Lord, give me patience...

[RevCheesehead]

and help me to forgive. (but I'm so damned angry right now!!!)

[silverlib]

1. I pray for this daily, too -

I did have a pastor's wife talk to me about justifiable anger. She always supported my vocal stances. I would say,"but how can I win hearts when I am so angry?" Ans she would reply, "Maybe winning hearts is not the mission."


If you conquer your anger, please share the theological "how."

P.S. I always enjoy your posts.

[cally]

2. If you figure out how to deal with the anger

share with us, OK. I'm working hard on that one.

[RevCheesehead]

3. Well, my anger has subsided.

Now it's replaced with overwhelming sadness.

Was today an anti-war rally, or a peace rally?
Why were these efforts largely ignored by the media?
Why were people prevented from getting there?
What's going on in the rest of the world that we're not hearing about?
How long will the madness continue?

Will we ever learn?

[AspenRose]

4. "We pray for our president..."

In two prayer groups that I participate in (one at my Methodist church and one at a local Calvary Chapel) this comes up frequently, usually by someone I know to be a Bush supporter. Prayers for the Supreme Court (e.g. "thank You for allowing John Roberts to get confirmed, and Lord, open up more spots on the court so it can decisively swing for 'righteousness'...") are pretty common too. I don't know how to handle it.

One of our prayer partners at church is the chaplain of our local republican women's organization. I like her but I just don't know how to handle this, especially when we are advised to pray for our leaders. I like participating in prayer groups (Lord knows *I* need prayer), but sometimes it's enough to make you not want to show up for prayer.

[AirmensMom]

5. Pray for new leaders.

Pray for God's justice with our current leaders.
Pray for the country to survive the insults to our constitution.
Pray for the world to avoid nuclear holocaust.
Pray for the environment, that we will stop destroying it.

My disability prevents me from going to church anymore. But I withdrew my membership last year,when I realized how off-base they have become. My "best friend" got mad at me when I told her that Bush isn't a Christian. There's an awful lot of bad preaching going on how else would people believe that he is? I just don't want to be part of the brainwash.

Many Christians talk and act like cult members these days. When I go over to GD and read all the anger toward Christians, it makes my blood boil. I want to shout, "I'M a Christian and I'm not one of THEM!" Bush and his ilk have mocked Christianity ... and a good many Christians still haven't caught on. That's what makes me angry.

[pelagius]

6. Your church's prayers are partisan...

...and as a result, spiritually immature, in my opinion. I wonder if they prayed as hard for President Clinton?

Here's a form of prayer my church uses for those in government:

For those in positions of public trust, especially George, our President, Congress, and the Courts, that they may serve justice, and promote the dignity and freedom of every person, we pray to you, O Lord.

[AspenRose]

7. That kind of prayer is sincere and I can live with that

It's interesting that several weeks before, at the Calvary prayer group, a missionary family from Latin America spoke and the husband/father spoke about how horrible US foreign policy was, and mentioned Negroponte by name. I find that missionaries are by and large more liberal, especially if they live in other parts of the world where they can see the destruction this administration has wrought up close and personal.

I am pretty confident the ladies in my church's prayer group didn't pray as hard for Clinton (except maybe to pray him OUT of office). My best friend in TX said at her Assemblies of God church they actually had a POSTER of BUSH up in the lobby, admonishing people to pray for him!!!! She freaked out!

My Methodist church is about 50/50 Dem/Repub, but unfortunately it's the older 'blue haired ladies' (who trend conservative) who are in my weekly prayer group. One of them actually admitted to listening to Rush Limbaugh. Another one is involved with the "Presidential Prayer Team." Then there's the Republican chaplain. And then there's ME. *sigh* I mean really, how can you keep a proper mind and heart for worship and prayer when you hear stuff like what I hear in prayer group?!?

I find the liberals in my church are more active in near and far mission projects outside the church (battered women, Native American missions, urban missions, raising money for Sudan (that was a project I oversaw), Heifer Project, etc.). The conservatives are the ones "praying for Bush and our troops," with the yellow ribbons, etc.

[Maat]

8. Oh, DesertedRose ..

I don't suppose I could persuade you to not give another dime to Calvary Chapel, could I?

It just seems to me that anything Calvary amounts to a well-oiled political action machine for the Bushies. One of my friends recently quit because of the 'vote righteous talk,' which she felt translated to 'vote Bush' in that church's lingo.

