He Found It

When I got to the dining room at The Estates for breakfast today, the early risers were all a flutter. Chairs pulled out, people searching. One man had lost a hearing aid. Someone turned on her phone flashlight, others were patting his clothing, another was looking through the sugar packets. He had to leave to catch the taxi (he still works), so after he was gone, I suggested we pray about it. I asked Ginny to lead us in prayer--she's the daughter of a missionary, a Baptist and goes to Bible study here. So, she started. And she barely got "Dear Lord" out, when someone stuck her head in the door and said He Found It. It was inside his belt buckle.

Slow down by Iamson

 I was listening to "Pray as you Go" this morning and the song selection was "Slow Down" by Iamson.  That's not a song that "speaks" to me, because at 84, I couldn't go much slower.  But the message is more about where we put our focus, I think. Even when my body won't move, it seems the mind is busy.

https://genius.com/Iamson-slow-down-lyrics

Slow down, where are you going?
What's so important that can't wait?
Tell Me, what are you seeking?
What is it that's keeping you from bringing Me your questions?

Over reach of regulatory agencies--the deep state

NPR--liberal:  "The U.S. Supreme Court wrestled Wednesday with the implications of overturning a nearly 40-year-old precedent that could weaken the way the federal government regulates, well, everything.

A system in place for decades has governed how judges review curbs on air and water pollution, gun safety measures and workplace protections. But conservative legal foundations and business groups have urged the court to scrap that system, arguing it hands too much power to federal agencies at the expense of Congress and the judiciary.

Several of the court's conservative justices expressed deep skepticism of the current framework. But all three left-leaning justices offered support for keeping the system in place. And Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, raised concerns about "inviting a flood of litigation" if they reversed course."

Supreme Court hears arguments in a case that could weaken federal rulemaking : NPR

Daily Signal--conservative: "The U.S. Supreme Court took up two cases Wednesday regarding the regulatory authority of the federal government as fishermen argue that government agencies are exceeding their authority by imposing costly mandates.

In Loper Bright Enterprises vs. Raimondo and Relentless Inc. vs. Department of Commerce, fishermen are challenging administrative law, dubbed “Chevron deference,” that asserts that when a federal statute is ambiguous about specific regulations, courts should defer to the implementing agency’s interpretation of the law.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration implemented a rule in 2020 forcing fishing companies (such as Relentless Inc.) to pay for federal observers to monitor the fishermen at sea on their own fishing boats—even though Congress did not give the agency authority to do so."

https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/01/17/supreme-court-hears-fishermens-challenges-to-costly-regulatory-authority-of-feds/?

NJB opinion:  Both Democrats and Republicans lean heavily on long-time bureaucrats to carry out their agendas, however Democrats also have the power of academe in their corner. Few conservatives can even get hired at major, powerful universities, let along make it through P & T. That limits their ability to get past the gatekeepers at the journals and print media. So we have the revolving door of CDC, FAA, EPA, FTC, FCC, FDA CFPB, etc. plus all the "tools" and "acts" and lobbyists and union leaders who control these groups. The liberal media are screaming that the SCOTUS could "gut" or "strangle" these agencies. Without ever mentioning the constitution. Or what's happening to us, the citizen/voter.

A friend says we need to pray about the SCOTUS decision: I'm all for prayer; Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. But it also wouldn't hurt Christians to be informed. What if each young mothers Bible Study group chose to look at just ONE agency/act /regulation that the federal, state and county governments are doing about foster care, trafficking of children, Head Start, safety of playgrounds, SNAP, school nutrition, and so forth. There are probably thousands. Sometimes church involvement is limited to applying for grants which in turn puts the government in the middle of the church via its budget.

