From the Editors
It has been said that one should never talk to people about religion or politics. At Focus Press we frequently disseminate information on both topics, as we believe that Christians should be thoroughly informed on both. This month, we want to put a mutual spotlight on religion and politics and demonstrate that the two issues sometimes overlap. 
Several decades ago war was announced on Christian families. Sadly, this battle cry went mostly unheeded. Sermons were preached, and articles were written—however, the main response was for Christians to bury their heads in the sand and hope it all went away. So for many years Christians remained silent, while the vocal minority radically changed our culture. We have awakened to find ourselves living in a nation that is openly embracing abominations to God. 
For instance, on May 9, 2012, President Barak Obama announced to the world that he now supports same-sex marriage. For the first time in the history of our nation, we have the leader of the free world embracing something that God has deemed as an abomination. Ironically, this is not the same position he campaigned on. In 2008, during an interview with Rick Warren (denominational author of A Purpose Driven Life), then Senator Obama defined marriage as between one man and one woman. During that interview Obama noted that marriage was a sacred union in which God was a factor. 
In August of this year, the national Democratic Party’s platform committee voted to add same-sex marriage to their platform. In addition to endorsing same-sex marriage for the first time, they also called for the repeal of a federal law that recognizes marriage as between one man and one woman—an effort that undoubtedly was to appeal to new voters. This same party also endorses abortion—something that God hates (see Proverbs 6:16-17). 
It is not our job to tell you who to vote for, as we live in a free country and thankfully we still have the ability to select our elected officials. However, we do want to remind people that there are moral issues that are clearly abominations to God. As Christians, we must set aside specific party affiliations, and instead we must defend God’s Truth! 
Having grown up in the South, I am keenly familiar with phrases like “yellow dog.” I have also studied American history enough to know that my grandparents’ generation elevated men like Franklin D. Roosevelt on a pillar, as he was able to help farmers and was instrumental at pulling the American economy out of the Great Depression. As such, many families have voted for Roosevelt’s party for 2-3 generations, without giving any consideration to the issues of morality. Without question the political parties in America have changed. As mentioned above, their platforms have changed. Aside from wearing the same name, the party my grandfather routinely voted for looks nothing like that same party today.  
We grant that there is no perfect party or candidate. All of them have flaws or issues that should be corrected. We also will freely grant that our political system is “broken” and needs a lot of fixing. We recognize that there is a “good ol’ boy” system in place that our Founding Fathers never intended. We also will quickly acknowledge that no one running for President is a New Testament Christian. (In other words there is not a “great” choice.) But in this issue of Think we want to ask the question: What if Jesus were President? What policy changes would we see and what issues would be important to Him? 
Approximately 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ was convicted for you. We believe it is time to show that we are convicted for Him. We believe it is time to let our voices be heard again. Focus Press is a non-profit organization, and thus we cannot endorse a particular candidate. However, we can encourage Christians to vote for individuals who do not embrace Biblical abominations to God. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). We believe the time has come for the Christians in this nation to let the world know that we were not going to be silent anymore. Christians need to let their voices be heard again. We hope that you will give this issue some serious consideration as you think on these things.