The buzz today is that Sen. John McCain is going to have to produce the kind of dynamic speech counter-intuitive to his personality in order to topple his VP pick Gov. Sarah Palin’s speech last night. I think McCain has a bigger obstacle. His speech doesn’t just need to upstage Palin’s speech, it needs to upstage Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, and that will be no small task.

As Emily and I watched the RNC last night she said, “Is everyone there white?” Sad, but true observation. One of the things I loved about the camera shots from the DNC was the diversity of the individuals in attendance. The audience in Denver was populated with young and old, black and white, male and female. This wasn’t the case in Minneapolis. There were lots of young and old, male and female, but they were mostly white. America is a kaledioscope of nationalities and it saddens me that there isn’t a better balance of minority representation in Republican party. The RNC is on national television for crying out loud. Nothing about the crowd in attendance screams “Republicans care about minorities and minorities have a voice in this party”. Maybe they should have paid some minorities to attend (tongue planted firmly in cheek).

As I listened to Barack Obama’s speech last week one of the things I loved is his call for bipartisan cooperation. He shows genuine respect to John McCain (though the same isn’t true of the way he speaks about George W. Bush) and McCain’s love for his country. He even seems sincere in his admiration for McCain. But there are two things worth noting here. First, even though Obama’s is courting bipartisan cooperation, his own voting record in the Senate indicates that he consistently aligns himself with the Democratic position on most every issue, voting along party lines about 95% of the time. Second, while I appreciate the courtesy and respect that Obama has shown to McCain’s patriotism and love for the United States as well as Gov. Palin in calling the media to back off the children of each candidate, Republicans will severely undermine their ability to win this election by showing Obama the same respect. They can’t paint a picture of Obama as a patriot or they will lose this election.

It is clear to me the Barack Obama has his fingers planted firmly on the pulse of America. The cleverness of his campaign is that he consistently talks about issues that people really care about. Obama is a charismatic voice for the disenfranchised. He talks about the issues that impact the majority of Americans personally. This isn’t to say that Americans don’t care about hot-button issues such as abortion, stem-cell research and gay marriage. Most do. But they don’t care about these issues the way that they care about the economy, education, health care, and social security because, for most Americans, they live distant lives from the hot-button issues. In other words, the Democrats get that prosperity and comfort are the most prized American virtues.

As I listened to Obama’s speech in Denver I couldn’t help but sense that he vastly overestimates his ability to bring about the sweeping change in Washington politics that he promises. I was amazed at how often Obama said, “I will…” as he talked about stabilizing and growing the economy, decreasing unwanted pregnancies, strengthening our military, severing our dependence upon foreign oil in ten years, eradicating the terrorists who threaten to harm US interests and more. Seriously, only an egomaniac would put some much confidence in one man’s ability to fix a system that is obviously broken.

But I have to applaud Obama for doing what Palin didn’t do and what I hope McCain does tonight when he accepts the Republican nomination for the Presidency of the United States. Obama took his shots at McCain and the Bush administration, but he did so in the context of also stating how he proposes to change what can only be said to be an almost disastrous eight years under Bush’s leadership. Obama talked about the issues that are important to the average American. The economy is worse now than it was 8 years ago. The average American is $2000 poorer annually under this administration while the Clinton administration made us an average of $7500 richer. We are engaged in an international conflict we were led into by bad intelligence and information. More and more US jobs are being outsourced. The dollar is so weak internationally that foreign interests are gobbling up real estate and American corporations at bargain basement prices. Gas and food costs are soaring.

Let’s be clear: Obama won’t be able to fix all of these issues alone. Neither with John McCain. But Obama spoke clearly about how he intends to try to fix them. McCain must do the same tonight.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin demonstrated grit, spunk, strength and poise last night as she took stage at the Republican National Convention. She was comfortable in the spotlight, matter-of-fact and real. She did exactly what she needed to do as most Americans got their first dose of Gov. Palin since she was a relative unknown on the national political scene. She showed herself to be articulate, courageous and tenacious.