The revival at Asbury

There's a revival going on at Asbury University in Kentucky. No one knows why or how, no planners came to town and set up the venue with rock bands, room reservations for seminars, housing and food. God arrived and did his work and the young people prayed. It has happened before--at least 4 times in the 20th century at Asbury. People are coming from all over the nation, some from other countries. These are young people who have had incredible challenges from our culture all their lives--all manner of evil available at the touch of a finger on a small screen; from k-12 and beyond their education system has filled their minds with fears and anxiety about the planet; the entertainers have wooed them with all manner of gross and disgusting images, thoughts, and words; their parents' material luxury has stunted their appreciation for work and merit; not even their science classes in college are safe as they have been lied to about their sexuality and ethnicity. If I were in college, I'd be on my knees, too. Oh praise God, I can join them right here at my desk. Pray especially for their protection, as Satan and his helpers will certainly not be pleased with this.

Isaiah 40: 28-31

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.

https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/paul-prather/article272483797.html

https://thebaptistpaper.org/god-is-moving-10-observations-from-asbury-revival/

Letter to God by a mother for her gay son

I've enjoyed listening to Becket Cook's podcasts. He's a celibate man who gave up the gay lifestyle 12 or 13 years ago after becoming a Christian (and that story alone is amazing). He has since attended seminary and has a popular podcast where he interviews many of the people from his former Hollywood life. But yesterday he told about a letter his mother wrote to God before his conversion, that he never knew about. His mother knew about his homosexuality, but she never condemned or nagged him and they remained very close speaking on the phone every night. His sister-in-law found the letter recently (mother died in 2016) and he reads it on his program. In the letter she claims many Bible verses for him and her, and lists about 12 specific requests including protection from HIV. If you have a child you're praying for who has left or never found the Christian life, perhaps you can be Becket's mom or St. Augustine's mother Monica. It's a beautiful prayer.

A Mother's Prayer for Her Gay Son - The Becket Cook Show - Omny.fm

From the web page: The Becket Cook Show

"The Becket Cook Show was created by Becket Cook to discuss relevant topics and to crush the lies of culture with truth. Becket Cook was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. After graduating from college, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of writing and acting, finding success in both. He eventually became a production designer working on fashion shoots for brands such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Gap, L'Oréal Paris, and Nike. Becket lived as a gay man until 2009, when he reluctantly agreed to attend a church service at which he was transformed by the gospel and gave his life to Christ. He also knew that homosexuality was a sin and that he could no longer live that life. Becket spends much of his time in ministry speaking at churches, universities, and conferences helping people understand this issue biblically, theologically, culturally, and personally. Becket graduated from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University in 2017 with a Master of Arts in Theology."

Praying for Anna

Fixed hour prayer time observances are very old in the Judeo-Christian worship traditions--Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Episcopal--but not in mine. I've made one up--6, 9, 12, 3, 6 and 9 and am praying for a fictional Russian grandmother (great-grandmother) who is my age and I've named Anna Ivanovna. She represents all Russian grandmothers whose grandchildren will go back to Russia in body bags because of Putin's foolishness in wanting to reestablish ancient Russia. So in my mind's eye she is 82. Although data for the early 1940s on life expectancy in Russia have been lost due to the war, she's lived beyond the average. In her formative years she would have been nutritionally deprived. She's educated but lost her government job and pension when the USSR collapsed. I don't blame her for not believing her government run news or Putin about what's going on in Ukraine. She doesn't even have a tradition of a free and honest press; I do/did and can't believe mine either! In my fictional grandma story, her father (Ivan) died before she knew him in WWII; her grandfather died in the Stalin purges of the 1930s; her great grandparents were children of emancipated serfs and lived through the turmoil of 1905 and 1917.

Darlene's prayer for the Border Control

Heavenly Father, We thank you for the border patrol and their passion to keep us safe. But we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. Lord we pray that each member of the border patrol know YOU and that every day they put on the full armor of God . We pray that wisdom for them right now.

We thank you for the fact that they were able arrest more lawless people but Lord we know they are probably tired so we ask your anointing for supernatural energy be on them. Some are at home with families. May they know your rest. May they enjoy their families and not take the job home with them.

