Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays. For my family, it’s a time when we look back and are thankful to God for the gifts He has given us. At Thanksgiving, we can reflect on what is most important in life.

The election has come and gone. Thank you for whatever you did and for all that you did to encourage your people to be good stewards of their citizenship by voting.

Honor God Initiative - Pastor, thank you for encouraging your church family to honor God with their vote. This year we contacted every evangelical church we’re aware of in Wisconsin--1900 of them--to offer Christ-centered, non-partisan resources through our Honor God Election Toolkit. We are grateful for the response and truly hope the resources were helpful to you and those to whom you minister.

In ministry, it can be easy to question how much influence we have over those that we lead. I want to encourage you that as a pastor you have incredible influence over your congregation. In my local church if my pastor encourages me to do something, I do it. It doesn’t even have to be a sermon but can be through an announcement or a prayer. With the election next week, you have a great opportunity to encourage your congregation to honor God with their vote.

On Wednesday, October 26th, we will host one of our WFC "Lunch with a Purpose" webinars. This webinar will feature Dr. Wayne Grudem, well-known author and speaker. We have invited him to address the issue of Politics According to the Bible, which is also the title of one of his books.

The culture around us tells those in our churches to use and light their own “torch” by deciding what’s right for them. Some ways this occurs is through the promotion and use of pornography, sexual promiscuity, promotion of using one's chosen personal pronouns, abortion, etc.

OK, I (Dave) confess, the subject line was intended to get your attention. Did it? How would you answer that question? I answer it NO. And Yes. He isn’t political in the sense of advocating for a particular party or political policy. But He was political in some of the issues He addressed. He made it clear that paying taxes was appropriate. He was clear that governmental authority comes from God. He gave us an example of praying for God’s Kingdom to come, elevating it over any earthly king or kingdom. He even called Herod a fox! I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

At Wisconsin Family Council we have been working on a variety of resources that your church can use for the election this November. This week is the perfect time for you to look over our resources to see what would best serve your church.

I (Dave) have been reading No Reason to Hide by Erwin Lutzer. This book was released earlier this month, and it is outstanding. Lutzer tackles a number of current issues and brings biblical clarity to them. At the end of each chapter he highlights one or more heroes of the faith, and then also provides some recommended action steps. The subtitle is “standing for Christ in a collapsing culture.” Obviously, it is always much easier to go along to get along; but that is not what we are called to do. We are called to put on the whole armor of God and “to stand” (Eph. 6:13).

The week before last, Dan and I (Dave) were at a pastors’ meeting in Janesville. I approached one of the pastors and greeted him, and he asked me, “What are you excited about these days?” The question caught me off guard and I (Dave came up with an embarrassingly inane response (I often don’t do well with spur of the moment things). The question (and my response) kept rattling around my head for the next few hours.

Recently the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel politicized the local church. They accused a gubernatorial candidate of financially donating to a “handful of anti-abortion" and “anti-LGBTQ” organizations. The article built a foundational argument for the secular culture to label local churches as hate groups with the possibility of being “canceled,” doxed, or even physically attacked. Trust us, at Wisconsin Family Council, we know this firsthand.

A recent study found that 60% to 80% of high school students report having gambled for money in the past year. This study found that 4% to 6% of high schoolers are considered addicted to gambling. It's safe to say that a good number of these are related to sports betting.

I (Dave) don’t have all the answers for the questions that swirl around God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. I’m pretty sure no person does. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. There are things that are known only to God, and our wisdom and privilege is to trust Him with those things. He is God. We are not.

One definition for culture found in Webster’s dictionary is “the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time.” Culture exists in its most basic form in our shared humanity rooted in the Imago Dei (Gen. 1:26). Culture can also be broken into subgroups like our local church or our community organizations. At the Church Ambassador Network, we have a vision for changing the culture for Christ at our State Capitol. We believe the Church is successful in impacting the culture at the Capitol when those in elected office use Scripture and a biblical worldview to impact everything they do. We believe the best avenue to create that culture is through building gospel-focused, redemptive relationships with local pastors (YOU) and elected officials. We want to bring a sampling of the Kingdom culture to our state’s leaders. I’ve heard it said that all it takes to change a culture is 20% of individuals in a group to buy into and live out a culture vision change to reach critical mass transformation. In Wisconsin, we have 132 members in the state legislature. This year 31 members of the legislature are not running to retain their seats. Which means 23.5% of those in the legislature next year will be freshmen in their respective house (Senate or Assembly). In Wisconsin, we haven’t seen this level of legislative turnover since 1942 when 32 out of 133 members didn’t seek re-election (24%).

The apostle Paul asked this question of the Galatians (see Gal. 4:16). Evidently, some of them were upset because he spoke the truth of the Gospel to them and would not let them get away with ignoring the inherent implications of that Gospel. I suspect, given Paul’s pastoral heart, that he was aching over the poor reception of the truth. So naturally, he toned down his message, right? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? We don’t want to run the risk of offending anyone with the truth, do we? Well, that is one approach many take. But Paul’s question was rhetorical. His point was that he was not their enemy because he told them the truth, but rather that they needed to listen to and embrace the truth that he told them. Somebody or something needed to change, and it wasn’t Paul, and it certainly wasn’t his message that needed adjusting.

How good and encouraging it is to know that God will accomplish His purposes through those who are elected. I hope once we know who is elected this fall, you’ll join us in the capitol to share the gospel and pray with your elected officials--a ministry that will also, we believe, encourage your church family and help them keep a proper perspective in these hyper-political days. We thank God for you and your ministry, especially in these challenging days.

There is no such thing as a perfect candidate, but we should seek to vote for individuals who will defend life, God’s plan for the family, and God’s intentions for human sexuality. We should seek to vote for candidates who will stand for truth, like the truth that God created us male and female.

We were encouraged by the response of our campers at LEAD WI this summer. Thankfully they have the resources that I didn’t have at their age to stand for life. I believe these campers will make an impact throughout our state for the pro-life cause.

Last week our ministry had the blessing of hosting our annual LEAD Wisconsin camp. I (Daniel) also spent time in Iowa last week for the annual Daniel Impact training with 13 other state Church Ambassador Network leaders throughout America.

We are in the middle of our LEAD Wisconsin teen worldview/leadership camp!

The Wisconsin Family Council (WFC) office is full and busier even than usual this week as we prepare for LEAD Wisconsin camp, which starts next Sunday, July 10-July 15.