of well-executed traditional instrumental Christmas songs. He's posted them all for free download here. You'll have to right-click and save them one at a time, but the investment will be well worth it.

If you visit his site and download his music, I encourage you to send him some feedback. There's a contact link at the top of his Holiday Music page.

NOTE: after you save the songs to your computer you should ideally edit the song names, artist name, genre, etc. (the ID3 tags) for each MP3 so that when you play the songs on your computer or put them on your MP3 player, the correct song title and artist will display. If you don't know how to do this or don't know what I'm talking about, you can contact me and I'll do my best to walk you through it. I couldn't find anything very usable on the web -- just a glut of "free" ID3 tag editors you can download -- but it's all confusing if you've never thought about this before and I'll do my best to help.

Don't be intimidated and don't let that stop you from grabbing these tunes, though! If you don't want to contact me or mess with the ID3 tags, worst-case, you'll have a handful of songs called "Untitled" on your MP3 player.

Keep checking back for more free Christmas music over the next few weeks.

May you be a blessing to someone this Christmas season!

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Abandonware

I believe I'm part of the first generation that grew up with video games. I haven't really ever known life without them. I remember the Christmas when my brother got a Pong console (the APF "TV Fun" console) -- two built-in paddle controllers and a handful of games that featured lines and squares and three sound effects.

Eventually I enjoyed the Atari 2600 (we actually had the Sears Tele-Games system, the OEM version), then the Apple IIe, and a while after that was the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, an IBM PC, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and several others along the way. I still fondly remember playing Yars' Revenge and turning the score counter over 33 times. Another game that sticks in my mind is Lode Runner for the Apple IIe.

The nice thing about having grown up and having technology grow up right along with me is that many of those games are available and playable now in the exact form in which they were released. It doesn't happen too much, but occasionally I'll have the urge to play a classic from yesteryear, so I fire up my browser and hit a few of my favorite sites for old video games. Abandonia.com is the first place I usually stop. Abandonia hosts all kinds of old games that are legal to download for free now because the games have been abandoned by their copyright holders (that's the gist of it). This kind of software is, appropriately, called "abandonware."

Suppose I wanted to get my retro video game fix and I visited abandonia.com, only to find out that it had been shut down due to lack of funding. For a moment or two I'd be disappointed, then I'd Google for some more classic gaming sites. It's just what we do these days. I don't have to maintain a website or a huge archive of old games; I just get to enjoy the resources of those who do.

You see, I like old video games -- I'm a bit of a fan. But I'm not a hardcore classic gaming freak. Many people are, and many of them run websites devoted to the genre. If I find myself of a mind to act on my fandom, I expect that there will be plenty of resources out there to help me indulge that impulse. I'll play for a while, enjoy it, then forget about it until next time.

This kind of habit is rampant in Christianity. Not gaming (though that's certainly something Christians do), but the up-and-down fandom and periodic indulgence in a form of perceived holiness. I'm sure it's been a trend since Christianity's inception, even since worship of YHWH was instituted in ancient Israel. We fondly remember some of the good things in our past when we've experienced God doing great things. Maybe we recall Christmas Eve services as a child and remember how inspiring they were. When the impulse comes to do something about it, we run to the people who maintain a deep walk with Christ or people who simply fit into an established, revered religious office. There we can hear religious truths, be made to feel good about ourselves, but have no accountability or longevity. Ultimately, there is no change.

When we're done we put those feelings back on the shelf from which we got them, happy to have been able to experience something good and religious, and maybe even Godly. But all too often we leave it to someone else to maintain the websites and offer free downloads of abandonware. We can be pseudo-fans of Jesus and think we're doing something acceptable.

"I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" (Revelation 3:15-16, NLT)

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Where I've Been

It's been a while since I spouted my opinions here. In that time, we in the USA have experienced much. Hurricane Sandy, many heinous crimes (and many acts of charity that are never reported), a presidential election, and... and... some other stuff. And I've had opinions on all of it.

But I haven't viewed much from the perspective of a traveler through a strange land; an alien to this world.

To be honest, I think I've been more focused on "stuff" than I have on the God who has saved me. You know, the God who flung the stars into space and stretched the universe out. The God who imagined and placed the duck-billed platypus and the giraffe and the cuddly little puppy on this planet (also the dinosaur and the carnivorous saber-toothed cat). The God who put the laws of physics in place. The God who set -- and sets -- the standard for truth.

That God.

The one who did all those things but has time and enough interest to interact with me. The one who wrote a book that I have the unfathomable privilege to read.

