This morning (Oct 29th 2015) it was announced that the House of Representatives elected a new Speaker of the House. The new Speaker is the Honorable Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) (Former republican candidate for Vice President). 
It occurred to me that some of our readers might not be fully aware of what the duties, responsibilities and privileges of the office of Speaker of the House are, so I decided to write this post. I hope my readers find this helpful!

First step in understand the Speakership is understanding the House of Representatives, for this we are going straight to the Constitution. 
Article 1, Section 2
“he House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. 
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen…… The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.”
The House of Representatives is essentially our most accessible tier of government and the most answerable to the constituents, therefor it the leader of this house is very important and also holds the the honor of being third in line for the presidency. 

house.gov defines the roll of Speaker of the House as 
“Elected by the whole of the House of Representatives, the Speaker acts as leader of the House and combines several roles: the institutional role of presiding officer and administrative head of the House, the role of leader of the majority party in the House, and the representative role of an elected member of the House. The Speaker of the House is second in line to succeed the President, after the Vice President.”

While we congratulate Congressman Ryan on being selected as the new Speaker, we have every intention of making sure he live up to the conservative values he claims to espouse. 

Please make sure to pray for this man as he is now under great pressure and in the third highest position in our nation (1 Tim, 2:1-2) 

Congratulations Speaker Ryan! 

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If you've been following the events surrounding the race for Speaker of the House at all lately, you've probably heard Paul Ryan's name mentioned.  A lot.  

But at this point, it looks like Congressman Ryan has two major objections to entering the race for the Speaker position.  For one, it appears that he feels he may be able to make more of a difference by remaining Chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means committee.  Nothing unusual there -- almost any politician will make decisions based on where they can influence the most power to craft national policy.  But it's the second reason that stands out.  

In September, after Speaker John Boehner announced he would be retiring from Congress, Wisconsin Radio Network quoted Ryan: “This is a job where you are expected to be on the road about a hundred days a year... Our kids are 10, 12 and 13, and I’m not going to do that."

One of the rising stars in national politics, given a chance to become the most powerful man in Congress, says no -- because he wants to be able to spend time with his family. 

As the Washington Post pointed out, you don't see that too often.

America needs more men like Paul Ryan.  We need more men who care more about their families than they do about power, fame, and fortune.

That is why I appreciate Congressman Ryan's reservations about running for the Speaker position.  I hope he continues to hold that position.  I don't say this because of his politics, his policies, or because I have another Speaker candidate in mind that I'd prefer over Ryan.  I say this because America needs more fathers who are there for their kids.

Congressman Ryan, I want to thank you for setting an example for dads across America -- and, if you hold to your decision, I bet your kids will too. 

Unacknowledged, the all-too-short hours of the night of October 5th silently morphed into the wee hours of the morning of Saturday, October 6th.  The Google chat messages bounced back and forth, the sounds of keys being struck and mouses clicking reverberated around three sleepy houses in the Midwest.

It was the dawn of a dream.

Our dream.  We didn't know then the scope of that dream, but one thing was certain:  we wanted to make a difference.  Somehow.  Somewhere.  Those were negotiable, but one thing wasn't:  we wanted to make a difference now. 

There are many things that can be said in the wake of the tragic shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.  The targeting of Christians is at the forefront of the minds of many.  But as I have seen the headlines scrolling past on my newsfeed and popping up on Twitter, one thing has really stood out to me:  even in this tragedy, we have a clear hero. 

Chris Mintz.  A dad.  A veteran.  A hero.

Chris Mintz is expected to recover.  

Now, let's join together in honoring Chris Mintz and his bravery by calling on President Obama to award Mr. Mintz the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  A WhiteHouse.gov petition has been started, which must reach 100,000 signatures by November 1st, 2015 to receive an official response from the administration.  Let's make this happen -- click here to sign!