How many times have you looked at the election ballot and realized that few if any on it passed the acid test of what God-fearing, patriotic Americans consider an acceptable standard of qualifications, principles and core values? The old "lesser of two evils" conundrum.

Why do you suppose we face this so often and after so many years of visible activism by religious conservatives we are still in such a drought of godly leaders of character, courage and conviction running for elected policymaking offices?

Imagine if we had the gut-wrenching situation of having to choose between two godly, qualified, principled candidates for every office who actually understood and were committed to upholding the state and/or federal Constitution.

I have a theory that is grounded in 29 years as a Christian and 25 years' involvement in the political process: We, the pastors still don't get it. We, the shepherds, are AWOL from the sacred duty of godly governing because the vast majority are too busy or don't want to be bothered with such a distasteful, "dirty" work as "politics."

Pastor Doug Giles put out a list of what he calls "10 Reasons Why Pastors Avoid The Culture War," and in it he articulates many of the same things others have expressed many times. It really boils down to several key issues:

1. Lack of biblical, historical and legal knowledge
2. Lack of courage
3. Lack of right priorities

We have to address this in reverse order by finding pastors who believe it a priority to redeem the culture and who have courage – then provide them the biblical, historical and legal knowledge to empower them to lead their congregations in this area of ministry more effectively....

The woman who successfully sued to have a Bible removed from a Harris County courthouse display is now suing to stop city council from opening meetings with prayers that she believes are too Christian.

Kay Staley, a real estate agent and lawyer, argues religion and prayer are private matters that don't belong in government. She sued the city and Councilmember Anne Clutterbuck, saying the council's prayers are so overly Christian they violate the First Amendment separation of church and state. Clutterbuck was singled out for saying the Lord's Prayer.

“I've been aggravated about it for some time watching City Council on access television,” said Staley, who doesn't share her personal spiritual beliefs except to say she's a free thinker. “I'm offended. I don't like people telling me when and how to pray.”

Clutterbuck said her pray- ers don't cross the line and the city's attorney cited a Supreme Court ruling that supports the council's practices.

Staley, though, argues the prayers are coercive to others who won't speak up for fear they will be showered with the same kind of hate phone calls she experienced when she sued Harris County in 2003. In that case a judge ruled that the Bible display violated the First Amendment by promoting Christianity and the book was removed...

Burnout? Boredom? Changing priorities? The number of self-described Christians who do not attend church is an ironic reality in a city that offers a Bible-drenched menu of Christian denominations, worship styles, service times and locations.

To unpack this cultural mystery, the denominationally diverse Houston Coalition of Church Communicators (H3C) is hosting Empty Pews: Why Houston Christians Don’t Go To Church on Thursday, November 12, from 2–4 p.m., at Houston’s First Baptist Church, 7401 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas, 77024.

Leading religion researcher George Barna will conduct the seminar, expounding on H3C’s commissioned survey. Seminar participants will receive the survey prior to the event in preparation for the interactive Q&A following the presentation. The early-bird registration fee (prior to October 9) is $65 per person and increases to $80 per person through November 12.  Additional survey questions and event information and registration are available at www.EmptyPews.com.

Please pray - Pastor Earnest Hendrick, new member pastor of BAPC, had a massive heart attack yesterday and is in ICU at Baptist Hospital.  They fear brain damage due to lack of oxygen.  Please agree with us that he will have no brain damage when they wake him up tonight.

In July 2008, Ian Martin needed a place to stay. That should have worked well for Douglas McCue, the owner of the CornerStone Bed and Breakfast.

Well, maybe it would have in another place, time, and culture.

Martin is blind and uses a seeing-eye dog. That wouldn’t be a problem, except that B&B owner McCue “suffers from acute sinusitis aggravated by exposure to canines.” Thus, no matter how much he wanted to rent Martin a room, his health wouldn’t permit it. That should have ended the matter.

Except that, as Canadian columnist Mark Steyn notes, this was Ontario, home to the Human Rights Commission. Martin filed a complaint and demanded compensation that “started at two grand and quickly escalated into five figures.” Eventually, Martin paid a $700 fine, issued a perfunctory apology—and then closed his bed and breakfast.

What happened to McCue was outrageous, but it could have been worse. He could have been sued for refusing to allow a horse to stay in one of his rooms...