ISIDEWITH.COM 2024 VERSION (OR 2025 OR MAYBE 2028)

 

Me with my friend and '24 candidate for US Senate Andrew Horning at the Compact for Liberty Signing in 2016.

I have been regularly taking the iSideWith.com polls, but this year, I didn't get around to it until... today, two months after the election! But I found the results interesting. Let me share some thoughts that stood out.

1. Top of the list of Presidential Candidates I agree with? President Elect Donald Trump with 92%. VP elect Vance? 93%. Who is on the bottom of the list? VP Harris at a dismal 12%. Her running mate Walz clocked in at 19%.
2. But this list had other parties as well, not playing the horrible 2 party game. Of course, I lean toward Libertarianism, and I agreed with LP candidate Chase Oliver 76% of the time - less than the 85% with '16 candidate Gary Johnson, but better than the 48% with '20 candidate Jo Jorgensen. What's interesting, though, is that the 48% I agree with Jorgensen were the issues most important to me, while I disagreed with Johnson on potential deal breakers. I did hear Oliver interviewed, and I liked him okay, but not enough to vote for.
3. Did I mention that Oliver was in 3rd place of the Presidential candidates I agreed most with? Who then was 2nd place? Robert Kennedy Jr.? No, he was in 4th place with 69%. Second place was... Peter Sonski of the American Solidarity Party with 80%? What's interesting is four years ago, the ASP Presidential candidate wasn't as high, but his 49% edged out LP Jorgensen for 2nd place. Yet when I look at the Party, I agree with the ASP a mournful 27%! Trying to figure that one out. (The LP agreed with me 65% as did the big government never-heard-of-before No Labels party; the Constitution Party was a close 2nd to the GOP, 89% and 91% respectively.
4. At the bottom, they asked about potential candidates for '28. I voted for the person I was rooting for in '24: Nikki Haley. The next and final question was "Why didn't I say I'd vote for Wes Moore?" Who? First time I heard of him! So where did he fare? Not as well as Nikki, who scored 87%, behind Republicans Vance (94%), Dan Crenshaw (93%), Megyn Kelly (90%) and Libertarians Justin Amash (89%) and Spike Cohen (88%). No, Wes scored with a measly 24%, though that's actually a high number... compared to his fellow Democrats. So why did they think I'd want to vote for him? (And no, there were other Democrats scoring higher.)
5. Finally, my good friend Andrew Horning was on the list for US Senator, but they didn't have any info, so I'm not sure - would I agree 100% with him? 0%? Or somewhere in between? (I have a hunch I know the answer.)

Okay, I found that fun. Do you have any comments on what I shared? Any advice? Maybe move from being a LP fan to the Constitution Party or the American Solidarity Party?

FAVORITE NON-FICTION 2024

I believe the quote is from C.S. Lewis, though I could be wrong.

Yes, this is an annual tradition, but I save the non-fiction for last. I have yet to hear anyone saying I should have my favorite fiction or favorite songs being the one to save for last, but as I said before, I believe these may have more impact than the other lists. 

This is the list I most often would countdown to #1 (or count down from #1), but this year I'll go with my more normal approach by putting them in alphabetic order. 

One comment I'll make - more than other years, there are authors on this list that I either know personally or interact with on-line. That is more typical with the novelists and musicians that I follow, but not as much with non-fiction. So I'm very happy with this list. 

So are you ready? Like the fiction, I'll add a link on the title to my review of the book.

1. DANIEL: FAITHFUL IN THE FIRE, by former SBC President J. D. Greaer. This was the workbook for an eight part Sunday School class study. The focus is how Daniel remained faithful in the midst of an ungodly nation. Thus, more attention is given to the historic segments than the prophetic side.
2. FIVE TRAITS OF A DISCIPLE MAKER, released by Navigators, edited by Doug Neunke (U.S. President of the Navigators). This is an excellent devotional study, just taking a few minutes a day. Each of the five traits are divided into several devotionals.
3. GOING THERE: TALES FROM THE RIVIERA AND BEYOND, by Donna Fletcher Crow. Regular readers will recognize Crow's name, and may even realize that she wasn't mentioned on the fiction list this year (which is definitely not typical). This book is a blend of experiences and history of a trip Donna made during the height of COVID and some short stories featuring characters from her mystery series. This book was considered both as fiction and non-fiction, and I chose for the latter.
4. GOOD NEWS GOING BAD: A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF A MODERN MISSIONS MELTDOWN, by Dr. Jim Baugh. I had the honor of having Jim Baugh as one of my classmates in college. This book deals with missionaries who are more concerned about not offending the lost than they are with being faithful to Scripture.
5. IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS: A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF PERSECUTION AND DISCIPLESHIP, by Glenn Penner. Penner used to be director of VOM-Canada and a professor at Oklahoma Wesleyan before he went home to be with the Lord. You may have seen me have other books from the New Studies in Biblical Theology series; this is not one of them but it could be. Definitely an eye-opening book.
6. NOW AND NOT YET: THEOLOGY AND MISSION IN EZRA-NEHEMIAH, by Dean Ulrich. Speaking of New Studies in Biblical Theology, here is a good book from that series.
7. RELIGHTING THE TORCH, by Andrew Horning. Another book by a personal friend. Probably the only political book in the group, but it includes annotated versions of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Amendments. 
8. STONES THAT CRY: GOD'S PRECIOUS METAL, by Glenn Remsen (art by Scott Remsen). Is all mainstream rock/metal music as evil as we think? Or is there some searching among the artists? I have a few controversial books in this list, and this probably would be at the top of the list, but it definitely made me think. By the way, I'm a Glenn Remsen fan, and love his podcast Lithoscry.
9. THE THRILL OF ORTHODOXY: REDISCOVERING THE ADVENTURE OF CHRISTIAN FAITH, by Trevin Wax, vice-president of research and resource development of the Southern Baptist Convention. I discovered Wax with his 22 part pod-cast "Reconstructing Faith," where he would mention this book each week. This definitely is a deep book, and probably one I'll reread. Its point is that the Christian life should be exciting.
10. 31 SPIRITUAL LESSONS I LEARNED FROM MY DOG, by Raylene King. I've had this book for years, maybe even decades, but I'm familiar with Dennis and Raylene King, and Cosmo, the Dachshund referred to in the title. It's an excellent month long devotional.