It truly boggles my mind how I could take God for granted.

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As God Is My Witness

"As God is my witness [insert something you're terribly determined to do]." Some reserve this saying for those very special occasions when a simple declaration just won't cut it. Maybe the most well-known version was when Scarlet O'Hara announced (to herself, I think) that she'd never be hungry again. And she meant it, darn it. Paul the Apostle even used the phrase in the beginning of his letter to the church in Rome.

While it appeals to the all-seeing, all-knowing characteristics of God, we use that reference to call on the nature of the One who is supremely trustworthy, otherwise it makes little sense. It's like a first cousin of the phrase "May God strike me dead if..." It promises that no matter the odds or the difficulty, we are going to do this particular thing.

Has it occurred to you that God essentially says this of His followers every single day? The statement of Jesus in Acts 1:8 -- "you will be My witnesses" -- indicates that He is saying to the world, for instance, "As Dean is my witness, anyone who believes in Me has eternal life," or to the Church, "As Dean is my witness, the world will know you're My followers by the love you have for each other."

That's a very tall order. But it's not only possible for us to be that kind of witness, it is reasonable and it is even expected of every follower of Jesus Christ. This is how much God has entrusted to us. The Church is His body on earth. I am His witness. You are His witness. He gives enough of Himself to us to expect us to be supremely trustworthy; to be carriers of His name and guardians of His character.

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20 Items Or Less

A while back I was driving toward an odd five-way intersection and was about to make a left turn. I put my blinker on and waited for the police car coming toward me in the other lane to pass by. To my surprise, without using his blinker, the policeman slowed for what seemed like an eternity and made a right turn onto the road I was waiting to turn onto. Without sarcasm (to my wife's surprise and to my own), I said to my wife, "Hey, he didn't use a blinker. And look! He's talking on the phone!"

Very uncool.

As I was on my way to a church meeting one Sunday morning (also a while back), chugging along at the speed limit, a car zoomed past me, shattering the speed limit. The driver was dressed well, and given the time of day and the fact that we live in the Bible Belt, it's a moderately safe assumption that he was on his way to church services somewhere. I'm not stating that he was; just saying that it's probable.

I'm too critical -- this I know. However, in both cases above, I'm likely not the only person who'd notice that something was at least slightly awry.

All those reading are probably familiar with Jesus' parable of the talents in Matthew 25. There are a couple of points that are super-important. First, we're expected by God to be good stewards of the title "Christ-follower" and all that it includes. Second (not mentioned in the parable, so thereby not to be taken as the words of Jesus, but as my own) people are watching to see what we do. I should interject that I really need to give my two example people the benefit of the doubt, and I do, but they were perfect examples for this post. The cop may have been dealing with a personally stressful situation on the phone, and the speeding car could have been driven by a guy on his way to see his lady friend or something.

Following is a very short list of the kinds of things that the Christ-follower should never say. Legalist thinking? Not in my opinion.

• "I know I have 37 items in my basket, but this 'express' line at Chaos-Mart is shorter than the only other one that's open, so I'll use it anyway."
• "He won't ever know the difference."
• "I just don't feel convicted to obey the speed limit."
• "He needs to be taught a lesson." (...when uttered with a malicious heart. Otherwise, this one's permissible and can possibly be adviseable sometimes.)

These thoughts and others like them lead to wrong behavior -- behavior that people will observe. Even if we somehow don't consider the resulting actions to be destructive to our walk with Christ, that they can, and very likely will, wind up being destructive to our witness.

"Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world." (1 Peter 2:12, NLT)

Ripping off my own writing, this is a repost of "Obeying '20 Items or Less'" from EGBDF in 2008. Image above by Shaun Ellsworth, copyright The San Bernadino County Sun

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Meeting the Minimum Requirements

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can neither do nor teach become critics. (Or so it's been said.)

Often I feel like I have a skill set that uniquely qualifies me to be a critic.

In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul noted that he had been given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming proud. I get it. Not that what I'm about to describe could be called a "messenger from Satan" in any way, but when you meet the minimum requirements for a particular task there's little chance that you'll become arrogant about the job you do. That can be a good thing.

I have the privilege of leading corporate worship through music in a wonderful variety of places. My favorite, hands-down, is the Downtown Rescue Mission in Huntsville, AL. The first time I ever led music in a church setting was about 10 years ago at Wall Highway Baptist Church in Madison, AL, when we were going through what seemed to be a rather rough time for the church fellowship. We'd run out of options so I volunteered. I remember thinking, "What have I just done?!" Prior to that morning, I believe I'd only sung in public two or three times in my entire life. It petrified me, with good reason.