We also praise you for the arrests, but ask for all the guilty perpetrators to be convicted and put in prison not released like some from the left are requesting continuously. Father we pray for the  lawless that they, too would come to the full knowledge of God. That they would have encounters and come to know you.

We praise you for these mighty men and women securing our borders. We pray for revelations and encounters for them also that they would know YOU ARE WITH THEM. Just like Elisha and his servant . . . may they see who is with them ( 2 Kings 6:16) So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?” 16“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.…

Pray this over them regularly as Holy Spirit directs. And praise God for the victories.... Darlene

If you are on Facebook or a member of a church, you see or hear a lot of prayer requests. You might be one of great faith, little faith or no faith. You might be in a yoga pose, clutching your beads, or looking at today's request for the president.

Agnostics and atheists have studied prayer. And guess what? Prayer has been scientifically proven potent. Even I have difficulty believing the results (being a Christian I suppose I prefer my tradition to be the one that works).

 
Today I was reading Erling Olsen's book, "Meditations in the Book of Psalms," specifically Ps 86. He had a popular radio show during the Great Depression which was later turned into a book. He quoted and commented on the 1935 book, "Man, the unknown," by Dr. Alexis Carrel (still available in print and also in the Internet Archive in digital form). He says Carrel wasn't a Christian (don't know if he was of any faith family, being a scientist), but he wrote:

"Prayer should be understood, not as a mere mechanical recitation of formulas, but as a mystical elevation, an absorption of consciousness in the contemplation of a principle both permeating and transcending our world It is incomprehensible to philosophers and scientists, and inaccessible to them. But the simple seem to feel God as easily as the heat of the sun or the kindness of a friend." He goes on to say, "There is no need for the patient to pray or even to have any religious faith. It is sufficient that someone around him be in a state of prayer." He comments on the miraculous results he has seen in patients from TB to abscesses to cancer.

This reminds me of a double blind study I read back in the 80s that I've never forgotten. People of faith and unbelievers were assigned to pray a certain number of minutes a day for patients they didn't know, or even know what the problem was, or where they were. The researchers also didn't know who was matched with whom. But the patients who were prayed for had better outcomes.

So when you see or hear a frantic or sad message (or in the church bulletin) it's a comfort for the requester for you to dash off an emoji or "thinking of you" note, but also take a breath, slow down, and actually pray about the elderly parent, or accident of a friend, or a pregnancy in distress, or a financial problem. You don't have to be a believer, nor does the person in trouble. According to science.

Holy Family prayer and painting

 The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities - The Family Project

I received a prayer card with a prayer by St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, but with no identification of the artist of the painting. So I typed in a description and clicked on images and it came up about third on the list. 

"What we see in this painting is a vertical and horizontal presentation, the vertical of course being the Heavenly Trinity with the Holy Spirit descending as the dove from the Father upon the Christ child. The horizontal presentation is the trinity of the holy family revealing the humanity of Christ as well as the mystery of all families: one flesh of mother and father coming together in their love which typically brings forth new life, a creation of their own flesh who is one flesh with them. A human trinity. A small but important detail about this piece is where the Christ child is standing. It is the stone the builders rejected which will become the cornerstone who is Christ. (Matt. 21:42)"

The exact prayer wasn't easy to find.  The first two sentences seems to be settled, Prayer for the Family by Mother Teresa, Spirituality for Today December 2010 - Spirituality.org, But then it may be spliced in from another prayer.

The Holy Name of Jesus—a prayer

Today is January 3, Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus on the Roman Catholic calendar. I love to read about the commemorative and feast days, and the lives of the Saints.  We Protestants (I’m Lutheran) have lost a lot of our history. Most ordinary people didn’t read or have books, they surely didn’t have TV or internet for most of history, or CNN or Fox to opine, but they had festivals and feast days to remember, reflect and celebrate.  Today I read this lovely piece by Richard Rolle, a 14^th century hermit.  Seems like an easy prayer to remember in these tough times.  Who doesn’t need a little more joy or something to chase the devil.