BOOK REVIEW - RELIGHTING THE TORCH BY ANDREW HORNING

 

Is this country the Constitutional Republic the Founding Fathers gave us? If not, is that an improvement, or is it endangering the freedoms the Constitution was meant to preserve?

In "Relighting The Torch," Andrew Horning deals with these issues. He points out how, almost while the ink on the Constitution was still wet, we moved toward a centralized government. He then includes an annotated Declaration of Independence and Constitution with all the Amendments, concluding with ways to get our country back on track.

I found this book informative, which did not surprise me the least. Horning has run for office as both a Libertarian and a Republican. During one debate, one blogger commented that he would make an excellent teacher on the Constitution and government. I fully agree.

There are few books I can objectively say that I think everyone should read. This is a good example. I wish our leaders would read this and try to get this country back in shape. 

Thank you, Andrew Horning, for writing this book.

FRIENDS, ENEMIES, ELECTIONS, AND PRAYER.

Brad Klopfenstein interviewing Libertarian Senate candidate Lucy Brenton at post-election party at Scotty's Brewhouse, Indianapolis on Nov. 8, 2016.

Watching the returns election night in 2016 was a unique experience. No, it had nothing to do with the Presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. My focus was on the scroll on the bottom of the screen, going through the other races, such as Indiana governor and U. S. and State House and Senate.

Usually, I'm sitting at home or work (more usually the latter), but in this case I was at Scotty's Brewhouse during the post-election party for the Libertarian Party. Instead of quietly sitting in a chair by myself, I was mingling with various members of the state party, most of whom I met during the year. 

Among the cast was U.S. Senate candidate Lucy Brenton and Congressional candidates Steven Mayoras, Rich Turvey, and Drew Thompson, all part of the Compact for Liberty signing a couple of years ago. Also in the mix was Mark Rutherford, who would be the LP's Secretary of State Candidate in '18 and who I met at a local Libertarian meeting, Donald Rainwater who had a successful campaign (for a Libertarian) for Governor in '20, and Sam Goldstein and the late Bill Bean who I worked with at the LP booth during the '16 Irvington Fall Festival.

As I looked at the results, I saw other names I was familiar with. Long time friend Andrew Horning, who was at the Compact for Liberty signing, along with Donna Dunn, Pepper Hulette Snyder, and Russell Brooksbank, all of which were running for office. Rex Bell and Karl Tatgenhorst, who were the Governor and Lieutenant Governor candidates. I spent the summer and fall that year promoting those candidates and sharing their posts on Facebook.

Then it hit me. I was watching the results in a way I never saw them before. Typically, I'd look at interest at people I was rooting for and see how they're doing.

That Tuesday night, I was watching to see how my friends were doing. 

When I posted three days after that election, I suggested a radical concept: Shouldn't our Congresspeople and Governor candidates, etc., be our friends? Wasn't this to some extent what the Founding Fathers had in mind, for us to be represented by our peers, as opposed to being ruled over an aristocracy that is out of touch with the populace?

That was six years ago. Around the time of the '22 elections, Becky made a comment that she needed to be praying for our President, and that it is basically praying for our enemies. 

Is she far off? 

When 2023 starts, Becky and I will have a different U. S. Representative, State Representative, and State Senator than we do now, all due to the post-census redistricting. Two of the three are ones we think share our interests. Not any more.

But here's the bottom line - We're to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:2), whether they're friends or enemies. (The NT epistles were written when Nero was Caesar.) We're to honor and give thanks for all people (1 Peter 2:17; 1 Timothy 2:1). And just as important, we're not to put our trust in princes but in the Lord (Psalm 146:3-5).