Most Gracious, Heavenly Father, through Whom we live and move and have our being, Who gave us the greatest country the world has ever known because it was truly created by You, please forgive the people of that country for going astray. Just like the Israelites did in ancient days, we have pursued little 'g' gods instead of staying true to You. Now we are seeing the biggest of those little 'g' gods being erected and just like Nebuchadnezzar tried during Daniel's time, we are being 'required' to bow down to this erected little 'g' god. Strengthen us that, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abendnego, we resist and trust in You and You alone. Protect us from the fire being created by Obama/Pelosi/Reid and their cohorts. Strengthen the men and women in Congress that they will understand what an unholy and immoral act it is to force this on the American people. Send Your Holy Spirit rushing through the halls of Congress like a mighty wind, shining the light on the truth of what is actually happening and what Your will in this matter is. I will not believe that You are for this Lord. You Who created us with free will. You Who has never violated that free will ever. You Who brought forth this country to enshrine in its government that same free will. Please, Lord, defeat this abomination. Obliterate it so that it may not be resurrected in any way, shape, or form in the future. Let loose Your Holy Spirit with all His Power to show the American people and especially those in Congress who may still be wavering or who have just not really seen and understood what illegal actions are being taken, what the true consequences to themselves and the people of this country are.
Standing on Your promise that whenever two or more are agreed here on Earth about anything in prayer, it will be done, we give You our thanks for Your might intervention on our behalf. Knowing that we can come boldly before Your throne with whatever requests we have, we will stay before Your throne with our petitions, our thanks, our repentance, our praise, and our love for You. Bless this country with a NO vote on this bill. Bless this country that the NO vote will happen tomorrow so that this is resolved once and for all. Bless this country, please Lord, despite the unrepentant attitudes and actions of so many people. Bless this country in the strength of those of us who are gathered together in prayer across the nation, repenting on behalf of those who will not, can not, or just don't know that they need to do so. Bless this country through the prayers of Your faithful children who are bombarding You as we have been bombarding DC and Congressional offices everywhere with phone calls, e-mails, faxes, and protests.
Be with those who are protesting today. Bless their efforts with peace and calm. Bless their efforts that they, and we, will finally be heard by those who need to hear us. Bless us all with NO votes enough to defeat and destroy forever the idea that somehow it is moral to force people by law to buy anything, that it is somehow moral to force people to pay now for services that they may not live 4 years to utilize, that it is somehow moral to bankrupt this country as a sacrifice to one's on ego and pride. Bless us. Bless us. Bless us.
In the glorious name of the One Who gives life eternally and abundantly to us all, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
We Must!
In 1976, I graduated high school. Because that year was our nation’s bicentennial year, NBC ran an essay contest for graduating seniors. The title of the essay was “What Is An American?” I entered that contest and actually became one of the finalists.
I have been thinking about that essay lately and of how things have changed in this country in the 30 some years since I graduated high school. The America that I see today is nothing like the America I saw then. The America that I saw then was an America whose government was actually by the people and for the people. Today our government is voted for by the people, but it does not represent the people. It represents a select few special interests and the egos of those who are supposed to have the good of the people first and foremost in their hearts and minds, not what kind of deal they can make for themselves. Back room, locked door deals are NOT the way that governing is to happen here in America. Corruption running rampantly and blatantly, for the whole world to see, is NOT how things should be.
Well, they will say, you are just being naive. You just don’t understand how politics work, they will say. OK. Maybe I am naive and don’t understand how THEIR politics work. But I do know much about being honest, about following the law, about listening to others even when what they have to say may not be pleasing to my ears, about leading a group of people and having to put my own ego and wants on the back burner in deference to what those whom I am leading say they want. I am a pastor. As such I do have to walk a very fine line where my words and my actions are concerned. So too should our elected officials.
Most of the American people do not want the present form of health care take over that is being crafted to be foisted upon them whether they want it or not. They do not want it because they can see the disaster that awaits them and future generations if it becomes law. They can see the increased costs and the decreased access to care. They can see that their ability to choose will be taken from them.
The present president was elected without anyone finding out very much about who he was or what he really believed. He himself told us that we were to judge him based on those with whom he kept company. He keeps company with socialists, communists, people who blow up government buildings and wish they could blow up more government buildings. He follows the writings of a man, Saul Alinsky, who was once mentored by Al Capone’s enforcer, Frank Nitti, whom Alinsky called the Professor and of whom Alinsky became a student. We are told that Mr. Obama is brilliant and yet we are not given access to his school transcripts. I hear over and over again about what a great speaker he is. I don’t see it. When he does not have a teleprompter in front of him, he hems and haws. His speaking is full of ums and uhs. To me that is NOT a even a good speaker. A good speaker is one who can speak without all those little annoying non-words, whose words flow freely and who actually shows that he or she has a good grasp of the facts. Mr. Obama has shown time and again that he does not even have that (57 states and two more to go).