"If you will be well with God, and have grace to rule your life, and come to the joy of love: this name Jesus, fasten it so fast in your heart that it come never out of your thought. And when you speak to him, and through custom say, “Jesus,” it shall be in your ear, joy; in your mouth; honey; and in your heart, melody: for men shall think joy to hear that name be named, sweetness to speak it, mirth, and song to think it.

If you think the name “Jesus” continually, and hold it firmly, it purges your sin, and kindles your heart; it clarifies your soul, it removes anger and does away slowness. It wounds in love and fulfills charity.

It chases the devil, and puts out dread. It opens heaven, and makes a contemplative man. Have Jesus in mind, for that puts all vices and phantoms out from the lover."  (Richard Rolle, English hermit, 14th century.)

How to pray for unity

I've heard Christians saying, "We need to pray God brings unity and restores our divided country." Should we be asking God to bring our Christian friends and neighbors to an understanding of the grisly truth about abortion and repent? It certainly causes division. Should we pray that Israel can continue on the peace path President Trump assisted with (Netanyahu met in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pompeo according to news reports)? I've heard Christians discounting this historic event for peace. Can we continue to pray for the protection of our border agents as they guard our borders and follow our laws? Will God provide answers? Should we continue to support our First Amendment Rights when Democrats attack them? And how about the illegal votes revealed in the last election? Do we just stop discussing it in the name of unity? Is it OK to ask God that Hunter Biden be brought to justice for what was revealed on his laptop? We'd do that for other criminals. And what about prison reform. Haven't Christians been asking and preparing for that, and then it's rejected because Trump made headway? And what about poverty? God has so much to say about that in the Bible, but how do we reconcile the differences between a good job and a government program? Should we give an elbow bump (no handshakes) to those who have been calling us racists for 4 years instead of asking for some facts or policies to back up the charges? Do we pray for survival of our jobs and economy if those we are praying with want a long, destructive lockdown?

Praying for the president and the election

Today I was thinking about the millions and millions of people praying for President Trump and the nation. It's really amazing. Maybe 70 million. Maybe not since FDR and D-Day has a president brought so many to this awareness that our country can be destroyed, but this time, from within. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer - Word Foundations  Check out this website for more articles and prayer concerns about what happened on November 3-4.

Another prayer group is Intercessors for America, TRUMP TEAM HAS A LEGAL STRATEGY, WE HAVE A PRAYER STRATEGY | Intercessors for America (ifapray.org)

Many Democrats are Christians. I wonder how they are praying? "Dear Lord, please let this election be legal so we can kill more babies in the name of women's health." or "Heavenly Father, Guide our chosen one who is under a black cloud for his activities with his family in China with the CCP."

What has happened to our prayers?

Since Memorial Day week-end and the death of George Floyd, which by the way has never been proven to be about racial  animus, which led to 3 months of protests, looting and burning. Billions were raised for BLM, the centers of many cities were destroyed, and we were being gas lit by the media who were telling us that these were peaceful protests and a result of the unhappiness over the pandemic.  This is Critical Race Theory (CRT) at it’s most obvious.  Something right before my eyes is said to be something else, and it’s the result of racial injustice, and because I’m white, I’m the cause of the unrest and inequality. That there is no objective evidence and I point that out is also racist according to CRT.

Now I see it in the community prayers sent by our church—which is still not open in October. And this isn’t the first one, just the most recent.

• We pray against the evil one, who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. We come against the powers and principalities of this present darkness, that seek to divide us against one another by race, gender, economic status, or political affiliation, and pray for the curse of injustice to be broken in Your world.
• Father, cause those whom You have set in authority over us to lean not to their own understanding, but to acknowledge You in all their ways. Direct their paths, Lord, that they may speak in ways that will heal our divisions, and to act in ways that will overturn inequalities and lead to peace.

