Repost from 2009: National Day of Prayer: in which I disagree with Shirley Dobson and everyone

[Originally posted here; reposted by request. Nothing fundamental has improved, to say the least.]

Perhaps you've heard by now that The Obama will not attend the National Day of Prayer service and breakfast. I think that's good. He should not attend, and he should not pray — unless it is a prayer of broken repentance, calling on the Lord to save him through and because of Jesus Christ alone.

Shirley Dobson differs. She is James Dobson's wife, and also is chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer Committee. She says her group is "disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration," and further: "At this time in our country's history, we would hope our president would recognize more fully the importance of prayer."

Yeah, well, about that:

I disagree with most of what she's saying. First, the Obama administration should not be involved in prayer at all. Second, Obama himself should not pray.

Why? Well, I believe the Bible, in short. In long:

If one turns away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer is an abomination
(Proverbs 28:9)

"Abomination," it says. Something that — so far from pleasing God and bringing His blessing — repels, disgusts and offends God. Has Obama (and thus his administration) turned away his ear from  hearing the law?  Well, duh. Let's see:

• enthusiastic advocate of torture-killing (of babies), check
• denier of the exclusivity of Christ, check
• promoter of greed and covetousness, check
• rewarder of evil, check
• punisher of good, check

Enough, for starters?

But I'll go further. I oppose the National Day of Prayer, when it comes right down to it. Oh, I understand the argument: we should acknowledge God, and so forth. Okay, but — acknowledge "God," as a proper noun, generic? Like acknowledging "beer," but not naming a label?

Well, what use is that? Is it pleasing to God? Certainly not. When God says "God," He certainly never means "However you define that word." He always means "However I define that word."

Is prayer about making ourselves feel pious? Or is prayer about God?

And should our nation, as a nation, pray? No. Remember, Obama did not take office by coup. He was freely-elected. Abortion could be as easy to access as a Snickers bar, but that wouldn't make anyone have one. Professing Christians' knowledge of (and thus reverent obedience for) God is famously pathetic.

For us as a nation to pray, lifting up our bloody hands and asking God to pile yet more material blessings and protections on our openly defiant heads, is an atrocious insult to God.

So I'd say it's very clear that we, as a nation, have turned our ear away from listening to the law of God.

Now, if anyone wants to propose a National Day of Repentance, featuring coast-to-coast, red-hot Biblical Gospel preaching —

I'm there.

Pray for Mesa Mike and family

Long-time reader/commenter Mike Westfall (Mesa Mike) has been forced to evacuate with his family, due to the fire that is raging in New Mexico near the nuclear weapons facility.

Pray for Tara Turk's surgery

Nice thing about owning a blog is one can share concerns about one's friends. Today, Frank Turk's better and — believe it or not — prettier half is undergoing a bit of what Frank calls " Probably not life-threatening, but delicate and important" corrective eye-surgery. Please pray for her, him, and their children. The surgery is this morning, 7am PT, if I'm doing my math right.

The reach of this blog: something to pray about

I have often said that one of the most tantalizing things about ministering on the internet, including blogging, is that one literally never knows who is dropping by. I know I have maybe 800 visitors a day, up or down. Who are they? What are they going through? What is their life-situation? Are they atheists, pantheists, Mormons, Moslems, Roman Catholics, Hindus?

I get enough email feedback that stokes the curiosity and rewards the hope... such as the woman in a difficult marriage who was challenged and helped by the article addressed to wives, the pastor who needed a last-minute sermon aid when caught by surprise, the fellow finding his way back to Christ.

Only eternity will tell. That's the tantalizing element.

I got the tiniest (but sweetest) foretaste at the last Together for the Gospel, when again and again complete strangers stopped me, thanked me for the ministry of the blogs, had a kind or encouraging word... then went their way.

You pastors, who support missions: do you see the missionary potential of a blog. If you found that someone in your congregation regularly bore witness of Christ to people from all the continents except Antarctica would you want to be involved, at least make that ministry an item for prayer? Wellsir, that's this ministry, by the grace of God.

Look at the map of visits from 3/7/2009 - 3/7/2010:

There are dots from left to right, and from up to down.

