I arrived in Orlando this evening to take part in the Florida Straw Poll, Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and to pray for the presidential candidates. I will also be attending the Fox News/Google GOP Presidential Primary Debate on Thursday.

I’m so excited to be attending this event and to pray over this election season. Our prayers are effective from anywhere, but there is something different about being able to lay your hand on someone’s shoulder and pray for them.

I am asking God for divine meetings and favor. Also, I am really praying that God would use me to encourage the candidates to make bold, unapologetic stands for righteousness according to the Word.

I would love it if you would please pray for my mother and me.

Here’s some ways to pray:

• That God would give me boldness to say what He wants me to say (Acts 4:29-30)
• That He would tell me what I should say to the candidates (Eph. 1:16-19)
• For safety and protection in traveling and during the conference 
• For God-ordained meetings to take place
• That I could be a bold witness to Jesus and take a strong stance for life (righteousness)
• Pray Jeremiah 1:7-9 and Daniel 5:12

As Christians living in America, we are duel citizens: we are both Americans and future-inhabitants of heaven. But, should one citizenship completely negate the other? More specifically, should Christians be involved in politics — or even vote? 

There are those who believe that God’s ways are so far beyond our day-to-day lives that we should completely ignore that which is around us. In essence, we should solely focus on God so intensely that we ignore things going on around us. After all, those things are temporary, and therefore don’t matter.  

I think this logic is dangerous. While it is true that we should focus primarily on God, to ignore our government, society and state of our world is to ignore how far God came to redeem humanity. He isn’t stoic and detached from our world; He is Immanuel: God with us. 

So is Jesus involved in America’s elections? Does He care who becomes president?

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There is so much pressure nowadays to endorse a candidate for presidency ASAP. Our friends and family ask “Who are you supporting?” and you feel the pressure to have an answer, even though we are still a ways away from the Primaries. 

But I think a lot of Americans tend to choose candidates based on arbitrary factors. Like, 1) Who do my friends support? 2) Who is most likely to beat the incumbent? 3) Who will help me get a job? (You’re a slacker, McFly.)

While these factors definitely play a role in selecting a candidate to endorse, they can’t be the primary factors or decided upon flippantly.

I’m not new to politics. It started when I was a little kid as I held up signs for Bush senior. Of course, my arguments for Bush went something like, “Cwinton is da bad guy.” This year I am attending the Florida Presidency 5 Straw Poll as a delegate. Fortunately, my rhetoric has gotten a little more advanced.

The concept of Good Guy vs. Bad Guy is still alive in the psyche of society. When we flippantly side with a candidate, we pit them against the others — even those of the same party. Things get nasty. 

There are a lot of factors that I think about when choosing who to endorse. Here are some tools to help the process:

• Prayer - I believe God Himself wants a certain person to be the next president. Through prayer the Holy Spirit leads us into revelation of God’s heart (1 Cor. 2:10).
• Research
  • Wikipedia - Wikipedia can be edited by anyone and shouldn’t ever be taken as a reliable source. But Wikipedia users are big on citing their sources. Using WikiPedia as a catalyst to legit sources cuts down on research time.
  • FactCheck.org - The team at FactCheck does a good job at researching common controversies in a candidate’s history.
  • Debates - Listening to candidates debate can sometimes be boring or full of side-stepping rhetoric. Political baboonery aside, these debates can be a good way to get your feet wet on a candidates character and beliefs. 
  • Trusted friends and family - Find a trusted group of people that share similar political beliefs. Proverbs teaches that there is wisdom and safety in the council of many. 

Above all else, have patience and make educated decisions. Don’t feel the pressure to endorse a candidate before you’re ready to. It’s a big decision and one that is detrimental to society if taken lightly.

As to how to properly endorse a candidate (I have to answer to the title), I don’t care — tweet about it.