I’ve been a member for over 40 years had we’ve rarely had prayers about our socio-economic differences, which this prayer actually heightens and creates more divisions! It reads like the vanity signs I see in my neighbors’ yards.  Someone or a group on our large staff has managed to blend Bible and identity politics. Here we are in the midst of a pandemic,  people are living in fear and panic.  Some of it is being ramped up by government bureaucrats. Grandparents can’t hold their grandchildren, and special events are called off. We can’t worship together and church members, families and friends are divided by politics (not their race, income or sex).  The people in the pew (if we could get into the church building) are not happy, are not “loving their neighbors” and it has nothing to do with race. Some staff and members  have decided to be morally superior and woke. Wokeness is a system of infiltration.  It’s inviting the Devil in and throwing him a party. And wokeness only needs a permissive leader to open the door and we’ll never get it out of the church. The Woke movement can destroy us. Maybe it already has.

Our church staff needs to understand that the goal of Critical Race Theory is not better race relations or equality. No goals of CRT align with the gospel.  CRT goal is to dismantle not just the status quo, but also the church, the family and the Constitution that protects us from an overbearing government. It is the opposite of what God wants for us.

A Labor Day message from your pastor

“ This Summer of 2020 has been anything but carefree and relaxing. We have been dealing with Coronavirus all Summer and trying to avoid becoming ill. We have been living in fear, staying home, keeping our distance, isolating ourselves, wearing masks, avoiding crowds, sanitizing our hands, and trying to avoid touching anything. We have been missing ordinary human contact and the company of friends and neighbors. We missed going to our favorite vacation destinations, entertainment venues and other fun attractions. Our favorite parades and festivals and community events were cancelled. Instead of having fun and good times, we worried about contagious disease, about systemic racism, about economic hardship, about injustice and about tension, strife and violence in our cities. We worried about our jobs, our financial security and our families. I worry that the effect of all this prolonged fear and uncertainty is that many are feeling overwhelmed, despairing and hopeless.

Perhaps this Labor Day we should put this Summer behind us and set our hopes on better days to come. We can use this holiday as a time to make a break with negative thinking, to care for our own mental health, and to encourage and support one another. Prayer is a great antidote to anxiety and fear. Prayer lightens our burdens and eases our troubled minds. Prayer enables us to surrender to God, to trust in His care, and to grow in the virtue of Hope. Prayer makes things better. As this strange and distressing Summer comes to an end, I prescribe a generous dose of prayer. It is medicine for your soul and a pain reliever for your mind. And I promise you, you will feel better. “

Your pastor

Spiritual resources for the pandemic

In the Ohio State Health Beat newsletter (on-line) today there is a section for well-being resources during the lock down/culture shock for the pandemic.  https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/features/covid-resources/staff/well-being  There are a number of links featuring ideas or publications for mental health, well being, coping and spiritual helps for employees. So I clicked on "Spiritual Resources" (listed after Mindfulness which actually IS a practice well within the eastern religions) and after Chaplin services, telephone support, audio spiritual pause, a prayer request link and poems, I came to "Faith specific prayers." Here's how they are listed. 1) Islam, 2) Buddhism, 3) Judaism, 4) Christianity, 5) Hinduism. Isn't that odd? Christians are the largest faith group in the world, and approximately 75% of Americans claim some connection to Christianity even if they are just Chreasters and only attend baptisms.

So I continue down the list to a link for "Sacred Texts" which is four links below poetry-- 1) Buddhist Scriptures (13 are listed), 2) Holy Bible, one verse from the NIV is listed, with a link to Bible Gateway keyword feature, 3) Holy Quran, individual links to 114 chapters that link to Meccan references 4) The Tenach (Jewish), with detailed links to the Torah, the Prophets, etc. Whoever put this together threw a dart at the internet religious resources and came up with a politically correct list, all turn key, assuring that no OSU employee would find anything Christian as a resource in this difficult time.

Let's hope they all are attending Bible studies on Zoom or something. Maybe they won't notice our government is shredding the First Amendment in a dangerous precedent while the Christian churches are silent because they can still shop at Walmart.