It was clear from both her speech and former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani’s speech that the goal last night was to highlight the fact that Barack Obama has not demonstrated himself to be a strong leader primarily because he has never had to really lead. While this is a good tactical strategy on the part of the McCain-Palin campaign it is imperative that they take things a step further. Obama’s running mate Joseph Biden is exactly right when he said that Palin’s speech, while impressively crafted, really didn’t say anything specific about the intended direction and policies of the Republican Presidential ticket. McCain was touted as a maverick American soldier who has sacrificed much personally for the sake of his country, and no one can dispute that. But what people need to hear is why McCain-Palin are more qualified to lead than Obama-Biden.

The strategies of the two competing national parties are coming into focus. McCain - Palin are going to focus on national security. Obama - Biden are going to focus on the economy. The more the dollar weakens internationally, gas and food prices rise, and foreclosures increase, the more likely it becomes that the Democratic focus will strengthen their chances of securing the White House. Actually, the worst thing that could happen to Obama’s chances would be a significant terrorist attack against American interests domestically or abroad. And here’s the thing: do you think that our enemies don’t know that?

I’m not suggesting that McCain shouldn’t focus on national security. But, tragically, 9/11 is a fading memory in people’s minds. People are frustrated with the Iraq war. We still live in relative safety in this country. McCain also needs to tell us his plan to reviving a sluggish economy. He needs to talk more about fiscal responsibility and how to reduce the deficit without overly taxing the common man in middle-America. Most American’s don’t care if they are taxed more as long as their wallets get fatter as they did during Bill Clinton’s term in office. Sarah Palin, for as well as she did last night, needed to speak more directly as to why John McCain’s goals as President better serve the interests of the average American than Barack Obama’s. Hopefully we will hear more along those lines in the coming days.

Peggy Noonan (The Wall Street Journal) has an excellent running commentary on the Republican National Convention in anticipation of Palin’s monumentous speech tonight. The McCain campaign needs more than a base hit tonight; they need a home run. Sadly, the reason they need a home run is that the media isn’t playing nice with Gov. Palin. There is clearly a bias here and Noonan nails it. Just look around. Notice the difference in the recent cover of the celebrity magazine US. Just recently they ran a cozy story about Obama and his family while this week’s cover is laced with scandal over Gov. Palin and her 17-year old pregnant daughter. There are more examples but Noonan says it much better than I ever could.

John McCain and Sarah Palin, listen up. The average American citizen needs to hear about how your domestic policies are going to address a struggling economy, the weak dollar, the mortgage crisis, No Child Left Behind, Supreme Court appointments and more. We need to hear about how your foreign policies intend to deal with the news that North Korea has begun reassembling their nuclear power plant (if they ever actually stopped), how diplomacy is going to work in Iran, when troops will begin pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan without leaving these fragile democracies on the brink of civil war, and how we plan to deal with the angry mother-bear we call Russia.

Unfortunately, Obama/Biden aren’t giving us much in way of information about any of these issues either. They just keep blowing the trumpet of “change” without really telling us what exactly is going to change. But I’ve got to hand it to Obama, his charge to the media to leave Palin’s family out of politics was classy. Regrettably, the very media that will likely get Obama elected isn’t listening.

One of the obstacles within the resource-rich Western church to reaching the nations with the gospel is the adoption of a mission goal that is hyper-concerned with the conversion of as many “neighbors” as possible before turning our attention to the unreached peoples of the world. What this means is that Western churches may be hesitant to pursue ambitious international mission strategies because of sincere concern and awareness that there are many “neighbors” who don’t yet know Jesus Christ. This local sensitivity, while perhaps motivated by heartfelt compassion, is slightly out of step with the overall trajectory of the gospel for several reasons.

