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The midterm left me with a question: Why do Christians lose elections? Is it because there aren't enough Christians left? Because the other side has more money? Because Christians aren't politically organized? Was this merely an anti-Trump rage vote on Iran, ICE, tarrifs, or gas prices?These explanations may account for some electoral defeats. But I want to suggest three deeper problems. And all three are theological.Not every moral obligation belongs to government to enforce.Do Christians understand what government is for?Ask the average Christian what government is supposed to do, and you're likely to hear answers drawn from contemporary political ideologies. Government should ensure equality, provide economic security, protect individual liberty, or maximize happiness.These answers have their origins in competing philosophical traditions. Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, and Marx offered different accounts of government and its purpose. Christians frequently adopt these theories without recognizing their underlying assumptions.But why start with human philosophers when God has already told us what government is for?Romans 13 tells us that civil rulers are God's servants. They are appointed to punish evil and commend good. Government does not create good and evil. It is accountable to a moral standard that precedes it.This immediately raises the questions Christians should be asking: What is good, and what is evil? And how does God's moral law apply to civil government? Instead, many Christians approach elections as consumers. Which candidate will give me the most benefits? Who will make my life easier? Who promises more money, services, and security? How can I improve my cost of living?Christians misuse the Bible When Christians do turn to the Bible, they will sometimes twist its meaning. It is remarkable to hear the left say that the nation is not Christian and then pick and choose a Bible verse to apply to the leftist ideology.Consider Proverbs 31:8-9, which commands us to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and defend the rights of the poor and needy. This is a clear biblical obligation. Christians must care about the poor, the vulnerable, and those suffering injustice. But what follows from this obligation?Some Christians reason that because the Bible commands us to care for the poor, we must support socialism or even Marxism. They think these commands are for the nation-state rather than for the church and the individual Christian.But this reasoning makes a fundamental mistake. The Bible commands us to help the poor, but it also commands those poor to obey the law of God. Under the law of Moses, a person who moved to Israel and set up shop for his idol would not be treated as an oppressed victim who must be given government assistance.We must distinguish between the obligations of individuals, families, churches, and civil government. Not every moral obligation belongs to government to enforce.Helping the poor is a Christian duty. The government helps the poor by following Romans 13. Whether a specific government policy also redistributes wealth, and whether that is what the Bible requires, is another question.RELATED: Republicans need to be honest about why we lost Adam Gray/Getty ImagesChristians have lost their biblical vision for the nationsProverbs 29:18 famously says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." This is the vision of the Great Commission. It is stated in Isaiah this way, “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9) and in Matthew 28:19-20 this way “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”Many Christians today operate with one of two inadequate visions.The first is materialistic. The purpose of politics is to secure physical comfort. Government should provide more benefits, more services, and more economic security. Political success is measured by how much people receive.The second is escapist. Christianity becomes little more than getting people saved so they can die and go to heaven. What happens to our laws, institutions, and national life is treated as secondary or irrelevant.Neither vision captures the full scope of Christ's command.In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus declares that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. On that basis, he commands his disciples to make disciples of all nations. Notice that Christ does not merely tell us to prepare individuals to leave this world. He commands us to disciple the nations and teach them to obey what God has commanded.That does not mean government can force people to convert or that winning elections fulfills the Great Commission. But Christ's authority is not confined to the interior lives of believers. Every institution (government, family, education, business) is transformed by the gospel.The nations, including their rulers, are accountable to Him. Psalm 2 explicitly calls kings and rulers to serve the Lord. When Christians lose this vision, they may elect leaders whose principles undermine justice, attack religious liberty, or obstruct the church's mission, and even work against the gospel, without recognizing the consequences.Christians need to recover a biblical understanding of government, a faithful interpretation of Scripture, and a Great Commission vision for the nations. Until we do, even winning elections will not solve our deeper problem. We won't know what to do with the victory.