I recognize that I have no right to make comments about a fellow DUer's church, but I dream of the day progressives withhold their financial support for this church, and instead contribute to United Church of Christ, or a liberal Methodist church, or to a Unitarian-Universalist church.

Calvary churches out here in SoCal (apparently affiliated with a 'Chuck Smith') have a notorious reputation for being anti-gay, anti-feminist , and adherents to that unconscionable 'ex-gay'/'reparative therapy' nonsense - a philosophy rejected by the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Counseling Association, and the American Psychiatric Association.

I, myself, attend a very affirming Church of Religious Science (www.rsintl.org).

Thoughts?

[AspenRose]

9. Oh, I'm not a member of Calvary Chapel

I'm a United Methodist (not terribly happy in my local congregation, but my husband is a UMC PK, so I doubt we'll be going anywhere anytime soon). Our Methodist congregation is about 50/50 liberal to conservative. I think the liberals in the church know who other liberals are, and the conservatives know who they are.

I was SITTING IN on a prayer group at Calvary Chapel. I was invited to sit in. The prayer groups among churches here in town often invite people from other denominations to join in. (Our town is pretty ecumunical, go figure. I've attended healing services at the Episcopal church too (which I really enjoyed). CBS (Community Bible Study) is big here. Of course, one of the major rules of CBS is that you aren't supposed to tell where you attend church. I haven't attended CBS in years.)

ANYWAY I doubt I'll go to Calvary Chapel this coming Wednesday.

I had a GREAT conversation with my neighbors across the street. They're liberals (Thom Hartmann fans) and attend my church. I had a heart to heart about this prayer group business (the one at our Methodist church, not the Calvary Chapel one). Without mentioning names, they knew EXACTLY who I was talking about. And they shook their heads in disbelief. The husband said to ignore them, but the wife said "that's why I don't go to the prayer groups anymore." And they were totally appalled with the prayer regarding the supreme court justices...."how partisan can you get?" the wife said.

How tragic is it when the flock doesn't want to go and pray anymore!!!! There's supposed to be power in group prayer, yet it's politics that tears our congregations apart from getting together and availing ourselves of the power of prayer.

So now I just get together for occasional prayer with another young new mother at my church (we both have babies). She's a Democrat.

*sigh*

OH, I forgot to add: I'm an MSW candidate :-) I'm hoping to get an internship at our state's NASW chapter.

[Maat]

11. Hey, just read this - sorry I'm so late!

Best of luck with the MSW! Keep at it! You'll make a great MSW! My sister was an worker in the benefits side, and now she is switching to Child Protective Services (taking after her big sister). She is going to go to an MSW program; she has the B.S. in Human Services.

I retired five years ago to go back to law school; I'm waiting for bar exam results now (I graduated with the J.D.).

So glad you are not a member of Calvary.

As to the UMC, I relate to your story.

My church's philosophy is SO liberal, and yet, conservatives still come. Strangely enough, they sit on the left side of the church, and the lefties sit on the right. But I have noticed there is a chasm. Maybe it is happening in most churches, however slightly.

Even the UU church from time to time decided to vote on becoming a 'welcoming and affirming' church; you would think that the vote would be 100%. Well, no, two dolts had to vote 'no.' Luckily, they were outvoted.

Sometimes I wonder how RevCheesehead keeps her sanity.

[RevCheesehead]

12. who says she does?

:P In the UMC, people who've been around long enough know that all you have to do is sit tight and wait for the next pastor to come along. The blessing/curse of the itineracy.

[Maat]

13. HeeHee.

:grouphug:


Take care! Just don't let it make you so crazy you forget to eat or exercise!

[RevCheesehead]

14. Forgetting to eat? On what planet?

But the exercise thing: good advice. :thumbsup:

[bobbieinok]

10. I am retired from teaching at a conservative christian college

it was expected that each class begin with a prayer

on election day 2000 the young woman who led the class in prayer prayed for a Bush victory......I then prayed that God's will be done (not that Gore be elected)......

....I explained that I had not followed standard practice by adding on to her prayer b/c I knew committed Christians working hard for Gore and for Bush and that each side thought the victory of the other would be a disaster......I got a lot of surprised looks

and then there were prayers in chapel that God put his hand in the ballot box for a 'correct' victory............later at times that seemed appropriate: when students said God made sure the ballots went for W b/c W was annointed by God to lead at this time, I said 'my God doesn't steal elections'......got a lot of blank stares for that comment