Tuesday, November 8^th is election day.  Normally it isn’t – this is an “odd” year after all.  But we have a special election that, most likely, not many people will vote in.  That means that a minority of the people of California will get to decide for us issues that affect school funding, limits on government spending, drug discount programs for seniors, abortion and minors, redistricting, and public utility abuses.  Many of the initiatives on the ballot have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable populations of our society – those whose voices are usually muted, not always by their choice.

          We as Christians have an obligation to make our own voices heard.  On November 8^th we do that by voting.  Your vote CAN make a difference.  Did you know that:

·         ONE VOTE kept Aaron Burr – later charged with treason – from becoming President.

·         ONE VOTE elected Marcus Morton governor of Massachusetts.

·         ONE VOTE made Texas part of the United States.

·         ONE VOTE saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.

·         ONE VOTE admitted California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho into the Union.

·         ONE VOTE elected Rutherford B. Hayes to the Presidency, and the man in the Electoral College who cast that vote was an Indiana Representative also elected by ONE VOTE.

·         ONE VOTE made Adolf Hitler head of the Nazi Party.

·         Woodrow Wilson was elected President in 1916 by carrying one state by less than ONE VOTE per precinct.

·         ONE VOTE elected Lyndon B. Johnson (our 36^th president) senator.

          Your ONE VOTE is important.  I am not about to tell you how to vote (I will tell you what I think if you ask me, though), but I will tell you that as a follower of Jesus Christ, it is our moral, ethical, and spiritual obligation to stand up and speak out (by going to the polls) for what is right. 

          The truth is, if Jesus was alive today, I believe he would make the time to vote on November 8^th.  His commitment to the disadvantaged, his firm belief that we are to look out for the poor, the homeless, the hungry, and the sick, would compel him to do so.  

Voting is one way we, too, can step out in faith.  We can make a difference.  Don’t let someone else decide these issues for you.  Go to the polls on November 8^th!

Have a great month, my friends.  Be blessed. Be a blessing.

And as always, I’ll see you on Sunday!

Pastor Tom