“Taylor could pray the devil out of hell. And we said, if this man is so religious, we need to get to that thing that he holds firmly to. So if the women started pressurizing the pastors and the bishops, the pastors and the bishops would pressurize the leaders. And if the women from the mosque started talking to their imams, they would pressurize the warlords also.”[1]
Who in our context may we influence as a church? Should we use the church (or mosque or synagogue or temple) to do so?
[1] Leymah Gbowee in Pray the Devil Back to Hell.
As a church I would like to see us pray for fair and just comprehensive immigration reform laws to stop the situation that is happening in the United States. Arizona led the way but many states are now vowing to follow on a course that will lead to violence either from or against illegal immigration. Violence should not be an option.
ReplyDeleteOur elected officials have neglected this problem for years. Did you know there are people who have filed their papers and been in the system for 15+ years that are not being granted a hearing? If there was a legitimate reason to deny their petition it would have been done. This is nothing less than enforced slavery not to mention stupidity.
We know that prayer works - just not necessarily instantly although that happens too.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Marilyn
I think it is always appropriate for there to be a strong Christian voice registered on behalf of justice and peace. If we could get consistent with standing for what Jesus taught instead of our own interests, we could present a strong, consistent voice in response to many issues. And I agree that we would be wise to encourage prayer as a "real" response to intractable problems...because it truly is and we rarely really believe that.
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