1. The Scriptures never set the call to make disciples in “Jerusalem” and “the ends of the earth” in opposition. These are not “either/or” commands, but rather, “both/and”.
2. “Salvation belongs to the Lord”. This means that our primary concern in missions should not necessarily be to see more and more people converted (though it isn’t unbiblical to earnestly desire to see God save as many people as possible through the Gospel). I say this because we shouldn’t concern ourselves with what we cannot control. Our primary concern should be to make the Gospel plain among our neighbors and the nations. Our goal should be to take the Gospel to all nations. The work of grace that leads to salvation depends upon the Holy Spirit, not upon how saturated a community is with the Gospel. The anals of church history will attest to the power of the Gospel going forth leading to salvation even in areas where there was very little Gospel presence. However, there must be a Gospel presence for this is the power of God for salvation.
3. The biblical perspective on missions understands that the goal of Jesus’ Gospel is to bring make disciples from all nations, not necessarily to save as many people as possible from every nation. Someone might object, “But God doesn’t want any to perish.” Remember those words were penned to a particular audience in 2Peter. He was writing to believers. It is true that God doesn’t delight in the death of the wicked. The scope of the Gospel is universal in its sufficiency to save and all who call upon the name of the Lord in fatih will be saved. But no where in Scripture do we see that the aim of the Gospel is to save as many as possible in every nation, especially since it is clear in the Scriptures that not all will be saved. What is clear is that the aim of the Gospel is to save some from every tribe, tongue and nation for the sake of Jesus’ fame and renown in all the earth. This means that our awareness of the lostness of our neighbors should not prohibit us from taking the Gospel to the nations.

John Piper writes in his excellent book Let the Nations Be Glad that missions exist because worship doesn’t. The proclamation of the Gospel is mandated to all disciples of Jesus by the Son of God Himself because the aim of the gospel is to make disciples of people from every tribe, tongue and nation because God wants worshipers of peoples from all nations. This means that obedience to the Lord Jesus is simple. Make the Gospel plain among your neighbors and the nations. Think as strategically about taking the Gospel to an unreached people group in the world as you do about reaching your next door neighbor for Christ. Be faithful to speak of Christ and place your confidence in the Word and the Gospel to accomplish the work of salvation.

Sen. John McCain’s choice is a suprising, yet bold one. When you consider the front-runners prior to the announcement, this is perhaps the most unconventional, but potentially most fruitful pick of them all. While obvious that McCain wanted to pick someone like Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman, like-minded men he both trusted and respected, McCain’s camp knew that a pro-choice pick would undermine his whole campaign. There is no way he would be able to carry conservative, pro-life voters with Ridge or Lieberman on the ticket. This left McCain to choose from Mitt Romney or Tom Pawlenty, and neither of these men offered much to energize the base either. In Gov. Palin John McCain has picked a staunchly conservative, highly-successful, anti-establishment Republican woman to energize his campaign.

Of course, the Obama-Biden campaign and the liberal media desperate to put the youthful Democratic candidate in the White House are wasting no time attacking Palin’s qualifications for the Vice-Presidency, effectively seeking to discredit her qualifications to led because of her short amount of time in the political scene. Interestingly, the Obama campaign are utilizing the same-attack dog tactics they have boastfully claimed do not make Sen. Barack Obama less qualified or competent to serve as Commander-in-Chief. In reality, Obama barely has any more political service or expertise than Palin. The difference between the two is actually pretty important. Palin has served in an executive capacity as Governor of Alaska, while Obama has no executive experience at all.

Admittedly, on the surface, Obama naming Sen. Joseph Biden to his ticket, especially in light of his foreign policy credentials, initially appears to be a stronger overall ticket than McCain-Palin, especially when you consider that both Biden and Palin will be a mere heartbeat away from the Presidency. However, the reality is that neither Biden or Palin will be the President unless something incapacitates Obama or McCain’s ability to fulfill his duties. This puts the burden back on the Obama / McCain comparison. Who is best qualified to lead the United States now?

Any American who really believes that Barack Obama can deliver the change that he promises to Washington has lost their sensibilities. The ability of the President to illicit sweeping change is vastly over-rated. And as I listen to Obama I am left to wonder: “What is it that he hates about America so much?” There are certainly things wrong with the political system in America. This notwithstanding, this is still the greatest country in the world in regards to the pursuit and protection of liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness.

The nomination of Palin to the McCain ticket initially concerned me, but the more I learn, the more I think this could be a stroke of genuis on the part of McCain’s campaign. We’ll know soon enough, won’t we?

Russia’s recent miliatry action against Georgia has reasserted Russia’s international blood-thirst for power and volatility. This is of no small concern to the interests and security of the United States. While much of the political rhetoric regarding foreign policy in the upcoming election has centered around stability in Iraq and Afghanistan, a troop withdrawal timetable, and an increasingly ambitious and aggressive Iranian regime, this recent action by Russia may have an even more significant international implications than Iran’s designs to secure nuclear weapons, and the implications and stakes in the United States’ relationship with Iran couldn’t be bigger.