I can't detail all the specifics; there are too many. But they include: Singapore (1460), Phillippines (1048), Soughh Africa (650), India (640), Indonesia (398), Hong Kong (365), Republic of Korea (337), Israel (150), and other countries such as Romania, Japan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Greece, China, Kuwait, Lebanon, and literally dozens of others. Places my feet will almost surely never go, but my fingertips have borne a witness there, praise God.

It is a fruit of a search I've been on for literally decades: the most fruitful way to give what the Lord's given me. I still look for other ways, particularly for a way to be able to do it fulltime. But what I've got, these blogs and the web site give me the opportunity to disseminate. And they in turn have birthed other opportunities such as conferences and guest preaching and books.

Now, this blog is far more eclectic in content than Pyro. I wish I could find the quotation from a commenter who absolutely nailed the designed difference between the two: Pyro is like listening to a pastor preach or teach, BibChr is like hanging around with a pastor, hearing about what interests him and what he thinks about things. Who knows who clicks on a movie review (we get many visits from IMDB's movie reviews), and ends up with a witness to Christ? Or who comes because of a silly article, but reads further, or checks out How Can I Know God? or Pyro?

That map will change shortly. They archive it and start over after a year, so it doesn't turn into a big red smear. But Lord willing, the flow of visits will continue.

Pray for them, and me.

And thank you for being part of the flow.

And now to you I say, don't underestimate the impact of your labors! You will never know who might stumble across your blog, or your comments here; and your words will be just what the Holy Spirit uses to do a good work in their hearts!


Sow well, sow generously, pray, trust the harvest to God.

Persecution of Christians by Muslims, communists: good topic for congregational and personal prayer

I have heard this as a background buzz of varying modulations. But when the liberal Huffington Post runs a piece titled Saving the Islamic World's Christians, it catches my eye. Particularly with this as an opener:

Here's a good question. Why do the majority of American Christians remain so oblivious to the increasingly bitter fate of their fellow Christians in the Islamic world?

Painfully good question.

Chesnoff details some of the barbaric brutalities to which Christians have been and are subjected in Islamic countries. The only bright spot is that Christian communities grow in Israel — which makes sense, since Jews are the other major target of Islamic extremists.

Another eye-opener is this article by Muslim journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, shamefacedly admitting that Christians are under particular Muslim persecution in the city of our Lord's birth, Bethlehem.

Now turning our eyes to North Korea, sadly, the name Ri Hyon Ok must be added to the roll of martyrs for their faith. This 33 year old woman was publicly executed under a number of probably false accusations, which masked the real reason: she distributed Bibles in this Communist society. "North Korea appears to have judged that Christian forces could pose a threat to its regime."

Totalitarian governments, as a rule, have seen Christians as a threat.

Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth (Hebrews 11:36-38)

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3)

Pray for Melissa Elliott

We all appreciate the contributions of David Elliott, under the screen name threegirldad. Now I'd like to ask you all to pray for his wife Melissa. With his permission, I share her story to date as David told me (with minor edits(:

My wife suffered a "minor" stroke on 04/30 or 05/01. It wasn't obvious at first, because the only symptom was stuttering (no slurred speech or paralysis). I took her to the ER on 05/02, and she was immediately taken to have a CT scan.

The scan showed a spot on the brain. Multiple subsequent scans failed to detect anything other than a small pool of blood.

After a couple of days in Intensive Care, and a couple of days in a regular room, she was discharged and transferred to a local Rehabilitation clinic to start therapy. It went well for a couple of days, and then took a very bad turn. Her condition deteriorated overnight, and we were taken back to the hospital for another scan.

The size of the bleed had increased by about 15 percent (meaning that she had suffered a second stroke), and the area now showed swelling. She was immediately readmitted to Neurology Intensive Care.

After 3 more days of different kinds of scans, a neurosurgeon diagnosed a tumor on 05/11. She had surgery on 05/13, and it was successful (the surgeon was able to remove the entire mass cleanly).

Unfortunately, we now know that it was malignant, but we don't know much else. Even though this is a very large hospital with a lot of expertise dealing with cancer, the type of cancer she had isn't familiar to them. They have forwarded information and tissue samples to Mayo Clinic for further analysis.

