Politics and Prayer

Wow! It has already been another month. Oh well, for the few of you who follow this, perhaps a rare post is preferred anyway! I have been thinking about several things lately. But what is uppermost in my mind is this: Are we too satisfied, and if not, what are we dissatisfied about? What I mean is this. There are a lot of things happening in our culture right now - things which we all know breaks the heart of God. But it seems to me that we can settle for being upset about cultural change without realizing that the only answer to all of this is a radical new great awakening in our country. As long as we focus on the external, cultural aspects, we will do two things. First, we will try to change outward behavior rather than inward character - the very definition of Pharisaism. And friends, I do not want to be a Pharisee! Jesus had more to say condemning them than any other group in his day. And that is because of the second thing such a focus leads to - we end up seeing what others are doing wrong and miss entirely what is wrong in our own hearts. We all know the statistics - divorces are at least as common in the church as outside and perhaps even abortions. Pre-marital sex, gossip, the list goes on and on. What we truly need to to see both ourselves and this world as God sees it, and to admit that the only answer is to be found on our knees, not at the ballot box. Is it time to stop screaming and start praying? Well, I don't know about the first part, but I know we must get on our knees now! Trying to change our society from the outside in will only result in anger and perhaps, eventually, persecution. Allowing God to change us - starting with me and the church - from the inside out will result in revival in the church and a great awakening without. Those of you who know me well know just how political I am and can be. I can't promise that I will stop being that way. But I do know I need to pray more and speak less! So pray for me. And pray for our country.

Pastor Ken