You see, I can tell if you have a good voice, and I can determine how well you stay on pitch. Matter of fact, I obsess about that kind of thing. The problem is that I don't have a particularly appealing voice, and believe it or not, staying on pitch isn't something that comes second-nature to me. It takes effort. I'm fine on background vocals, but if I'm the one who has the main vocal part, it's a risky venture. Every time I stand up in a group to sing with or lead them, I'm keenly aware of the shortcomings in my vocal ability.

For this reason I've never been able to identify with a worship leader who falls prey to pride in his own ability. God knew what He was doing when He led me into this area. He equipped me with the minimum amount of ability needed to do the job, and as a result I've been blessed far beyond what I'd have imagined.

I don't always agree with the saying, "God doesn't call the equipped; He equips the called," but in my case the statement is validated. I'm grateful for every single opportunity to sing with the Church.

This is why I want to encourage each of you to step forward into what God calls you to do, whether or not you believe you're the best person for the job. Sometimes the best person isn't actually the best person.

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Reactionary Christianity

Did you see the news in late August when the American Atheists organization put up some billboards for the Democratic National Convention? Fox News reported on it, then the advertising company was bombarded with "a national outpouring of 'vitriol, threats and hate speech against our staff, volunteers and Adams Outdoor Advertising,'" (according to a spokesperson for American Atheists).

Fox News' original story is here and the post-billboard story from the Bradenton Herald is here.

As a result of the outpouring of negative feedback, whether or not it was as ugly as the American Atheists spokesperson described (I wouldn't be surprised if it was), the advertising company and the atheist organization decided to take the signs down.

In other words, Christians "won."

Or did we?

In the original Fox News article, a pastor from Christian Life Center said, "Of course it’s not appropriate, it’s never appropriate to insult another person, it’s never appropriate to disrespect another person."

I have nothing disparaging to say about that pastor because I realize that there's little context within which I can weigh that statement. Taking it at face value, though, the first thing I thought of when I read his statement was what Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12. "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (NLT) Now, Jesus didn't give specifics on how to react, but the implication is that we're not to retaliate. In verses 38-40 He says not to resist an evil person and if something slaps us on the right cheek, we should offer the other one, too.

I believe reactionary "Christianity" messed up again. Although the deluge of responses surely wasn't made strictly by the Christian community, we can safely say that they will get "credit" for it. Here are some questions I have about this set of events:

1. What does this incident tell non-believers about Christians and by extension, about Jesus?
2. What would have been a better response, if any, from the Christian community?
3. If I'm wrong about all this, what am I missing or misunderstanding?

The FoxNews.com and American Atheists logos above are the property of their respective owners.

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Rewriting Jesus

The more I see and hear the news, the more I think many Christians must be using Bibles that have certain passages rewritten to accommodate their own personal or political worldviews and preferences:

Matthew 10:18 has got to be one of those passages: "You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are more righteous than other people. But this will be your opportunity to stand up for your rights."

And then there's Matthew 10:22-23. "And all nations will hate you because they are depraved. But everyone who fights to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, stay there and don't back down. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the states of America."

Our actions, or the actions of many of those who do things in the name of "Christian values" tend to reflect a set of pseudo-Biblical principles that are often patriotic or self-focused more than they are Christ-exalting.

Here's what Jesus actually said in those two passages:

"You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me." - Matthew 10:18 (NLT)

"And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel." - Matthew 10:22-23 (NLT)

Sometimes I wonder what "Jesus" we're following.

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Adventures in Yardwork

I hope you'll enjoy this blast from the past (originally posted in 2008):

An appropriate subtitle for today's post is "Lessons in Stupidity." Some of you will read this post and think, "Oh, no he di'n't," and some will read it and say, "Dude! I wish I'd been there!" Regardless, in light of this story I find it ironic that I've ever posted anything at all about wisdom.

This morning I was string-trimming in some thick weeds behind our storage shed, and I hit one of those tomato vine stabilizing wire thingies. It was pretty rusty, and I leaned down through the weeds and pulled it and one more out of the ground. I threw them down behind me and I started to pray, "Lord, please keep me from stepping on that rusty wire while I work," and then either God or my common sense said, "C’mon… that's dumb, Dean. Move the wire." So I stopped trimming and put it in the trash.

Score one for wisdom! Yeah!