For now, she is recovering well. But -- we won't know what lies ahead as far as treatment until the official report comes back. We have no idea how long that will take at this point. On top of whatever cancer treatment she will need, she has a long road of physical and speech therapy ahead of her.

As of today (05/20), she is back at the Rehabilitation Center, her pain is now well controlled and diminishing, and she is looking forward to resuming therapy tomorrow. She has only a small amount of muscle control on her right side, and very little strength. Doctors and therapists still believe that she has a good chance of recovering fully given enough time, which is very encouraging. We don't expect to know about the exact nature of the tumor for at least a week.

Melissa is only 45, and their two living girls are 11 and 9; their third daughter passed away 15 years ago last Monday through post-surgery complications.

Let's join in praying for Melissa, and for the Elliott family.

UPDATE: there is a way you can keep tabs on Melissa's progress, and pass messages of encouragement to her. Make a free account at CarePages. Melissa's nickname is "Germ_Lady," because she teaches microbiology.

Prayer: a reminder

One of the most upsetting posts (to some traditionalists) that I have written thus far at Pyro was about — not tongues, not the Gospel, not marriage, not church, but — prayer.

It was in September of 2006, and it was called What prayer is and isn't.

Towards the start, I say:

I can't think of one specific doctrine, offhand, which is more tradition-laden, and buried under sentimentality, than that of prayer.

For that very reason, it's a risky topic. Step in any direction, and you land on someone's toes. Worse, diverge from the "party line," and it's as if you're insulting Mom. Only a fool, or someone with nothing to lose, would knowingly poke a stick at that particular venerated bovine. (Say, why are you looking at me like that?)

...and then I launch.

One other portion:

Prayer is not a dialogue. Prayer is not a conversation. Prayer has no intrinsic power, whatever.

Give it a read, on this American National Day of Prayer.

National Day of Prayer: in which I disagree with Shirley Dobson and everyone

Perhaps you've heard by now that The Obama will not attend the National Day of Prayer service and breakfast. I think that's good. He should not attend, and he should not pray — unless it is a prayer of broken repentance, calling on the Lord to save him through and because of Jesus Christ alone.

Shirley Dobson differs. She is James Dobson's wife, and also is chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer Committee. She says her group is "disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration," and further: "At this time in our country's history, we would hope our president would recognize more fully the importance of prayer."

Yeah, well, about that:

I disagree with most of what she's saying. First, the Obama administration should not be involved in prayer at all. Second, Obama himself should not pray.

Why? Well, I believe the Bible, in short. In long:

If one turns away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer is an abomination
(Proverbs 28:9)

"Abomination," it says. Something that — so far from pleasing God and bringing His blessing — repels, disgusts and offends God. Has Obama (and thus his administration) turned away his ear from hearing the law? Well, duh. Let's see:

• enthusiastic advocate of torture-killing (of babies), check
• denier of the exclusivity of Christ, check
• promoter of greed and covetousness, check
• rewarder of evil, check
• punisher of good, check

Enough, for starters?

But I'll go further. I oppose the National Day of Prayer, when it comes right down to it. Oh, I understand the argument: we should acknowledge God, and so forth. Okay, but — acknowledge "God," as a proper noun, generic? Like acknowledging "beer," but not naming a label?

Well, what use is that? Is it pleasing to God? Certainly not. When God says "God," He certainly never means "However you define that word." He always means "However I define that word."

Is prayer about making ourselves feel pious? Or is prayer about God?

And should our nation, as a nation, pray? No. Remember, Obama did not take office by coup. He was freely-elected. Abortion could be as easy to access as a Snickers bar, but that wouldn't make anyone have one. Professing Christians' knowledge of (and thus reverent obedience for) God is famously pathetic.

For us as a nation to pray, lifting up our bloody hands and asking God to pile yet more material blessings and protections on our openly defiant heads, is an atrocious insult to God.

So I'd say it's very clear that we, as a nation, have turned our ear away from listening to the law of God.

Now, if anyone wants to propose a National Day of Repentance, featuring coast-to-coast, red-hot Biblical Gospel preaching —

I'm there.

Baptist Pastor in Illinois shot and killed during service

This morning during the 8:15 am morning service at First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois, a 27-year-old man walked down the aisle, exchanged a few words with pastor Fred Winters, pulled out a gun, and shot the pastor to death.