What is even more anti-Christian is a whole link https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/features/covid-resources/staff/well-being/daily-breathing-practice  devoted to "5 minutes of Mindfulness" on CarmenZoom, with links for each day by video. EACH DAY. Imagine (it's impossible, but try) if there were all those digital resources and planning from a state agency devoted to video links of a pastor or rabbi reading from the Psalms, or offering instruction for the devotional practice, The Rosary.

"Mindfulness" is a religious practice of Hinduism/Buddhism (you can find instructions at both Buddhist and Hindu sites), using an English term that sounds like it isn't religious since the brain doesn't need to be engaged. Well, my brain is engaged, and I'm calling foul on the state for advocating for one religious group over another and pretending it's something else. And shame on Christians for having your babes so poorly catechized that they go off to college and get "evangelized" for eastern religions at almost every turn.

Gabbe Health and Wellness which provides these breathing techniques daily is part of the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State. Today's topic is “Hope as a state of being,” and if you click on it the pleasant woman will provide instructions for the religious techniques.

A simple prayer: Jesus, here I am, it’s Norma

When people ask how our family is doing in this difficult time, I usually mumble something like, just pray for a miracle, that's really all we need. That said, so many people have been Jesus with skin on we're so very grateful. Cards, e-mails, meals, invitations, even visits from complete strangers. Even the really awkward conversations that quickly become a tale of woe about their own problems, are meant well.  I read a story this morning about prayer, I'd like to share (from Magnificat, Nov. 2019, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, pp. 248-249)

Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan (d. 2002) was a prisoner of the north Vietnamese for 13 years, and after his liberation people suggested he must have had a lot of time to pray. He told them he was often so exhausted from the confinement and silence, he couldn't say a single word, then he told this story.

"There was an older man named Jim who would go to church every day at noon for just a few minutes, and then he would leave. The sacristan was very curious about Jim's daily routine, and one day he stopped him to ask: "Why do you come here every day?" "I come to pray," Jim answered.

"That's impossible! What prayer can you say in 2 minutes?"

"I am an old, ignorant man. I pray to God in my own way."

"But what do you say?"

"I say: 'Jesus, here I am, it's Jim.' And then I leave." After some years, Jim became ill and had to go to the hospital, where he was admitted to the ward for the poor. When it seemed that Jim was dying, a priest asked, "Jim, tell us how it is that from the day you came to this ward everything changed for the better? How is it that the patients have become happier, more content, and friendlier?"

"I don't know. When I could walk around, I would try to visit everyone. I greeted them, talked a bit with them. When I couldn't get out of bed I called everyone over to me to make them laugh, to make them happy. With Jim they are always happy!"

"But why are YOU happy?"

"Well, aren't you happy when you receive a visitor?" asked Jim.

"Of course, but we have never seen anyone come to visit you."

"When I came here I asked you for 2 chairs. One was for you, Father, and one was reserved for my guest."

"But what guest?" the priest asked.

"I used to go to church to visit Jesus every day at noon. But when I couldn't do that anymore, Jesus came here."

"Jesus comes to visit you? What does he say?"

"He says: 'Jim, here I am, it's Jesus!'" Before dying, Jim smiled and gestured with his hand toward the chair next to his bed, as if inviting someone to sit down. He smiled for the last time and closed his eyes.

The Cardinal continued. When my strength failed and I could not even pray, I repeated: "Jesus, here I am, it's Francis." Joy and consolation would come to me and I experienced Jesus responding: "Francis, here I am, it's Jesus."

With a little help from friends

We'll be heading to the hospital in a few hours to visit our son  as he continues down (up?) the difficult road after brain surgery on Tuesday. We've been overwhelmed with the prayers and kindness of his friends, our friends and total strangers. A neighbor I don’t know well just dropped by with a quiche for supper.  It is a huge comfort!

So I want to tell you a story from way back--maybe 1987, don't remember for sure. As the mother of teens, so close in age and so beautiful people used to think they were twins, I was at my wit's end and couldn't pray. So in addition to feeling like a total failure as a mother, I assumed I wasn't being a very good Christian either. No prayer could slip pass my clenched teeth.

