(Chapter 2) God and Me in Twenty-Three (2023):

What is your number one issue?

Here is an important question as we are less than two weeks away from the midterm election of 2022. What is the number one issue that would influence your vote for a particular candidate? Most of us have more than one issue; however, there is usually one that is more important to us than all the others. What is yours?

Here are some examples of issues that may be at the top of your list: Education, Freedom of Religion, LGBTQ, Gun Control, Secure Border, Abortion/Right-to-Life, the Economy, Jobs, Minimum Wage, Safety in our Schools/Workplace, Sexual Identity, Taxes, Transgender Restrooms/Locker Rooms, Climate Change, I could go on and on but you get the idea. Would it surprise you if I said none of these issues, although valid, are nearly as important as the one I will highlight in this post. How could anything be more important than the issues listed you ask? Well… read on.

We live in the United States of America; the greatest country that’s ever existed on the face of the earth! Many people like to refer to us as a democracy, but we are not. In a democracy the larger population states, California and New York, could decide all issues and the smaller population states like Iowa would have to go along with the will of the majority.

We are a Republic where Iowa has just as much say in how this country is ran as the larger states. Remember our Pledge-of –Allegiance? “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Liberty and justice for all is important to me. Look around us… are we beginning to lose liberty and justice for all?

Recently we have witnessed a chipping away of rights, liberty and justice as citizens of this country, the rights given to us by the Constitution of the United States of America. We are no longer allowed to say what we believe because some social media platform, a powerful lobbying group or government agency labels it as Misinformation, Hate Speech or Domestic Terrorism. Now… this may not seem too bad at the moment because our number one issue hasn’t come under fire yet. What if shortly after the election, one of these comes under fire: Education, Freedom of Religion, LGBTQ, Gun Control, Secure Border, Abortion/Right-to-Life, the Economy, Jobs, Minimum Wage, Safety in our Schools/Workplace, Sexual Identity, Taxes, Transgender Restrooms/Locker Rooms, Climate Change, or insert yours here if it’s not on the list.

My suggestion would be to identify the candidates that believe in and stand up for the Constitution of the United States of America and vote for them! It’s amazing how quickly this country has gone from: Energy independence, Secure borders, Freedom of speech, Parental rights, Booming economy, Crime under control, Right to choose what is best for me, (please don’t throw Row-v-Wade up to me here, that involves a baby’s life and we all know that!) If we continue to slide in the wrong direction we could very soon lose this country as we know it! What will God and me in 23 look like?

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)
¹ But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God– ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

My suggestion for this election season is WAKE UP AND REALIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY! We are on a socialism slide. If we continue to vote for the people who seem to agree with our pet issues but not the Constitution, we could quickly, and I do mean quickly, become another Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, China, North Korea or Russia. If that happens we will cease to be a Republic or a Democracy, we will become a Dictatorship, and all of our pet issues will be decided by those in power not by we the people! Folks, take the blinders off… it’s already moving in that direction!

My wife Shirley told me, “We need to look past our PET ISSUES and see the big picture! If we don’t, we stand to lose the country we love and all the pet issues will go with it!” I’m not trying to be an alarmist just a realist. This is vitally important. If you want to make a difference… please be praying for our election and the future of our country!

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)
¹⁴ Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.