Mark Jones, another pastor at the church, said that he did not recognize the murderer. At this point, nobody knows the motive behind the shooting. The first shot hit the pastor's Bible, two others missed, but one hit and killed him. Then the murderer's gun jammed and he stabbed himself. He was subdued by attenders, two of whom were injured in the process.

Fred Winters leaves behind a wife, two young daughters, and a grieving church that asks for prayer.


The church's statement of faith is sound, but I don't think we need to analyze whether the church does everything exactly as we might wish before we "weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). This is a shattering tragedy in their lives. Let us pray that the hearts of our brothers and sisters in Christ are comforted, and that Christ and His Gospel are exalted, in this sad situation. And let us pray for Pastor Winters' widow and children. Also — assuming the facts are as they appear — pray for the murderer's conversion, for his sake (Matthew 5:44); and for justice to be done, for the sake of God's glory (Genesis 9:5-6), for justice's sake (Romans 13:1-4; 1 Peter 2:13-14), and for society's sake (Ecclesiastes 8:11).

Update: Justin Taylor adds details about Dr. Winters to what is reported above.

Update II: the murderer is being reported as Terry Joe Sedlacek, who in August of 2008 was featured in an article on the miserable affects of Lyme disease. It's a gut-wrenching article.

Pray for Joni Eareckson Tada

I just learned that Joni has been bedridden for the last year with chronic pain. This is a new and hard development in her last forty-one years as a quadriplegic.

Reading Joni's first book back in the seventies was a moving experience. Here was a young girl who dove in for a swim, and broke her neck. A tiny decision that took seconds to execute, and she's paralyzed for life.

God did a work of grace in Joni's heart, and she has since used every opportunity she could obtain to bear witness to His grace. She has a very necessary and effective ministry. She has lived 2 Corinthians 1:3-6, and 12:7-10, for longer than many of my readers have been alive. Hear (or watch) her testimony at a Desiring God conference here, and you will see your challenges in a new light.

Pray for comfort, joy and healing for this dear sister in her affliction.

Keep pastor David Wayne (Jollyblogger) in your prayers

My family has too much experience with cancer, and I hate it like it was a person. I'll rejoice greatly the day the Lord throws it into Hell along with all the other evil brought in by our idiot first father in his sin. (Fathers who sin and do not rectify it hate their children.)

Now it touches pastor David Wayne. read more about it here and here, and keep him and his family in your prayers.

Rick Warren to pray at The One's inauguration

Clickety-click.

Before you come down on him too hard — I'd do it!

But they'd never have me back a second time.

November's free audio download: John Calvin on prayer

The unabridged edition on Of Prayer and the Christian Life, by John Calvin, is this month's free download.

I remember my first read-through of much of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, how surprised I was. Calvin has this rep for being an arid, abstract, almost rationalistic brainiac. What I read was nothing of the sort. It was the writing of someone with a deep and ardent love for God, with a big, Biblical vision that sees God everywhere and over all.

Institutes is a devotional!

I'll be downloading.

Brief Spurgeonic word on prayer

Every time Spurgeon says something about prayer — and he does it frequently — I wince. Usually from some sort of conviction, though I do think sometimes he's unwarrantedly expansive on the subject.

In the former category are his remarks in today's devotion on “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out” (Leviticus 6:13), which he in classic form applies to private devotion and prayer. And in the course, he says this:

Have you nothing to pray for? Let us suggest the Church, the ministry, your own soul, your children, your relations, your neighbours, your country, and the cause of God and truth throughout the world.

Yeah, ouch, okay, that should do for starters!

Spurgeon also says this:

Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private devotion? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly in our hearts? Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? If so, let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go with weeping, and ask for the Spirit of grace and of supplications. Let us set apart special seasons for extraordinary prayer. For if this fire should be smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar, and lessen our influence both in the Church and in the world.

Here I think he hits the right (and elusive) balance between inner and outer life. To the question, "What if my 'heart' isn't in it?", Spurgeon neither replies "Doesn't matter, just do it," nor "Then wait until it is." He says, "That's not good — but don't let that stop you. Start there in your prayers."

Which isn't a bad thought for us on a Lord's Day, to say nothing of all the rest.