The Washington Post ran an interesting story in its Sunday, December 9, 2007 magazine titled, "The Trials and Tribulations of Hashmel Turner: An unassuming small-town preacher and his unconventional Christian lawyer are trying to win the right to pray to Jesus at city council meetings," by Michelle Boorstein.
The article details how a Virginia pastor and City Council member of Fredricksburg, Virginia, Reverend Hashmel Turner, is suing the Council for the right to pray to Jesus in the opening prayer of their meetings. All of this came about when a resident complained about pastor Turner praying in Jesus' name. Rev. Turner refrained from praying for two years, but the Holy Spirit, I believe, moved him to take action.
Please read the article as it is well written and highlights the growing trend of erasing all references to Christianity from public institutions.
I like the way the reporter summed up the argument by some Christian legal grows, "The movement's driving credo is that Christians, who, according to the American Religious Identification Survey, make up more than three-quarters of the U.S. population, are victims of discrimination by an omnipotent secular culture that wants to whitewash the Founding Fathers' Christianity and exclude God from the public square. Public displays of the Ten Commandments or the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance simply acknowledge the role Christianity played in this country's founding principles, these groups argue. It does not amount to an unconstitutional "establishment" of religion at the expense of religious minorities."
Simply put, the Devil is the one at work here. His goal is for us to turn away from God. Removing God from institutions founded on Christian principles is an effort to silence followers of Christ, but we as believers know who has the victory in the End.
Have a blessed day and tell someone about what Jesus has done for you.
Your Brother in Christ,
Steve Kendall
Please read my other blog at:
http://biblestudycafedotcom.blogspot.com/
