During the past week America has been focused on an election system that allows for the peaceful transition of power. In the 6,000 years of man's history on earth that's a rare blessing. We are a blessed people.

The results of the Iowa poll revealed interesting characteristics of America that are at the foundation of our structure. Forgetting the qualities of those that won or lost what can be learned from the outcome? We learned that there is no such thing as an aristocracy or presumption of power in America. Neither Sen. Obama or Gov. Huckabee have family ties to power. Sen. Clinton was the leader of the most powerful political machine in the Democratic Party yet she was rejected by 71% of the Democrats and came in third. Gov. Romney had the most sophisticated political advisors and spent over 10 times as much as his opponent who won.

The citizens of Iowa, part of the breadbasket of America, voted conscience over presumption or money.

Moreover, the professionals proved less astute than novices. The pollsters and pundits were almost universally wrong. The candidates they smugly projected to lose actually won. Oprah Winfrey and Chuck Norris were predicted to hurt their candidates but now they are credited with providing vitality and credibility that may have caused their candidates to win.

What can we learn about the way people are thinking today? One observer made the following observations of the recent caucus.

• Message beats money.
• Enthusiasm beats paid staff.
• Hope beats negativity.
• People are smarter than the consultants.

That's good for the church to know for a very simple reason. We have the best message the world has ever heard. By focusing on what we don't have, (money, a large support system, experts to advise us, paid workers) we overlook our greatest strength.

The message we've been given is one of hope. People respond to that because they need it. They don't care if we are rich or poor. They really don't care about the race or sex or nationality of the message giver. They don't care if the building is large or if there are thousands of people there. They just want to find some meaning in life.

Until next time,