Dear Fellow Children of God,
One of the e-mail devotions I receive each day comes from
Dr. Dale Meyer, the president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. This week he shared a prayer prayed publicly
by President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he addressed the nation on the occasion
of D-Day, which happened 70 years ago, June 6, 1944. Here is Roosevelt’s prayer.
“Almighty God, our
sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle
to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a
suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their
arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will
be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest until victory is won.
The darkness will be rent by noise and by flame. Men’s souls will be
shaken with the violences of war. Some will never return. Embrace
these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. O
Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in
each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our
spirit ever be dulled. With Thy blessing we shall prevail over the unholy
forces of our enemy. Help us conquer the apostles of greed and racial
arrogances. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen. (Wall
Street Journal, June 6, 2012)
I am thankful as
a Christian for leaders who seek to lead with the help of God. There are times that decisions such as that
of Roosevelt need to be made.
Scripture says
that the job of those governing is to reward those who do good and to punish
those who do evil (Romans 13:4-5). God
also tells us that the purpose of civil government is that we may live peaceful and
quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
(1 Timothy 2:2) So, God has given His Church spiritual
authority to proclaim forgiveness and salvation in Jesus. God gives civil leaders the responsibility and
authority to provide order and peace so that we can live as children of God. No Christian is perfect as they seek to live
for God. No leader is perfect, even when
trying to follow God’s guidance and direction.
But God does give direction that even leaders can follow. I am thankful for leaders who seek God’s
guidance as they seek to lead others toward justice and order and peace.
Leadership is always difficult. Leaders are called on to make decisions that
choose between conflicting interests and values. Perhaps like me you have read about leaders who
worry about decisions that seem necessary, but are also decisions which put
others in danger, such as our service people.
I believe you can read this concern in Roosevelt’s prayer. Often, no matter what a leader does he or she
makes someone upset or angry.
For these reasons it is important that we pray for those
who serve us in leadership. We should
pray for our presidents, our congress, our governors and state
legislatures. (See 1 Timothy 2:1-2) We should also pray that God would guide leaders
of other countries. Leadership is a difficult and lonely task. Our leaders need help. They really need the help of God. So, I am especially thankful for those
leaders who seek the help of the one who is all-wise, all-loving, and
all-powerful. Will you join me in
praying for our leaders today?
A Child of God, Thankful for Faithful Leaders,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. The Annual Community
Picnic and parade entry is held tomorrow, June 7.
We need marchers, who might show up at 10 a.m., and folks to help with
the picnic (please show up around 11:00 a.m.)
Here are some pictures of people preparing for the parade float the
past two Thursdays. Please also notice
the food that is waiting to be cooked and served.
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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am
sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and
friends whose e-mails I have. (I am always adding new names of friends
and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first
time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know,
and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you
know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me
their e-mail address.
******
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