Mike King

Political Madness

I watched John McCain and Barack Obama last night on CNN's forum from Columbia University in New York.  I thought they both did an excellent job of answering questions and appearing as human beings.  Maybe this was because they were behaving on the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attack.  Quite frankly I am frustrated by both parties.  I am also frustrated by Christian leaders who I thought were trying to be New Kinds of Christian Leaders who would stay above partisan politics so that they would be free to represent first and foremost God's Kingdom Agenda and free to speak prophetically into both parties.  There are third ways that rise above partisan politics.

I found this You Tube Video of Donald Miller (who has lost a lot of weight since I last saw him when we were both speaking at last years Willow Creek Youth Ministry Conference).  Donald Miller was invited to pray and give a benediction at the Democratic National Conference.  I think he did an amazing job, it is worth watching.

Evangelicals and Campaign '08

Here is the news story examining the role Evangelicals may play in Campaign 2008.  I posted about this here.  The piece shows an exterior of Jacob's Well, a shot during the service and b-roll of Tim Keel preaching.   A few Jacob's Well members are featured, along with several others from area KC churches.  A couple of Youthfront alumni also sound off from Heartland Church, I believe.  Jim Wallis also appears, along with Mark DeMoss who I know from my Liberty University days.  Strange to watch this on national news while vacationing in North Carolina.

Three Generations of Evangelical Politics

American Public Media has released a video entitled Three Degrees of Separation featuring Charles Colson, Greg Boyd and Shane Claiborne discussing faith and politics.  This was taped at the National Pastors Conference in San Diego.  A friend of mine, John Raymond put this together and they were interviewed by Krista Tippet.  This is a very interesting conversation.  I will weigh in up-front... Shane Claiborne is one of my heroes. 

Watch the enlightening panel discussion here

Yes We Can

Holiday Poll for the Presidential Election of 2008

In the last 10 days we've had more than 20 guests gathered around our dining room table.  When the situation allowed, I brought up one of the subjects you're supposed to avoid - politics.  I asked our Holiday guests to weigh in on who they would vote for today if all the present candidates were on next November's ballot. 

The results;

Barack Obama  - 11 votes

Mike Huckabee - 5 votes

Hillary Clinton - 2 votes

Mitt Romney - 2 votes

John McCain - 1 vote

Fred Thompson - 1 vote

Dear President Bush

This is the first e-mail I sent when I returned from Africa. 

   

Dear President Bush,

   

I just returned from Africa.  I saw first hand the tragic aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.  I am pleading with you to ACT NOW on Darfur.  Please, President Bush LEAD on this issue.

   

President al-Bashir continues to ignore diplomatic efforts to pressure him to end the genocide. More than 400,000 Darfurians have already lost their lives and over 2.5 million have been displaced. 

   

In your speech on April 18, you promised tough sanctions and punitive actions targeted at the Sudanese government if they continue to obstruct the international community's efforts to bring peace and protection to Darfur.  You said, "if President al-Bashir does not meet his obligations to the United States of America,  we'll act." While I applaud that sentiment, it is one I have heard before. 

   

I therefore urge you to remain true to the deadline U.S. Special Envoy Andrew Natsios set out when he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 11 that the U.S. would hold off on sanctions at the behest of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon "for 2 to 4 weeks." The waiting game must come to an end for the people of Darfur.   

    

I urge you to take the following steps if President al-Bashir does not comply with your demands:

   

* Enact and enforce targeted sanctions against the leadership of the regime in Khartoum, including sanctions against the companies used by the leadership to finance the genocide.

   

* Implement all sanctions and measures for which you were given legal authority when Congress enacted, and you signed, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, including blocking from U.S. ports those ships that have transported Sudanese oil.

   

* Engage at the United Nations and with world leaders to enact the strictest targeted worldwide sanctions regime against Sudan's leadership.

   

* Develop and implement, with our NATO allies, a no-fly zone covering Sudanese military flights over Darfur.

   

* Engage with the United Nations to prepare and deploy a protection force for civilians in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic.

   

* Prepare for the deployment of a credible and effective international force to Darfur with a strong mandate to protect vulnerable civilians and ensure conditions for effective humanitarian aid.  This should include a budget amendment request to Congress to pay the U.S.'s full share of UN peacekeeping dues.

   

* Produce a contingency plan to respond to the potentially cataclysmic collapse of security and humanitarian aid networks in Darfur.

   

Thank you for your continued concern for this genocide and your stated commitment to act to end it.

   

Sincerely,

   

Mike King

   

I subscribe to e-mail updates from SaveDarfur.org.  You can get this e-mail body and others from their website.

William Wilberforce and the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act

March 25, 2007 is the 200^th anniversary of the passage of the British Law ending the Slave Trade.  This historic event is believed by most historians to signify the beginning of the end for the widespread practice of human slavery.  The central figure in the campaign to pass this legislation was William Wilberforce.  Wilberforce worked passionately for more than two decades against seemingly insurmountable odds and social forces to pass this legislation.  William Wilberforce is on my HERO list.  He represents the kind of evangelical witness I want to be associated with.  Wilberforce was elected to the British Parliament at the young age of 21.  In 1776 he began his college studies at St. John's College, Cambridge.  He completed a B.A. in 1781 and seven years later earned a M.A. degree.  While studying for his M.A., Wilberforce had a spiritual awakening that he referred to as a conversion experience.  He dedicated his life to serve God. 

