A 2-part Jottings: from pulpit and pen
First ‘A Pastor with Guts? article gleaned from the U.P’s Porcupine Press.
Pastor Joe Wright gave this unexpected prayer at the opening session of the Kansas Senate:
‘Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,? but that is exactly what we have done.
‘We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
‘We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
‘We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
‘We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
‘We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
‘We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.
‘We have abused power and called it politics.
‘We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
‘We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
‘We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
‘Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!?
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In six short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls, with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.
Commentator Paul Harvey aired it on his radio program, ‘The Rest of the Story,? and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord’s help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called ‘one nation under God.?
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Now from syndicated columnist Charley Reese. He wrote this under the headline: ‘The 545 People Responsible for America’s Woes.?
I’ll only repeat enough of it to give you his idea.
‘Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?
‘Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and higher taxes, we have inflation and higher taxes??
‘You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
‘You and I don’t write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don’t set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don’t control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.
‘One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices — 545 human beings out of the 300 million — are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.?
(I’m skipping a few paragraphs here.)
‘Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like ‘the economy,? ‘inflation,? or ‘politics? that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
‘Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses – provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
‘We should vote them all out of office and clean up the mess.?