I kept trimming so I could get to this huge weed-berry-tree thing with purple roots and pull it up without stepping on a snake, and in doing so I had to move our old Rubbermaid trash can out of the way. We haven’t used it in forever. It housed a really old tarp, a bunch of soda cans which probably had fermented cola left in them, a bag with dirty diapers, and miscellaneous paper trash.

Oh yeah… and a wasp nest.

As soon as I rolled the trash can away from the shed, the air filled with a dozen or so wasps, which I thought were behind the trash can high on the wall of the shed (lots of good wasp hiding places in a tin roof). I ran to get the wasp spray, but it only lasted for two shots, neither of which felled a bogey. So I ran inside and grabbed some Lysol (TM)-style disinfectant spray. You need to be aware that it will not kill wasps; don’t bother trying. Also be aware that it's not flammable. That was the next step in my strategy -- the tried-and-true lighter-and-aerosol can plan. When the disinfectant wouldn’t ignite, I ran back inside and snagged a can of hairspray. My daughter wanted to help arm me when she found out why I was so excited, so she gave me a can of glitter hairspray, which turned out to be extremely flammable; even more than our boring adult hairspray. I took the glitter hairspray and a lighter and marched back out to the shed.

I got a couple of wasps before I realized that the nest was actually in the blue trash can, not on the wall of the shed. There’s a little circular cap on the top of the trash can lid (you can see it in the photo), and it was missing -- that's where the wasps were going in and out. I figured I'd smoke 'em out, so I sprayed a pretty good bit of glitter into the hole (no flame – that would be dumb), hoping to get a few of them from the fumes, and then I moved on to shoot them out of the air with the lighter.

A few moments later, a wasp landed on the edge of the trash can. It was a "gimme." That sucker was just sitting there waiting to be flamed. So I edged up to the can, flicked the lighter, and depressed the nozzle. Oh, man, was this ever sweet. And then...

BWHOOOOM!!!!

The trash can lid flew high into the air, along with soda cans and a bag of what appeared later to be dirty diapers. I instinctively dove away, thinking, "Were those cans THAT fermented?!" and before that thought was even past my synapses I remembered that I'd sprayed several gallons (or a lot, anyway) of glitter hairspray into the can.

Eyes still wide, I looked at the blackened soft drink cans laying on the ground and the white bag containing a poop diaper, and then I saw the tarp sticking out of the trash can, smoldering and beginning to ignite. I rushed to Hershey the Dog’s pool and picked it up, spilling the water but giving me enough to extinguish the growing flame. Then I poured the rest of the water on the smoldering diaper bag.

As I stood there, thanking God for saving me from a massive amount of foolishness, I looked at the upside-down trash can lid and spied a vacant, slightly-charred wasp nest.

Got 'em!!

All this to say... while I have never done this specific thing before (and most likely will never do it again), the building blocks and lessons were already in place for me to have known just how stupid I was being. How many times have we been given knowledge and wisdom that we ought to be applying but fail to do so because of a little temptation for excitement or fun?

He who disdains instruction despises his own soul,
But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding.
- Proverbs 15:32 (NKJV)

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God Speaks In a Dream: Kyle Woods' Story

I spoke with my 19-year-old friend Kyle Woods a few days after a life-or-death surgery to correct a dangerous condition several months ago. When he told me the circumstances surrounding the perfect success of the surgery I was stunned. I asked him to write it down for me so I could share it with you.

Here is Kyle's account:

My name is Kyle Wesley Woods.

In March of 2012 I started to get sick by coughing up blood. Weeks went on and I still was experiencing this and I went from one type of specialist to another during all of March.

Finally, I was supposed to go Vanderbilt Hospital to find out what was wrong, but they did not have any room for me. Instead I was sent to UAB. My Doctor ran a couple tests. I had to go back from Birmingham and Madison every couple days for tests or a procedure. Turns out I had an AVM in my right chest wall sitting on top of some of my ribs.

Basically, an AVM is just a bunch of veins that try to spread out but have nowhere to go so they end up forming into a ball and can make their own arteries and turn into a decent-sized mass. AVM's are common in the head, but there has never been a report of one in someone's chest wall.

I went in to see the doctor on a Thursday, May 3rd. He told me that he would go in and remove the mass. He explained to me that I could lose a lot of blood and that AVM's usually do not cause pain. But mine was. He explained that I may have to take pain killers for the rest of my life and have chronic pain. He then informed me that he cleared his schedule for the next morning and added me to it.

When I heard this, I realized that it is never a good sign when your surgeon tells you “Hey we need to get this out of you tomorrow morning.” I realized I was dying and this mass was attaching itself to other main arteries in my body and stealing blood from other organs.