At church one Sunday I ran into Judy Gibeaut and in about 30 seconds summed up my rage and frustration. She gave me a hug, told me not to worry about praying, that she'd do it for me so I could just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. I think she did call it intercessory prayer, but whatever she said, I've never forgotten it.

I'm not doing much praying since October 1 when this hit us like a ton of bricks, so we're relying on others. After so many years of Sunday worship, baptisms, Bible school, Sunday School, funerals and weddings, I think I've got the "Lord's Prayer" [Our Father] down pat--not very good at memorizing. Tertullian, 2nd-3rd century theologian, wrote that the Our Father was a summary of the Gospel so we can cover a lot of territory with that!  https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home/matthew-commentary/tertullian-on-the-our-father

Pastor is criticized for praying for the President

https://www.mcleanbible.org/prayer-president? Some have tried to make political hay of the McClean Bible Church pastor's prayer and didn't like it that Trump asked for prayer. The pastor has been criticized, and I see no reason for him to explain his prayer. It's Biblical. It's a beautiful prayer--scroll down to see the video.

The pastor is now finding out what thousands of us have experienced--if you don't say something negative and hateful about President Trump, friends, family and parishioners might be upset.

Today’s message from Vantage Point Devotional

“A January 2005 article in TIME magazine reported: “Studies show that the more a believer incorporates religion into daily living—attending services, reading Scripture, praying—the better off he or she appears to be on two measures of happiness: frequency of positive emotions and overall sense of satisfaction with life.”

Are you a happy believer?  The psalm that contains today’s key verse begins with the confession of a very sad person.  Several times, he asks, “Why are you cast down, o my soul?” But he answers his distressing call with hope, praise and prayer.

Among answers to depression given in a 2016 article in Psychology Today, are to resist the urge to dwell on the past, and focus on what is going right.  The article suggests that one incorporate structure into every day. So the TIME magazine article had it right: attending services, reading Scripture, praying! And so did the psalmist: He sings into the night. The question, are you a happy believer, is worth repeating. More, it is worth doing something about. There are many unhappy people in government if the nightly news is any indicator. Pray that they would find the Lord first of all, and then, that they would find the night song in their souls.

Recommended for Further Reading: Philippians 4:4-9 “

Praying for HHS staffers, Marie and Rebekah

HHS Watch publishes opposition research on the Trump administration’s appointees, focusing on work they have done for social conservative groups, especially those smeared by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The campaign further attacks the administration appointees’ efforts to overturn provisions in Obamacare which compel religious dissenters to pay for birth control and abortifacient drugs.

The power of God is greater than the power of Satan, so I went to their page https://equityfwd.org/hhs-watch   looked at the faces/names, picked two, and pray that God’s power will be stronger than their enemies.  There are a few minorities, but most seem to be white, young females. Women need to be in government unless they are Republican and pro-life, it seems.  I am praying for Marie who is a  lawyer, and anti-abortion activist. Description of her is quite hostile using inflammatory words (won’t let me copy)—calls Family Research Council and Focus on the Family extremist groups (that’s the influence of SPLC).  I’m also praying for Rebekah, HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislation,  who is maligned by HHS Watch as an “advisor while in college of (very vague) far right-wing representatives (of what it doesn’t say). She was a staffer for the House Republican Study Committee before becoming a domestic policy advisor to VP Mike Pence.”  Obviously a dangerous woman to be watched!  

So I’m going to pray for Marie and Rebekah (good Biblical names)—for God’s leading and direction.  Won’t you join me and select a few for pray for?  I’m going to pray that the dark money and evil forces behind Equity Forward (fighting for “women’s reproductive health”) and funded by Arabella Advisors (Leftist money organization) and Hopewell  Fund, a 501c3 for leftist advocacy, will shrivel and the people who work there will come to know Jesus. 

The horror stories of the past few weeks about New York and Virginia have at least revealed how many states are going down this road of extremism.