Wednesday, November 8, 2006

"I GOTTA LOOK AT THAT!"

“I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”  (I Timothy 2:1-2)

Yup.  We are supposed to pray for those who are in authority, whether or not we like them or agree with them.  I realize that may raise many questions, and I can’t possibly deal with them all in this piece.  My motivation is to try to give comforting words to any readers who are disappointed in this week’s election results.

I have a friend in Texas who is SO disappointed in the election results that it’s possible a suicide watch should be started.  I’m half kidding but I’m half serious.  He essentially believes that living in an America with liberal Democrats controlling the Congress is the equivalent of living someplace like North Korea!  I don’t agree, but judging from the depressed and angry e-mails Rush Limbaugh yesterday claimed to be receiving from devastated conservative listeners, there are a lot of folks who feel the way my Texas friend does.

I remember when Bill Clinton was first elected in 1992.  As a “Ronald Reagan conservative Republican” I was certainly not happy.  It was very hard to believe Clinton won- especially after Dukakis lost so badly in 1988 and Walter Mondale was trounced in 1984.  I had an Assemblies of God ministers’ meeting in Worcester the morning after Clinton’s election.  Many guys were so down, you’d have thought their kids had just been murdered or something.  The speaker, who was the pastor of the First Assembly of God of Worcester at the time, spoke to the issue.

“What is wrong with you?” he asked the group.  “Why are you so downcast?  Isn’t the Lord still on His throne in Heaven?  What’s the matter with you?”

He got that group to snap out of it, and he was correct.  The Apostle Paul lived under the rule of cruel despots, yet he urged his readers to pray for those in authority.   I did not vote for Deval Patrick.  I did not vote for Ted Kennedy.  Very few that I voted for won.  But I’m commanded to pray for those in authority.  And, I’m to respect them, though I may not agree with them.

Scott Allen Miller, the morning drive host on Boston’s WRKO has a clip of Deval Patrick from one of the debates in which Patrick says, “I gotta look at that”.  Sometimes he plays that clip and plays it and plays it.  It’s kind of funny.  To those who are not happy with the election results and who don’t feel like praying for authorities with whom you don’t agree, I hope you won’t ignore what the Bible says.  I hope you’ll at least say,  “I gotta look at that”!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pastor Baril,
YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY ON TARGET WITH WE NEED TO PRAY FOR OUR LEADERSHIP!  I vote about 80% republican and this time was no different.  I didn’t vote for Kennedy or Patrick either.  I did vote for a democratic congressman for the simple reason that he would be in charge of a sub-committee that I’m interested in and he has demonstrated a consistent sanity and independence of his party colors.  I also seem to have more faith in our PROCESS of government than many do.  Even though I stand to lose about $50K a year in Bush tax cuts, I also believe too much power has been a bad for the Republicans.  

I am surprised once in a while by politics so I offer up some thoughts from the past, especially for those concerned that we will be like N. Korea.  My favorite President was easily George H.W. Bush and the worst surprise George W. Bush.

George H.W. Bush is the best because he personifies everything that is good in the USA.  He is ethical, honest, fair, hard working intelligent, resourceful, relentless, and a team player.  Let's hope we find more like him.

One of Clinton’s military selections was Vern Clark.  It is only relevant because Vern is a Christian, appointed BY Clinton, graduate of Evangel College, and member of the Assembly of God and he stayed on until January 2005.  The only other AG member at that level that I’m aware of was Attorney General John Ashcroft and he retired I think in 2004 about the time I did.  

I enjoyed the military and the high ethical standards that were expected from our leadership.  I have seen good and bad from both parties.  I left when the civilian politics trumped good sense and Christian ethics.  The other two AG members will have to speak for themselves.  I pray that among the new members of congress that we can have more leaders like Vern and John, but if not, having a split government will at least check too much

Anonymous said...

To:  oldcatcan

Thanks for your great feedback.  I  found it quite interesting!