I believe that if the America that was birthed in 1776, that hundreds upon hundreds of people have fought and died to defend, of which millions have sacrificed to become a part, the country to which Ronald Regan referred as the “shining city on a hill” is to survive, if America is to remain a bastion of freedom, then We the People are going to have to continue to fight back with everything that we have. We are once again a people under tyranny, only, sadly, this time it is a tyranny of our own making. We have allowed these corrupt officials to take over with barely a whimper on our part. I am as guilty as anyone else in thinking that there was not much I could do to stop what was happening. But there is plenty that we can all do. We just have to ‘not grow weary in doing good’ as the Bible urges us. Whether you believe in the Bible nor not, if you believe in this country, on the principles on which it was founded, in the Constitution as it was written–not as some would like to rewrite it, you must not grow weary in this fight. It is a fight and it is one we must win. We must defeat those who believe that sharing the wealth is the way of the future for everyone except themselves. (Note that the Obamas, Pelosi, Reid, and company have yet to share any of their wealth with us.) We must defeat those who think that freedom is an outdated concept that doesn’t work. We must defeat those who think that some government bureaucrat knows how we should live our lives better than we do. We must defeat those who will change America from the land of the free and the home of the brave to the land of the cowed and the home of the oppressed. WE MUST!
I have been thinking about that essay lately and of how things have changed in this country in the 30 some years since I graduated high school. The America that I see today is nothing like the America I saw then. The America that I saw then was an America whose government was actually by the people and for the people. Today our government is voted for by the people, but it does not represent the people. It represents a select few special interests and the egos of those who are supposed to have the good of the people first and foremost in their hearts and minds, not what kind of deal they can make for themselves. Back room, locked door deals are NOT the way that governing is to happen here in America. Corruption running rampantly and blatantly, for the whole world to see, is NOT how things should be.
Well, they will say, you are just being naive. You just don’t understand how politics work, they will say. OK. Maybe I am naive and don’t understand how THEIR politics work. But I do know much about being honest, about following the law, about listening to others even when what they have to say may not be pleasing to my ears, about leading a group of people and having to put my own ego and wants on the back burner in deference to what those whom I am leading say they want. I am a pastor. As such I do have to walk a very fine line where my words and my actions are concerned. So too should our elected officials.
Most of the American people do not want the present form of health care take over that is being crafted to be foisted upon them whether they want it or not. They do not want it because they can see the disaster that awaits them and future generations if it becomes law. They can see the increased costs and the decreased access to care. They can see that their ability to choose will be taken from them.
The present president was elected without anyone finding out very much about who he was or what he really believed. He himself told us that we were to judge him based on those with whom he kept company. He keeps company with socialists, communists, people who blow up government buildings and wish they could blow up more government buildings. He follows the writings of a man, Saul Alinsky, who was once mentored by Al Capone’s enforcer, Frank Nitti, whom Alinsky called the Professor and of whom Alinsky became a student. We are told that Mr. Obama is brilliant and yet we are not given access to his school transcripts. I hear over and over again about what a great speaker he is. I don’t see it. When he does not have a teleprompter in front of him, he hems and haws. His speaking is full of ums and uhs. To me that is NOT a even a good speaker. A good speaker is one who can speak without all those little annoying non-words, whose words flow freely and who actually shows that he or she has a good grasp of the facts. Mr. Obama has shown time and again that he does not even have that (57 states and two more to go).
I believe that if the America that was birthed in 1776, that hundreds upon hundreds of people have fought and died to defend, of which millions have sacrificed to become a part, the country to which Ronald Regan referred as the “shining city on a hill” is to survive, if America is to remain a bastion of freedom, then We the People are going to have to continue to fight back with everything that we have. We are once again a people under tyranny, only, sadly, this time it is a tyranny of our own making. We have allowed these corrupt officials to take over with barely a whimper on our part. I am as guilty as anyone else in thinking that there was not much I could do to stop what was happening. But there is plenty that we can all do. We just have to ‘not grow weary in doing good’ as the Bible urges us. Whether you believe in the Bible nor not, if you believe in this country, on the principles on which it was founded, in the Constitution as it was written–not as some would like to rewrite it, you must not grow weary in this fight. It is a fight and it is one we must win. We must defeat those who believe that sharing the wealth is the way of the future for everyone except themselves. (Note that the Obamas, Pelosi, Reid, and company have yet to share any of their wealth with us.) We must defeat those who think that freedom is an outdated concept that doesn’t work. We must defeat those who think that some government bureaucrat knows how we should live our lives better than we do. We must defeat those who will change America from the land of the free and the home of the brave to the land of the cowed and the home of the oppressed. WE MUST!
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