Christopher Dickey of Newsweek writes:

In fact, the new Great Game, like the old one, will be a long narrative of intrigue and confrontation in which there is no sudden or decisive resolution. Realism will dictate efforts to improve relations with states on Russia’s periphery whether or not their ideologies are compatible with American democratic ideals. Another Iran scholar, Gary Sick at Columbia University, believes the policymakers remaining in the Bush administration have actually come to understand this, albeit very late. “After 9/11 their world view was that the United States had limitless power,” says Sick. “I don’t think they believe that anymore. And if you really believe you have to husband your power in ways that are more cost effective, you have to change our approach to Iran.” It won’t be easy. The Iranians are hard bargainers with regional ambitions of their own, but they are not irrational, and their primary interest is security. Oddly enough, Washington may find that the U.S. benefits by helping them feel safer, not more threatened.

This begs the question: Which presidential candidate, and even more importantly, which Cabinet and Administration, will be best equipped to deal with both the looming Russian and Iranian crisis?

Here is a very good interview with Rick Warren as a follow-up to the Saddleback Summit. Among the issues he addressed is why he felt Obama’s response to the question about abortion wasn’t clear enough, why abortion is such a hot-button issues for evangelicals and conservatives, how the Saddleback Summit showed both McCain and Obama’s true colors and the national overestimation of the President’s power to bring about real change.

Reports today indicate that John McCain holds a 5-point lead on Barack Obama in one national poll, which is encouraging news even among those who may feel that a vote for McCain isn’t much more than a vote against Obama. However, less encouraging is the report that former GOP-frontrunner Rudy Guiliani, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-California), and Sen. Joe Lieberman will be key-note speakers at the Republican National Convention.

In Guiliani you have a man who is considered liberal-to-controversial on issues such as affirmative action, gay rights, gun control, abortion and tax credits. In Schwarzenegger you have a political moderate who affirms California’s recent legalization of same-sex marriage, a man with a questionable sexual history that remains under a cloud of suspicion, is pro-choice, and opposes the Bush legislation regarding stem-cell research (as does McCain). While Lieberman is about as conservative of a liberal as you can find, it remains that he isn’t the kind of man who will unite across party lines. Furthemore, he too is pro-choice.

While the positions of these men on these issues doesn’t necessarily have to be consistent with all conservatives, the issues they differ on are very important to conservatives. You might even say that issues such as gay marriage and abortion define, to some degree, the platform of the Republican party, along with economic issues. I certainly understand the need and desire for the McCain camp to distance themselves from George Bush and his presidential policies in an effort to asauge voters and instill confidence that a vote for McCain isn’t a vote for another Bush presidency, but it doesn’t seem wise to line-up your podiums with keynote speakers who are more moderate than they are conservative when the goal is to make McCain look more conservative than he is moderate.

1. If my gasoline contains 10% ethanol, then why isn’t it cheaper than gasoline that doesn’t contain ethanol?
2. A 16-year old girl in California was killed this past weekend in a car accident. The police found her phone in the floor board open, which caused them to suspect that she had been texting while driving. Authorities also say that she was driving drunk and speeding at the time of her accident. Her mother said that she hopes her daughter’s death will cause people to think twice before texting and driving. Good thought to be sure, but what about texting will driving at a high rate of speed while intoxicated? Did I miss something?
3. Why do drive-through ATM’s have braille key pads?
4. I don’t like Sen. Hillary Clinton but she is right about one thing: If Sen. Barack Obama wins this election it will be, in part, because the media has made him a celebrity.
5. President Musharaff’s resignation in Pakistan makes an already volatile situation in Afghanistan much more unstable.
6. The scoring in Women’s (if you can call some of them that) gymnastics at the Olympics is maddening and I am convinced there is a conspiracy to award almost anyone but American competitors gold medals. The fact that China’s He Kexin (who doesn’t appear to be older than 12) beat Nastia Luikin on the uneven bars with the exact same score is befuddling, and the fact that China’s Cheng Fei, who fell on the vault, knocked US gymnast Alecia Sacramone out of medal contention, who did everything right, is flat out wrong. Isn’t it strange that the Olympics are in China and for some reason the Chinese keep benefiting from the bizarre world of scoring in gymnastics. You want to know what is even more disturbing? Why do I care about Women’s gymnastics?

