You may not know who Brit Hume is, but I do.  And I like him.  He’s the Tom Brokaw - the Peter Jennings - of Fox News.  He’s the older, respected, top anchor of their newsroom; particularly when it comes to anything remotely political.  I’ve always like him because his signature sad eyes, deep voice, and slow way of speaking have always given me a sense of his wisdom and hints of actual impartiality.

In just a few days he’ll be officially retiring.  In listing his reasons why, he gave some of the standard answers: time with the wife,  time on the golf course.  But what struck me was desire to use retirement as a time to finally dig deeper into his Christian faith.  Here’s a snippet of the very interesting LA Times article:

“Family is a big piece of it.  And Christ is a big piece of it.  And golf is a big piece of it.” As he prepares to anchor his last presidential campaign, Hume said he’s eager to immerse himself in a more spiritual life after dwelling for so long in the secular.

The anchor described himself as a “nominal Christian” until 10 years ago, when his son Sandy committed suicide at age 28.  “I feel like I was really kind of saved when my son died by faith and by the grace of God, and that’s very much on my consciousness,” said Hume, who plans to get more involved in his wife’s Bible study group.

I love the fact that he’s going to get involved in his wife’s Bible study group.  That made my day.  The death of his son explains the sad eyes.  It sounds like a change of pace and priorities long overdue.

However, if there’s a lesson to be learned - and I’m sure that Hume would agree - immersing oneself in their faith and following Jesus with all they’ve got is not something best saved for retirement; like more time on the golf course.  Golf can wait.  Jesus can’t.  Your family can’t.  But I’m glad the guy is getting his priorities straight now rather than never.  May we do the same.

Right now I’m taking a walk through the neighborood with Ava. We just passed a house with a campaign sign in the yard. However it looks like they’re conflicted about their choice for President. They have McCain signs with McCain’s name cut out leaving simply, “Palin.” Nice.

Too bad you can’t cut and paste in the voting booth. Back to my walk.

via BlackBerry

Well, it’s been proven.  Mention Barack Obama and Christianity in the same blog post and you’ll inevitably freak some people out.  But it’s been good - actually, it’s been great to read the posts and take in the different sides.  In the end, it’s a nice illustration of how there are good Jesus-loving, Bible-reading, baptized children of God prayerfully and passionately sitting on both sides of the aisle.

But as we get closer and closer to November 4th, there is one question that we need to take into the voting booths with us.  Actually, I believe it to be the question that should sit at the center of every decision and every move a follower of Jesus makes.  Are you ready for it?  [pause for dramatic tension] “What’s best for my neighbor?”

Sound familiar?  This question is the second half of Jesus’ famous summation of what it means to walk through life as a member of God’s family.  “…Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…[and] love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 22:37,39

In other words, our job in life is to love the Father in heaven with all we’ve got on the inside (heart, soul, mind, and strength) and love those around us (friends, family, country, world) with all we’ve got on the outside (words, deeds).  And so when it comes to the outward action of voting the question every follower of Jesus must operate from is not, “what’s best for me” or “what’s best for my party” but “what is best - who is best - for my neighbor?”  Which candidate is the better gift to offer my friends based on what God says is most important?  McCain or Obama?

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October 15th was a big day for me.  I couldn’t get much sleep the night before and once the dawn finally broke my eyes were peeled for the dude who drives the big brown truck.  I’d pre-ordered my copy months in advance and the day of delivery had finally arrived.  Some guys get psyched about video games.  Others go crazy over sports.  For me it’s all about the Bibles.  Being a pastor I’m contractually obligated to like Bibles - it’s part of the deal.

Last week Crossway Publishers released the long awaited ESV Study Bible.  It’s the first study Bible to incorporate the English Standard Version translation which, since its completion in 2001, has become the standard for excellence and accuracy in scholarly, orthodox Christian circles.  (A quick post on the differences in translations and why you should care is upcoming.)

The study Bible takes this wonderful translation of the scriptures and combines it with textual notes, beautiful maps, thorough and scholarly introductions to each book, as well as dozens of articles on things like, “The Authority and Truthfulness of the Bible” and “An Overview of Biblical Theology.”  All of which has been compiled by leaders in the field of orthodox, scholarly, Biblical studies.

My only complaint is that so far some of the notes tend to skew a bit to the John Piper-quasi-Calvinistic side of things.  Frank will understand what that means.  Overall however, it’s solid.

So if you’re looking for a Bible with great translation, helpful notes, and a bunch of extras that will deepen your understanding of the Scriptures, this is the one.  Just don’t steal mine.  Okay, the commercial is over.

A few weeks back I posted about how Barack Obama is inspiring much cooler pop-culture swag than McCain.  Well, if you didn’t believe me then, you have to believe me now.  Introducing, the Obama belt.  Not only will his quasi-socialist policies held hold up the American economy but now his very name can help hold up your pants.  Talk about goverment assistance.

The belts range in cost from $100 to $14,500 for the 14K gold edition.  But don’t drop your pants over the pricetag - all proceeds go to support voter registration efforts in key swing states.  No kidding.

C’mon McCain, how are you gonna top this?  There must be someone out there willing to drop at least 5 grand on a good pair of McCain / Palin suspenders.