Senate Chaplain Barry Black opened Day 6 of the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Donald Trump with this prayer:
LET US PRAY. ETERNAL GOD, THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. UNITE OUR SENATORS IN THEIR STRIVING TO DO YOUR WILL. LORD, YOU HAVE BEEN OUR HELP IN AGES PAST. YOU ARE OUR HOPE FOR THE YEARS TO COME. WE TRUST THE POWER OF YOUR PREVAILING PROVIDENCE TO BREAK THIS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL TO THE CONCLUSION YOU DESIRE. LORD, WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE NOT OUR THOUGHTS. AND YOUR WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS. FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HIGHER THAN OUR THOUGHTS. AND YOUR WAYS HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS. LORD, WE LOVE YOU. EMPOWER OUR SENATORS, RENEW THEIR STRENGTH. WE PRAY IN YOUR DEPENDABLE NAME, AMEN.
In this prayer Chaplain Black uses Biblical language directly from John 14:6, Isaiah 55:8-9, Isaiah 40:31, in addition to quoting a traditional Christian hymn from Isaac Watts, who drew from Psalm 90 for the lyrics. Clearly, a prayer to the God of the Bible was offered in Congress.
My immediate response upon listening to Chaplain Black’s prayer above was one of elation. What a wonderful moment where our country officially, publicly acknowledged the God of the Bible and called for His help in a national arena!
My next response was confusion. How is this possible? How could the same Senators, many of whom repeatedly fight against the expression of Christianity and the Bible in public places, allow such a prayer to happen?
How can prayer be allowed in Congress and not in public schools? It seems incongruous.
The answer, legally, comes from the Supreme Court. In a landmark ruling “Marsh vs Chambers” the Court ruled that “legislative prayer” is a different form and function that other public prayer, serving a more civic duty than a religious one. The Court held that legislative prayer was part of the “fabric of society” and thus admissible.
However, I am still confused.
If it can be ruled by the Supreme Court of the United States that Congressional prayer is acceptable due to its historical role in American society, why cannot the same argument be made for public prayer of all types?
I would call the situation astounding.
Regardless, I think we as believers can take great solace in the fact that there is still a remnant of Truth being proclaimed from the highest national platform, and that Truth expanding even further into the public sphere is not outside the realm of possibility. Be encouraged!
As church leaders, we often preach and teach our people about having fellowship with God. But how many of our people really know what we mean by that? Do we really know what we mean by that? What is our fellowship with God?
“Daddy will you teach me this?” Those were the words from my three year old son recently. He was holding a copy of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Junior. He received the box for Christmas, but his mom and I had not had time yet to begin teaching him the material. And as you know, toddlers are very inquisitive. He wanted to learn.
His simple, heartfelt question made me smile. And then it made me think. He knew – he believed – that his daddy had the answers he wanted. And he knew that his daddy loved him and would help him discover.
I journal. Or, at least I make an effort too (sometimes life gets crazy).
I used to have 2 notebooks – one for my personal devotions, and one for journaling my thoughts at the day’s end. In retrospect, my life was compartmentalized. Not in a terrible way, but in a way that didn’t fully relate my devotional readings and prayer to what happened that day.
I’ve since combined these notebooks into one.
I hear pastors talk about being relevant. There is nothing more relevant than the Bible. Fear not pastor, if you are preaching God’s Word, you are relevant! And there is nothing more relevant then reflecting in your journal at the end of a busy day, and thinking about how you did, compared with God’s standard from that morning.
Our life and God’s Word should intersect a thousand times during the day. The two notebooks are one.
Do you journal? Do you keep a devotional notebook? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I was not a fan of Free Book after the first chapter. I was after the last. At first, the author got on my nerves. He called me a “Bible thumper” (which I am). He shatters the idea of moral absolutes (pg. 14 – “it isn’t even right for everyone to drink”). And he says the Bible is unfairly viewed as a “book of restrictions” (pg. 15). Umm…..it is. It’s called God’s Word.
But later in the book, Brian Tome deals quite effectively with some deep topics. Forgiveness, confession, the spirit world, and strongholds in life are all discussed. I was reminded by this book of just how real Satan is and how much he hates Christians.
“Free Book” is written to help Christians find freedom in the Spirit. I think the book gives an excellent path to that.
I would recommend the book to more mature Christians who may be struggling with freedom in a certain area. It may lead to some real breakthroughs.
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. He received the box for Christmas, but his mom and I had not had time yet to begin teaching him the material. And as you know, toddlers are very inquisitive. He wanted to learn.