Throughout the nomination process I’ve been a reluctant John McCain supporter, and there are still reasons to be concerned about a John McCain presidency simply because he is a moderate, not a conservative. I’ve felt all along that I prefer Sen. McCain over Sen. Obama, but that Obama will likely take this election. However, I think that Sen. John McCain may have earned some credibility among evangelicals after his appearance at Saddleback Church in California.

At Saddleback, Obama showed himself to be precisely what he has said he isn’t. He isn’t that different than the politicians he bellows we need to be rescued from. He has been blaring the trumpet of change for months now, but in the end, when put in a setting where he has consistently shined, he showed himself to merely be a political wolf in sheep’s clothing. In his song “A Savior On Capital Hill”, Derek Webb writes, “You can always trust the devil or a politician to be the devil or a politician…” Obama may not have shown himself to be the devil, but you can’t deny he’s a politician, and it appears, a charlatan.

When asked about the most gut-wrenching decision he’s ever had to make, Obama said it was the decision on whether or not to support the war in Iraq. This would have been a difficult decision had Obama been in the Senate at the time. However, he was only a state Senator at the time. He really didn’t have to make the decision, did he? When McCain was asked the same question he showed vulnerability by talking about the decision to refuse early release from captivity as a POW simply because he was the son of a highly decorated naval officer. He could have taken the easy out, and yet, he stuck to his principles because he abided by a code of conduct that said you only leave by an order of capture. There’s more you can say about McCain and his track record here. He has shown himself time and time again NOT to be a party loyalist. Whether you like McCain or not, and whether you think he is conservative enough, you can’t deny that he is a man who makes decisions that he believes to be in the best interest of the country he serves, not the party he serves.

When asked about his greatest moral failure, Obama said that it was that he drank and experimented with drugs during his adolescence. Really? This is Obama’s greatest moral failure? I highly doubt it. McCain, however, responded that his greatest moral failure was “the failure of his first marriage”. McCain’s marriage apparently ended because of infidelity. Even though it was already public knowledge, McCain takes ownership of his adultery. In light of the Edward’s revelation the past couple of weeks, how will McCain’s admission sit with conservative evangelicals? Will the Democrats try to exploit it? Honestly, I appreciate the fact that McCain is owning up to his sin rather than seeking to justify his behavior.

Finally, Obama showed his true political colors most clearly when he responded to Rick Warren when asked, “In your view, when does a baby get human rights?” I’ll simply quote Bryan York’s article here:

“Well, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade,” Obama answered. “But let me just speak more generally about the issue of abortion because this is something obviously the country wrestles with. One thing that I’m absolutely convinced of is there is a moral and ethical content to this issue. So I think that anybody who tries to deny the moral difficulties and gravity of the abortion issue, I think, is not paying attention. So that would be point number one.” Obama went on to say that he is pro-choice. Even for people who agreed with him, it wasn’t a terribly impressive answer.

Obama didn’t even attempt to answer the question. He glosses over the issue by trying to sanitize the horrors of abortion through smooth talk and the “moral” high ground of talking about abortion as a moral issue. This response has been Obama’s standard response in multiple articles that I’ve read on this subject of abortion and Barack Obama. Tragically, Obama has already answered this question through his voting record and his refusal to vote in support of a ban on partial-birth abortions. Sen. Obama, I want to see less moral pontifications and more moral action.

In light of McCain’s recent comments that Tom Ridge, a pro-choice Republican, may be a viable Vice-Presidential candidate, McCain’s response on this issue was strong. Human rights begin “at the moment of conception. I have a 25-year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate, and as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president and this presidency will have pro-life policies.”

I was initially silently concerned about McCain and Obama appearing at Saddleback Church, but now I’m very thankful to God that Warren set up this forum. This forum may not win McCain the Presidency, but it has been helpful in exposing the depth of character that each of these men possess. This isn’t to say that Obama isn’t a man of character or principle; that jury is still out. This also isn’t to say that McCain possess the greater character of the two. It was just one conversation and one opportunity for each candidate to frankly begin revealing their true colors. While both men were revealing, I think McCain showed himself to possess the kind of depth, thoughtfulness, life-experience and mature thinking that are needed for any individual to be considered for the Presidency of the United States of America.