I was very confused spiritually. I was not angry with God because I knew He would take care of me and sometimes I realize for God to take care of his children that may mean bring them to Him. I used to be addicted to pain killers when I was younger. I was confused why He would let someone who struggled with pain killers for many years be back on pain killers for the rest of their life. It did not make sense to me.

Friday, May 4th, I had my surgery in the morning and when I woke up I was fine. All I had was surgical pain. Other than that I was perfect I felt better. I knew I was not dying anymore.
​My surgeon came into my room and told me that I am a miracle from God. This is what happened:

Thursday night, while I was questioning God of his plan, my surgeon prayed for me before he went to sleep. While he was asleep God showed him in his dream exactly how to do the surgery. Every incision to every stitch, from the start to the end. Friday morning when I was asleep on the table my surgeon started just like he did in his dream. He felt like he was cutting away too much of my muscle so instead he barely cut down into the mass [something that was not in the dream]. When this happened blood shot to the ceiling and he quickly plugged it with his finger and stitched it up. He then said, “Okay God, I will do it Your way.” he then finished the rest of the surgery the way he was shown in his dream.

After I was stitched back up and good, he then took the mass over to a table and cut through it like he originally planned. When he did, the mass cut open to reveal tons of more veins that were still alive and an artery that it had made. If he had cut through it he said that he would not have been able to control all of the blood and I would have died on the table within a minute.

​I am a miracle of God. I am a child of God. God will take care of his children no matter what. I am alive today to help people strengthen their faith and teach them about my Savior. The biggest thing I realized is that this story is not for me. It is for everyone else who will listen or read it. I am alive today so that my family, everyone else and Satan will know that death does not scare me and will not shake my faith.

I am called into the ministry.

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Reader Response to "To Whom Would Jesus Contribute?"

A reader at Revelife.com (which occasionally reposts things I write here) sent me a message with a wonderfully thought-out and graciously-worded rebuttal to my post "To Whom Would Jesus Contribute?" I wanted to share it with you. He punches me in the teeth at the end, and I'll bet the same fist will punch you.

My post had expressed frustration with the two main presidential candidates' campaigns and their use of massive, massive contributions they'd received as of the end of March (I might throw a tantrum if I looked at the amounts today). I opined that that campaign money -- being used for television ads, cross-country trips, smear campaigns, etc. -- would be better used giving someone a hot meal or clean water.

The reply below comes courtesy (and with the permission) of AnyasFriendMe. You may find that what he says makes more sense than what I wrote. I encourage you to read the second part of my ramblings, "When Necessary, Use Money," though, at some point. It may express my conclusions better than the first post.

Here's the response (I put a number of phrases in bold for emphasis):

Hmm... it's hard to put big numbers in perspective. Given that there are some 313 million people in America, even if Obama spends a billion, see http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/30/us-usa-campaign-spending-idUSTRE77T3ZX20110830 -- that works out to about $3 per person. I'm sure many non-profits spend that much money mailing and phoning their average supporters to get them to support their campaigns, since it takes money to get people to act. It's sort of a necessary overhead. It adds up to a lot of money because there are lots of people in our country.

Well, is it worth it? That's hard to say. Obama and Romney each advocate numerous policies that they might be able to implement. Many policies have impacts of many billions of dollars. If there have been 50 or so million abortions since Roe vs. Wade, and if an additional billion dollars would have changed elections that would have changed who the Supreme Court Justices were, then for a pro-lifer the question would be, "Is it worth about $20 to stop an abortion?"

From this perspective spending a billion dollars to stop 50 million deaths could be considered pocket change.

Or in other terms that may be easier to relate to: outlawing abortion could save two babies every minute in America. For those who don't care for a pro-life argument, feel free to switch it. For example, money spent to elect a candidate who was concerned about global warming (or whatever your pet issue is) might save the lives of many people.

There are a billion plus people who need clean water. I'm not sure how many wells would be needed to save as many people, but I'm guessing it would be a lot, and I doubt that it would be cheap to provide them all with clean water.

In short, there are a lot of uncertainties, but there are big bucks spent on politics because politicians have a lot of influence on a lot of big issues that have big impacts on many people. Do we get our priorities perfect? Of course not.But it may be possible that many Christians have spent too little money supporting candidates that shared their concerns.

Then again, how many of us invest time praying for our leaders? Hmm... could that have an influence on the decisions that they make? Maybe asking how we spend our money isn't the only or even the best way to change the world. Maybe we need to ask how we spend our prayer time.

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