Regardless of where one falls politically, there is no denying the magnitude of the historical events that took place this last week. In light of the history that has been made, I decided to write a letter to our new President.

Dear Mr. President,

Wow, what a fascinating few years it has been. From your opening Democratic National Convention speech in 2004 to your inauguration speech in 2009, you have spoken to us what it means to be an American. And now that the moment of your great achievement is finally upon us, I am writing to remind you of what kind of American leader we need in this most precarious of times.

For the everyday people like myself, there are many emotions as we look forward to your time in office: excitement over your achievement of becoming our first black President; anticipation over your new methods and ideas presented on the campaign trail; nervousness over the state of our economy; and despair over the unknown millions who have lost their lives and livelihood from needless wars, preventable tragedies, worldwide corruption, and greed.

You see our country has slowly declined into a state of panic and confusion, loss and corruption, some despair, and even guilt. Over the last few years we have seen the rise and fall of individual prosperity, the growth and demise of corporate wealth, and our government bury itself under a burden of social need.

But you have united the generations Mr. President, mobilized a people and inspired a movement. Because of you the world has become a more positive place, and to that I say job well done. However, we are now ready to see truth and justice prevail at the most highest of levels. Although we are ignorant of the depths of evil taking place all over the world, we are hopeful that you will stand by your words, commit to serving the people who put you in office, and never forget why we chose you as our new leader.

Now that the celebratory events are winding down, the lights are fading to black, and the millions of revelers are heading to their homes, the time has come for you and your team to get to work at fixing our broken system. And may we, the millions of Americans who put our faith in your ability to do that, follow in your footsteps and take ownership in our own ability to be the change that is so desperately needed.

So thank you Mr. President for doing what you have done, but now it is time to lead like no leader has ever lead this country before. God be with you on this journey and may you lead us to true success, and may that success be reflected in us all.

Sincerely,
Alex Coffee, Los Angeles, CA.

This is from the Matthew 25 Network (Obama's Christian Outreach):

James Dobson's organization, Focus on the Family Action, recently published a letter purporting to offer a vision of 2012 after four years of an Obama administration. This letter, filled with doomsday projections, is fearmongering of the worst kind – a sensationalist fiction with almost no basis in reality.

How does it reflect on our Christian witness in the world to see self-described Christian leaders engage in such blatant fearmongering? When Americans read Dobson's letter, do you think they'll come away thinking better of Christianity – or worse?

James Dobson should hear from those in the faith community that find this tactic appalling. Please tell James Dobson and Focus on the Family how you feel.

As Christians we have been choosing hope over fear for 2000 years. Our public witness should reflect our deepest hopes, not provoke unfounded fears.

We've set up a form below that will send an email message to Focus on the Family's Citizen Link email address. 

Please go and send in your comments and reactions now:

http://www.matthew25.org/fotf_response.php

Thank you,

The Matthew 25 Network

As I've said before, I'm not voting for Obama because he's a Christian. I already voted for a Christian President once, and he suuuuuuucked! I'm voting for Obama because I think he's competent. So, in that sense, I don't think the Matthew 25 Network is all that necessary.

That said, I can totally get behind any Christian Group that stands up to James Dobson. It's about time Christians found better leaders that representated their faith.

I found this picture over at our good friends on the Burnside Writers Collective Blog…I do not believe that I need to add any commentary to a picture that clearly speaks for itself.

Obama has finally launched his new project to attract Evangelical Christian voters, and he's calling it the Matthew-25 Project. 

(I'm using safari as my browser now, and for some reason I can't use any of the tools provided in WordPress, so you're just gonna get my thoughts here.) 

Originally, it was reported that Obama was going to call this new outreach, the Joshua Generation Project, which I thought sounded about as cliche as any Generation Church youthgroup.  I wasn't impressed. So, while I like the sound of "Matthew-25 Network", I still don't think it's going to make a difference. 

If you read the material it sounds and looks good. The videos hit all the right notes, and the material is strong. But I still think Obama is going to get the same percentage of Evangelical vote that Kerry got.  It will probably be a little higher, putting him over the top, but it's not going to be significantly higher.  

Evangelicals care about the same things non-Evangelicals care about. Which is security, economic wealth, health care, experience and some social issues. And my guess is that this is going to translate to a slightly higher vote for Obama, but ultimately many of the Evangelicals who voted for George Bush will vote for McCain, because they trust Republicans and they think McCain will do a better job protecting the country.

They'd be wrong. But whatever.

Anyway, I'm interested to see what some of you think of the Matthew-25 Network. Is it persuasive? Or just more political pandering? 

www.matthew25.org