How are we to live in these last days? The Bible has much to say about it, but one of my favorite passages…and the namesake of this blog…is Titus 2:11-14:

¹¹ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, ¹² teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, ¹³ looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Full sermons have been taught on that passage, but let’s focus on only one element of it: “…living soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age…” That phrase applies to all of life, including our civic life…how we vote, what causes we back and what candidates we put in office. In all of those, righteousness must rule if we wish to preserve religious freedom.

Recently, righteousness won a rare, but significant, victory in California when AB 1400, which would have mandated government-run healthcare in California, was pulled. Why was it pulled? Thousands of California residents contacted their assemblymen, stating their displeasure, and holding them accountable for their vote.

Well, righteousness just won a rare, but significant victory nationally, because American citizens made their voices heard! The Biden administration nominated a radical to fill a Federal Communications Commission position, which would have strangled religious free speech on radio, TV and cable. One FCC former official said, “Her public animus towards mainstream conservative outlets renders her unfit to serve as a regulator over the communications industry,” and, “the White House praised Sohn when announcing her nomination in October…noting she would be the first openly LGBTIQ+ FCC commissioner.” She was not confirmed to the FCC position. (Read a report about it here.)

Praise God for those victories!

As we move toward 2022 elections, it is our responsibility as believers to discern what candidates share our conservative values. Don’t let media ads confuse you. Find a way to discover past voting records (if the candidate has been in office) or take advantage of opportunities to hear candidates define what they stand for.

There was such an opportunity this morning in Phoenix, as candidates for US Senate and for Arizona Governor answered questions ranging from the border crisis to CRT and school reform to COVID vaccines and masking to many other things. It is early in the evaluation process of our candidates, so there is a long way to go, but the elimination of candidates is underway in my mind!

I hope we will all take seriously our civic responsibility to evaluate and elect candidates with strong conservative, Bible-based values. The Bible warns of the importance of that!

Let’s fight the righteous battle until Jesus comes!