Call for prayer for this nation
Today at my church was Women's Sunday and we had a guest speaker by the name of Lauran Bethell. Her ministry is to work with exploited and abused women and children, including women and girls who have been "sold, tricked, or willfully drawn into prostitution," according to her bio. So far she has worked in Thailand, the Czech Republic and now the Netherlands.
I have no direct knowledge of prostitution but just hearing about what is going on made me almost literally sick to my stomach. From what I am learning, my take on this is that engaging in prostitution is relegating an act that God intended as an expression of love between a husband and a wife, to a mechanical act, devoid of affection. The aspect of all of this that especially bothers me, from all of the stories that I have heard about Thailand, is the young ages of the girls roped into this lifestyle. I have said it before. Man is capable of such greatness and alternately such vile behavior. Thank God that the men, and women, who are capable of good, far outnumber the creeps!
From what I have been hearing, I am grateful that God is central in my life. If He had not been, I could have easily turned into a surgeon vigilante, specializing in unlicensed surgery on portions of the lower anatomy of these amoral "men" who prey on kids. Anyway, thank God, this issue is getting out there more into the mainstream and hopefully there will come a day, when officials in those governments that apparently turn a blind eye to this socially corrupting practice, will be sickened enough to work harder to put a stop to this. No real man proves his manhood by corrupting the childhood of a kid.
The title of this post is "call for prayer for this nation," so I had better get to that. Like everyone else, or almost everyone else, I am deeply distressed about the direction of this country. I am not even talking about the stock market that is doing a good imitation of a drunken bungee jumper, although that is cause for real concern. I have friends who are losing their savings, not by hundreds of dollars, but by thousands of dollars. I picked a good time to be out of the market. OK, truth in advertising... the choice was made for me. It is hard to be in the market without dollars in the bank account! I have been relegated to the role of disinterested observer, almost like someone safe in his or her car, observing a near horrific accident, relieved that no one was killed, but glad that he or she will not be the one to be trying to get that car fixed, or having to purchase another car.
Anyway, I am talking about the political decisions that we will have to make in exactly twenty seven days. Do we want a nation that remains "one nation under God," or? Personally, I want an America made up of sturdy, hardworking, honest, generous, God-fearing, family and friends-loving folks...something like the America founded two hundred, one score and ten plus years ago. Yeah, I know about Pandora's Box, and did we ever open it. But, we can still have a decent enough society, so please join me in prayer for the next twenty six days. Check back every day and I will have an appropriate Scripture verse on which we can focus.
Today's verses are:
I have no direct knowledge of prostitution but just hearing about what is going on made me almost literally sick to my stomach. From what I am learning, my take on this is that engaging in prostitution is relegating an act that God intended as an expression of love between a husband and a wife, to a mechanical act, devoid of affection. The aspect of all of this that especially bothers me, from all of the stories that I have heard about Thailand, is the young ages of the girls roped into this lifestyle. I have said it before. Man is capable of such greatness and alternately such vile behavior. Thank God that the men, and women, who are capable of good, far outnumber the creeps!
From what I have been hearing, I am grateful that God is central in my life. If He had not been, I could have easily turned into a surgeon vigilante, specializing in unlicensed surgery on portions of the lower anatomy of these amoral "men" who prey on kids. Anyway, thank God, this issue is getting out there more into the mainstream and hopefully there will come a day, when officials in those governments that apparently turn a blind eye to this socially corrupting practice, will be sickened enough to work harder to put a stop to this. No real man proves his manhood by corrupting the childhood of a kid.
The title of this post is "call for prayer for this nation," so I had better get to that. Like everyone else, or almost everyone else, I am deeply distressed about the direction of this country. I am not even talking about the stock market that is doing a good imitation of a drunken bungee jumper, although that is cause for real concern. I have friends who are losing their savings, not by hundreds of dollars, but by thousands of dollars. I picked a good time to be out of the market. OK, truth in advertising... the choice was made for me. It is hard to be in the market without dollars in the bank account! I have been relegated to the role of disinterested observer, almost like someone safe in his or her car, observing a near horrific accident, relieved that no one was killed, but glad that he or she will not be the one to be trying to get that car fixed, or having to purchase another car.
Anyway, I am talking about the political decisions that we will have to make in exactly twenty seven days. Do we want a nation that remains "one nation under God," or? Personally, I want an America made up of sturdy, hardworking, honest, generous, God-fearing, family and friends-loving folks...something like the America founded two hundred, one score and ten plus years ago. Yeah, I know about Pandora's Box, and did we ever open it. But, we can still have a decent enough society, so please join me in prayer for the next twenty six days. Check back every day and I will have an appropriate Scripture verse on which we can focus.
Today's verses are:
2 Chronicles 7:14, 19-20
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
Let us not become a "byword," meaning an example of a nation that destroyed itself. Self-immolation is not a good legacy for this still great country. I am getting on my knees.
19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
Let us not become a "byword," meaning an example of a nation that destroyed itself. Self-immolation is not a good legacy for this still great country. I am getting on my knees.
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