A very significant date, March 4, 2013, passed virtually without notice. It was on that date that President Obama's tenure exceeded that of Abraham Lincoln. We can all give thanks to God, of course, that Mr. Obama's term in office has not been cut short, as Lincoln's was, by a heinous act of political violence.

If you want to understand what makes your congressman tick, and whose voice is in his ear when he's casting his vote, you need to understand exactly what it is that lobbyists do and why their pervasive presence in America's halls of government is so damaging to American democracy.

When it comes to the matter of politics, much of the church today, sadly, is divided into two separate camps. One group seeks to bring a Christian worldview to bear on the political process. The other group says the church needs to stay out of politics and just be concerned about winning others to faith in Christ.

While many businesses and sports leagues are moving in this direction as quickly as they can, what about marketing directed at Christians? Our demographic has an estimated purchasing power of $5.1 trillion a year, more than six times larger than the LGBT market. While the homosexual demographic in America is estimated at 3.8 percent of the population (translating to 11.8 million people), there are 140 million Christian consumers in our country.

As a Truman-style Democrat left politically homeless, I am often asked about the future of the Republican Party. Some Republicans want to push racial buttons on issues like immigration, or try to stop their political slide on gay marriage, which will steepen as younger people replace older people in the voting booth.

The Boston Marathon Bombing, where three people were killed and 264 wounded, many with legs or feet blown off, continues to be a big media story, but we are still waiting for answers to many questions. How did our government miss so many clues that the Tsarnaev brothers were a deadly danger to Americans?

Some memories of our childhood remain persistent reference points the rest of our lives. For me, being the "school dummy" for six and a half years – kindergarten through the first half of 6th grade – is a reality that has helped shape every day since. An even deeper influential reference point is the miracle awaking initiated by an angel from heaven, Ethel Smith, who also happened to be my 6th grade teacher.

A couple of months back I wrote about the issues of school-based violence and how it is killing our school system and our students. I noted that over 857 students drop out of school each hour of the school day and that some 4,500 commit suicide each year as a result of this violence.

Contentment is the antidote to covetousness, and it is the foundation for service to others. For when we are content in Christ our focus moves away from ourselves and on to others. Instead of looking inward and thinking of what we lack, we look upward to Christ and outward to others to see what they need.

"On my honor I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight." (Boy Scout Pledge)