Here’s a touching story about John Harper, a man who loved the lost and shared the gospel, until his very last moments on earth. I first heard this story while reading The Gospel & Personal Evangelism, by Mark Dever. Since we never know the day or hour when God will take us home, we should always be mindful of the urgency of evangelism.

With so many mediocre choices and such a long campaign season, I feel a bit overwhelmed this election. I’ll probably never find a candidate whom I agree with 100% of the time and is also electable. Nevertheless, I would be abrogating my Christian duty and American privilege to just sit on the sidelines.

So, how can I participate in this process as an informed citizen? The TV media seem far too concerned with polls and sound bites to be of any substantive help on the issues. However, I have found the following websites to be useful as I narrow down and prayerfully assess the candidates.

Project Vote Smart is a massive database with voting records, biographical and contact information, interest group ratings, public statements, and campaign finance records of each candidate. They provide information on both current officials and current candidates, and cover both national and local politics.

2008 Election ProCon.org researches the issues they feel are complicated and important, and works to present them in a balanced, comprehensive, straightforward, and primarily pro-con format. Be sure to check out their helpful Candidate Summary Chart.

FactCheck.org describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding. After a debate or new commercial is aired, this site will expose all the bogus claims and faulty statistics.

Just one other thought. In the midst of this election year, let’s not forget to pray diligently for our current President, George W. Bush. In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Paul commands us “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” In 2008, Bush may be considered an irrelevant “lame duck” President, but let us remember he is a minister of God (Rom. 13:4) who needs incredible wisdom every day, and still has a quarter of his second term remaining.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) was an early church father and one of the greatest theologians in church history. In his autobiographical work Confessions, he gives this beautiful glimpse into our mysterious and majestic God:

Most high, utterly good, utterly powerful, most omnipotent, most merciful and most just, deeply hidden yet most intimately present, perfection of both beauty and strength, stable and incomprehensible, immutable and yet changing all things, never new, never old, making everything new and ‘leading’ the proud ‘to be old without their knowledge’ (Job 9:5); always active, always in repose, gathering to yourself but not in need, supporting and filling and protecting, creating and nurturing and bringing to maturity, searching even though to you nothing is lacking: you love without burning, you are jealous in a way that is free of anxiety, you ‘repent’ (Gen. 6:6) without pain of regret, you are wrathful and remain tranquil. You will a change without any change in your design. You recover what you find, yet have never lost. Never in any need, you rejoice in your gains (Lk. 15:7); you are never avaricious, yet you require interest (Mt. 25:27). We pay you more than you require so as to make you our debtor, yet who has anything which does not belong to you? (1 Cor. 4:7). You pay off debts, though owing nothing to anyone; you cancel debts and incur no loss. But in these words what have I said, my God, my life, my holy sweetness? What has anyone achieved in words when he speaks of you? Yet woe to those who are silent about you because, though loquacious with verbosity, they have nothing to say. (Confessions, p. 5)

Righteous anger. At first, it may sound like an oxymoron. After all, anger is a dangerous emotion that can cause immeasurable damage in the family, in the church, in society, and in the soul. The Bible issues a severe warning to all of us in Proverbs 29:22: “An angry man stirs up strife, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.” Far from being a virtue or effective manipulative tactic, the Bible says a quick temper is a sure sign of foolishness and spiritual weakness. Nevertheless, the Bible also teaches that when we are angry at the right things, and angry in the right ways, our anger is both appropriate and righteous.

There are four reasons I believe in the existence of a “righteous anger.” First, because God commands us not to sin when we get angry. In Ephesians 4:26-27, Paul says, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” The fact that Paul permits his readers to “get angry, and not sin,” confirms there is such a thing a righteous anger. But that anger must be dealt with and given over to God very quickly, so that it does not become a foothold for Satan in our lives.

Second, we know there is a righteous anger, because God Himself is an angry God. In Deuteronomy 1:34, it says that after Israel grumbled in the wilderness and failed to trust God to bring them into Canaan, “the LORD heard the sound of their words, and He was angry and took an oath [against them].” This was not a rare, one-time flash of His temper, for Psalm 7:11 says “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.” Of course, God’s anger is directed at evil, and anyone or anything that robs Him of the glory He is due. We learn from God’s anger that our anger is only righteous if we are angry against sin and injustice. Getting angry because our personal needs, comforts, and “rights” are violated falls short of God’s righteous standard of anger.

Sometimes, God asks people if they have good reason to be angry. This is a third piece of evidence for righteous anger. God does not rebuke people for being angry, per se, but for being angry for the wrong reasons. In Jonah 4:4, God asks the prophet, “Do you have good reason to be angry?” In this case, Jonah did not. But we can see that God used this emotion as a door into Jonah’s heart, to counsel Jonah about his misplaced values and priorities. The emotion of anger is not inherently wrong, but the cause must be biblical if it is to be a righteous anger.

Lastly, we know righteous anger exists because there are many people in Scripture who exemplify a righteous anger. This would include Jesus cleansing the temple (Jn. 2:13f); Moses shattering the tablets over the idolatry of Israel (Ex. 32:19); and Nehemiah at the usury of the Jewish officials (Neh. 5:6). A more modern example would be William Wilberforce’s outrage over the atrocities of the slave trade. Each of these people were angry at things that made God angry, and expressed that anger in ways approved by God’s Word.

So, when you are strongly displeased, and your pulse quickens, how do you know if your anger is righteous or unrighteous? Here are several questions you should prayerfully ask:

• Am I slow to anger, and hard to provoke? (Ecc. 7:9; 1 Cor. 13:5; Jam. 1:19)
• Am I angry about something which make God angry?
• Are my thoughts, motives, and desires God-centered rather than self-centered?
• Am I responding with self-control, and in ways approved by God’s Word? (Gal. 5:22-23)
• Am I giving this over quickly to God and not allowing it to ferment and fester? (Eph. 4:26-27)

If you can honestly answer ‘yes’ to each of these questions, then your anger may be a righteous, constructive kind of anger. But even so, recognizing the danger of anger, “let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).

A new twist on Handel’s classic…

(HT: Fred Butler)