18 CityLight.org
february 2012
Christianity
& Politics
By Joe Grimaud
tians fleeing oppression and seeking a place
where they might worship as they pleased.
There might have been many flaws among
some of our forefathers, but, by and large,
they provided a good and unique system of
government which has provided well for our
development.
Just before starting this article I was looking
at facebook photos from Malaba, Uganda, of
one of our Christian brothers reading God's
word by candlelight. That Christian brother
may have been Brother Redfern, because it
says he was there and preached his best mes-
sage under candlelight. Now, it has been a
long time since I have had to read by can-
dlelight. Even when a storm may put the
electricity off for awhile I do not try reading
by candlelight, because it is straining, and
I feel the lights
will soon be back
on. But I love the
scripture that was
being read, and
I presume, being
preached on. It
was from Jeremiah
29:11 (NIV) "For
I know the plans I
have for you," de-
clares the LORD,
"plans to prosper
you and not to
harm you, plans to
give you hope and
a future." Jeremiah was pronouncing these
words from God to them even as they were
about to go into 70 years of captivity because
they had been disobedient. Now I can relate
to that. I don't think it is so different than
when I was raising three sons, and as I took
off my belt to administer some punishment
for disobedience, I might have used similar
words. But just as God's people could have
avoided the punishment of the capture, my
sons could have avoided their punishment
by not being disobedient. I must say that
I now have three sons who make me very
proud and who are likewise raising my nine
grandchildren in the ways of their father.
Now, what does this have to do with poli-
tics and our electoral process. Only that we
are blessed. But those blessings are in doubt
when we stray from God's pleasure. Despite
our current economic problems, we still live
in the richest nation in the world. The poor-
est of us are not having to read God's word
by candlelight. Let's not take our blessings
for granted, but
exercise the privi-
leges we have been
granted by the
sacrifices of our
forebears to par-
ticipate in the elec-
toral process. We
should do so with
prayer and fast-
ing for the choices
we make. And we
should also fol-
low God's word by
praying for those
in authority over
us. If they are not true believers on Christ,
then we can pray for their salvation, even as
we seek to influence their decisions for good.
Truly, we have been blessed.
Continued from page 4