   

In 1789, Wilberforce made his first significant speech in Parliament on the abolition of slavery.  The first time Wilberforce introduced a bill in Parliament to abolish the slave trade was 1791.  It was defeated but Wilberforce was committed to this cause.  He introduced similar bills to eliminate the slave trade at every new session of Parliament.  Wilberforce spent years laboring for the passage of legislation to forbid the trafficking in human beings as slaves.  He worked tirelessly and passionately to inform the public of the heinous nature of this practice.  Wilberforce, devoted to a life of obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, knew that this important work was a calling of God upon his life.  In the year 1806, Wilberforce spent the better part of a year writing A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade.  This proved to be a seminal project in his effort to end the Slave Trade.  The work was published in January of 1807.  Later in the same year, amidst tributes to the faithfulness of Wilberforce, the Slave Trade Act was passed (283 to 16) on March 25, 1807.   

   

Other major accomplishments by Wilberforce included the founding of the Church Missionary Society, the establishment of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (don’t you just love this man of God), the formation of the African Institute and a leading member of the Clapham Sect (The Saints).  On July 26, 1833 with Wilberforce’s health in serious peril, a bill was passed called the Slavery Abolition Act which made slavery illegal.  William Wilberforce, rejoicing in the fruit of his lifetime labor, died three days later.  Wilberforce is buried in Westminster Abby next to his lifelong friend William Pitt (the youngest Prime Minister the UK has ever had at the age of 24). 

   

One of the many things being done to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act and the contribution made by William Wilberfore is the release of the movie Amazing Grace.  I can’t wait to see this movie.  I get emotional just watching the trailer.  I have heard great things from friends who have already seen it.  I was so bummed to miss an advance showing sponsored by Tom Nelson, the pastor of Christ Community Church, because of a huge conflict.  It seems like this film is the real deal and not another End of the Spear – great story, bad art and bad story telling.  GO SEE Amazing Grace.  Let’s celebrate the life of William Wilberforce, dream of how we may be faithful to God in similar ways, pick up our cross and follow our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ronnie The Representative

Ronnie Metsker, our former YouthFront President and friend of 31 years has just been appointed to serve as a Kansas State Representative.  This is very cool and I think he will do a great job.  Ronnie will serve in the manner of William Wilberforce and will make a difference.  GO RONNIE...  here is the article in the KC Star.

Kansas City Star - December 27, 2006

"Ronnie Metsker will replace Ed O’Malley in the Kansas House. County Republican precinct leaders chose Metsker at a caucus this week to fill the 24th District seat. Metsker, now retired, is former chairman of YouthFront, a Westwood-based Christian organization. His father, Al Metsker, founded Kansas City Youth for Christ. Ronnie Metsker later took over as executive director and also ran KYFC-TV, Channel 50. O’Malley won re-election in November but resigned this month to become president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Leadership Center in Wichita. The 24th District includes Mission and parts of Roeland Park and Overland Park."

Harvard Book Store

One of the great things about being in a place like Harvard, Princeton, or Yale in the USA; Oxford, Cambridge or Edinburgh in the UK; or Trinity in Dublin, etc. is the accessibility to ideas and interesting people.  My first night on Harvard Square I stumbled into the Harvard Book Store and discovered Mark Halperin, the Political Director of ABC News and author of the book The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008.

 

Halperin was speaking on the subject of his book – the environment of modern presidential campaigns.  He focuses on the Clintons and the Bushes and how they have been able to navigate through the peril of the New Media, which he refers to as the “Freak Show.”  Fascinating stuff from a person who is in constant contact with the political powerbrokers in American politics.  He spoke of how both Gore and Kerry wilted under the pressure created by the “Freak Show.”

 

He spoke rather negatively about the temperament of the New Media (makes sense since he works for Old Media - ABC News).  However he had many profound things to say about the nature of New Media content which he believes is inherently negative and sensational (because that’s what it takes to get noticed).  He spoke about Drudge, Radio Talk Shows and Bloggers.  He was fascinating enough to make me plop down $28 to buy the book and stand in line to have him sign it.  Yep, I’m cool…

 

Halperin suggested that Hillary will be the next President of the USA unless John McCain runs.  He said the Clinton Machine views John McCain as formidable.  This happened Monday night.  Today McCain announced the formation of an exploratory committee to determine if he should run for President in 2008.

Should be interesting…

The Separation of Church and Hate...

John Fischer and YouthFront go way back... back to the day when he was mostly known for being a Contemporary Christian Musician.  Now John is primarily viewed as a writer and thinker.  I have always enjoyed what he has to say.  This article The Separation of Church and Hate: Finding the Way to Real Cultural Change appears on Chuck Colson's website BreakPoint.  John has some very important things to say and the article is definitely worth a read.  Here are a few thoughts from John that were prompted by a a bumper sticker he saw that said, I'm for the Separation of Church and Hate.

"For a community called to live in love to have even a hint of hatred associated with it is not only a contradiction of terms, it is a violation of its core purpose. If Christians were consistently acting in loving ways toward each other and toward those who are not of the household of faith, this association could not have been made. What could be more humiliating or more damaging to what the church is called to be than for the world to plead with it on a bumper sticker to not be so full of hate?

How has this unfortunate situation come about?

1) We have been more focused on sin than the sinner.

2) We have been more concerned with creating a safe society than with making a positive impact on culture.

3) We have bought into the notion that we could effect a change upon society through politics.

4) We have opted for morality over the gospel.

5) We have become the self-appointed last line of defense that God doesn’t need and never asked for."

Click here to Read the Article.