A high school official in Wisconsin was arrested Wednesday for allegedly possessing child pornography, according to police.Thomas William Johnson, 51, worked as a district administrator of Union Grove High School before he was arrested by the Racine County Sheriff's Office.'There's no excuse for it; it's horrific. This is the type of thing we do not need around our students.'The Racine County Sheriff’s Office referred the investigation to the Kenosha County Sheriff's Office on Oct. 27.Investigators executed the search warrant at Johnson's home on 52nd Street in Kenosha County on Wednesday and arrested the administrator.They seized several electronic devices during the search.Investigators submitted two counts of possession of child pornography for consideration by the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office.Johnson was booked into the Kenosha County Jail on Wednesday at 7:21 a.m., according to jail records.He has not been formally charged yet.Parents at the high school were outraged by the allegations."You can't have this sort of thing, period. There's no excuse for it; it's horrific. This is the type of thing we do not need around our students," parent Richard Lesniak said to WISN-TV."It's even worse that it's someone that works with children," parent Jan Wilkening said. RELATED: Gruesome discovery made in Florida man's backyard after he sent photo of his missing father to his mom, police say "The protection of children is one of the most serious responsibilities of law enforcement. Allegations involving the sexual exploitation of children demand a thorough, deliberate, and impartial investigation," Kenosha County Sheriff David Zoerner said in a statement."Our detectives will continue to follow the evidence wherever it leads, and we will work closely with the District Attorney’s Office to ensure this matter is addressed through the appropriate legal process," he added. "Anyone who exploits children must be held accountable under the law.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Tuesday’s midterms were a blue-wave rout that handed Democrats both chambers of Congress and flipped deep-red seats, dealing a sharp blow to Trump and the GOP.Even so, voters still backed a series of conservative ballot measures, including voter ID, a citizenship requirement to vote, and tax reductions. Even Washington voted to approve Initiative 638 to keep biological males out of girls’ sports.So how do you explain the split?BlazeTV host Nick Freitas tells Glenn Beck the apparent contradiction is no contradiction at all. “If you look at what happened in Ohio, in North Carolina, in Kansas, in Iowa, in a lot of these states, they voted straight Democrat. Republicans showed up and voted for a Democrat politician,” Freitas says, “but then went right over to the ballot measure and voted for voter ID, voted for U.S. citizenship as a requirement to actually vote, voted to reduce taxes.”Their motive? Prove a point, he says.“We saw people show up and [say], ‘I’m going to vote for Republican principles, but I’m going to vote against the Republicans that failed to actually produce them,”’ he tells Glenn.Even with a Democratic-controlled Congress ahead, Freitas sees a clear silver lining: “I don’t think it’s our overall philosophy that lost last night. I think what it was was weak, feckless Republican leaders that failed to deliver on their promises.”“What a lot of people said, regardless of whether we like it or think it’s a good strategy ... was, ‘I would rather burn the country to the ground than vote for one more Republican that lies to me.’”But now that Democrats control Congress and will almost certainly slash funding for the Iran war, Glenn is concerned about Trump’s options.Check out the full conversation above, where Glenn and Nick go deeper on what comes next — including the Iran war, Elon Musk, and the growing instability in Europe.Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Republicans are depressed, panicked, and angry. It is hard to imagine much else after the Watergate-level beating they took Tuesday night. None were spared. Moderates, grassroots, MAHA, and neocons were caught alike in the blue squall, and unsurprisingly, predictions of doom abound.Put aside the tired "pendulum swings" cope, however, and take a look at the landscape and what's to come. There are plenty of reasons to take it all in stride. The future of the Grand Old Party, for starters, is alive and well (and may even have grown stronger in the winnowing). And just as importantly, that talented bench will have its day — because the Democrats have made clear they are determined to misinterpret their mandate.It's a dangerous time, but in crisis lies opportunity.When Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson lost his left arm, his friend Gen. Robert E. Lee lost his boldest and most brilliant officer, reflecting at the time that Jackson was “better off than I am, for while you have only lost your left, I have lost my right arm.”Who was the GOP's right arm Tuesday night? Who was the key to the Republican future, lost too soon? There's a strong case to be made for Iowa's Zach Lahn, the mold-breaking MAHA populist who overcame the White House's wishes to win his primary, but his story isn't finished yet. So who else? Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall? Maine's Susan Collins? Certainly not South Carolina's Darline Graham. The Republican slate was anemic and uninspiring, and because of this reality, few rising stars can be found among the wreckage.While the Lone Star State suffered the most impactful losses of the night and must be a critical priority for Republicans hoping to rebuild nationally, it is difficult to weep over the dead. Despite long claiming the crown of conservative state politics, the reality is that Texas is home to a corporatist establishment that seamlessly switched from importing illegal labor from Mexico to importing semi-legal labor from India when the national mood shifted — and got caught doing so.While rightfully angry and unsatisfied, Texas' grassroots expressed that anger by promoting creepy clowns like Allen West and creepy undertakers like Ken Paxton. Neither side possesses a talent or vision for the future. They'll have two to four years to think on that and build something better.Observers can rightfully notice that the GOP lost both of the national legislative chambers, but there is room for honest assessment there as well. Congress has spent decades bafflingly abnegating authority and is now the least powerful it has ever been. Furthermore, President Donald Trump made clear that he was largely done legislating anyway (to his detriment). Democrats' reach is limited at best, despite their campaign promises.RELATED: Republicans need to be honest about why we lost Adam Gray/Getty ImagesTo their credit, Democrats ran largely disciplined campaigns. While Senators-elect Abdul El-Sayed and James Talarico carried heavy Resistance baggage, voters barely ever heard them talk about that Resistance on the trail. For the first time in a decade, Democrats didn't run on identity politics, Russia, Ukraine, or the Resistance. They utterly ditched the problems of the Ivy League faculty lounge for the problems of everyday Americans, including even those of straight, white, Christian men.Their focus was entirely domestic and hit on the economy, the war, and the prices of gas and diesel.They won on that message, but before the sun rose Wednesday, there were dozens of threats to investigate and imprison Republicans from California to Washington. The campaign was a ruse, but it worked. Right now, it is hard to imagine a world where national Democrats will stay on the targets voters sent them to Washington for. Rather, they'll go for revenge.The temptation to investigate and prosecute is strong. The insider trading among top White House lieutenants and Cabinet officials is the envy of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Hunter Biden's art sales look cute next to the Trump family's international business dealings. There was a time when these sorts of investigations might have a major political impact, but those days are gone.The hard reality is that those unscrupulous sitting White House officers enriching themselves likely didn't break any laws, reducing Democrats' message to "shady-shady-profit-profit." For years, Republicans have tried to make the same narrative stick to the likes of Pelosi and George Soros, while smarter Democrats than incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) targeted the Kochs. All these attacks ever accomplished were a sea of partisan media segments and bumper sticker sales to party activists. It's complicated stuff, and Americans are more focused on affording groceries and utilities.Of course, Democrats can try to nail it all on the presidents' kids instead, but after years of trying that game with Russia and then Ukraine, it's hard to imagine it working with the Saudis or whoever else. Sure, Rachel Maddow's fan club will be incensed, but if history is any guide, the public will neither follow nor much care.They will care if inflation isn't handled. They will care a great deal if energy and food prices don't come down They will be angry when they get the cable news outrage segments Congress long ago substituted for substantive legislative action.And they will be angry at Democrats.RELATED: Let them eat capital gains: Trump’s ‘Marie Antoinette’ presidency ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP/Getty ImagesOn the campaign trail in 2016, the two most incredible spectacles were the Donald J. Trump and the Bernie Sanders shows. The energy and the outrage were electric.No American leader has yet to approach satisfying that discontent; the frustrations were real and have only grown. Washington is still a swamp, America is still too entangled in foreign wars, and while the border is closed, the pace of legal and illegal demographic change has still deeply unsettled the people and the economy. It's a dangerous time, but in crisis lies opportunity.At the Korean War's Battle of Chosin Reservoir, storied Marine Gen. Lewis "Chesty" Puller reportedly exclaimed, "They've got us surrounded! Good! Now we can fire in any direction.” Republicans actually do have that chance in just two years. Waves recede, and there are dozens and dozens of R+ districts that will be up for grabs for a new crop of populist candidates eager to learn the lessons of the elders' failures and champion the kind of politics Americans are demanding.The bench is strong, the board is cleared for the next generation, Democrat overreach in all the wrong directions is inevitable, and the next elections will come. This isn't about "pendulum swings"; it's about hard work. Best get to it.