4 DEC 10: The Lord of This City?

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: You may find the following items humorous, serious, or a little of both - but we offer these thoughts from time to time, as we keep a seventh-day Sabbath.)

It's only natural to approach an election with skepticism. Candidates become notorious for promising almost anything. Yet let's be honest - after all these decades, some people still commit crimes. Some people still are homeless. And almost ten years after 2001, I still don't have a flying car.

A bit of that skepticism came out this past week, after polls closed in the Columbus runoff election. I attended one event where someone monitored the Ledger-Enquirer website -- and when he read aloud a prayer offered at Zeph Baker's party, several people scoffed at it. If those people were running for office, their "poker faces" would have been on with their mouths shut.

The prayer given by Spirit-Filled Ministries Pastor Wayne Baker asked for God's will to be done in the mayoral race. And he requested that "will" might be a win for his son, Zeph. As I write this, I probably should call Teresa Tomlinson and ask who prayed at her campaign party - to evaluate which preacher is closer to God.

"God is not registered to vote in Muscogee County," one scoffer declared about Wayne Baker's prayer. Does this explain why the "God and Country Celebration" every Independence Day is at the Phenix City Amphitheater, and not on the Columbus side?

I kept my mouth shut through these comments - but I can tell you here they disappointed me. Some people obviously don't believe in God, even if they're in city offices or public service. But most of them probably will worship something else today - that brown football being tossed around the Georgia Dome.

The skeptics of God probably don't realize it, but they're verifying what the Bible says. The book of II Peter predicted the last days would have "scoffers, walking after their own lusts." I'll resist the temptation to ask here how much you've eaten at "holiday parties" so far....

Then there's the reminder in Romans 13 that "the powers that be are ordained of God" - and that rulers are God's ministers. Is it only a coincidence that the hip-hop classic "Fight the Powers That Be" came from a group named Public Enemy?

As it happens, I've been doing a word study in the Bible lately about the "will of God." I was reminded that King David prayed in II Samuel 12 for God to be gracious toward him, to let his sick child survive - yet God's answer was no. I still haven't found a verse to indicate God has a rubber stamp in his hand.

So it's all right to seek God's will. But we should be ready for God's answer to be something less than we desire. Those of us who buy 99-cent frozen dinners at the supermarket have grown used to that....

But on the other hand, it's a dangerous thing to scoff at God's power - even to choose our next mayor and council. Without the help of God, there might not be a Columbus. Or a Georgia. Or a United States. To borrow a phrase from this year's campaign, He should be the God of every zip code.

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