Sonnet XIII

On The American Election 2008 - A Sonnet To My King
By Jonathan D. Eller

My God, Your wisdom far exceeds my own,
And I draw comfort from this very thing.
For by Your great omnipotence You've shown
That You determine president and king.
Yes, You know all men's hearts - this fact is true -
And render unto them a payment just,
Rewarding men and nations what is due.
Lord, in Your goodness I have learned to trust.
Your discipline is sorrowful for sure -
Your wrath and blows seem ever so severe -
But chastisement is sent to make us pure,
And by its cleansing helps us to draw near.
My God, this nation's nothing without Thee.
Please cleanse our hearts and truly make us free.

November 5, 2008

Sonnet XII

My God – A Sonnet To My King
By Jonathan D. Eller

My God, My God, who loves as well as You?
Your patience is more broad than all You’ve made,
And though all men are false your word proves true.
Your promises, vast as the stars arrayed,
Speak goodness, love, and mercy without end.
Your power stuns my intellect and yet,
The helpless and downtrodden You defend.
Your heart’s inclined to forgive and forget
The sins confessed by children penitent.
But anger flares towards those who mock Your path
And scorn Your truth with actions insolent.
They, sowing foolish seed, invite Your wrath.
Lord, let Your kindness cause them to repent.
Please draw them to the Holy Lamb You sent.

October 27, 2008

Undone

I was utterly undone by this song this morning.

More On Effective Church Action

Town turns to prayer to fight pornography
Courtesy of OneNewsNow

An adult entertainment facility in Lavonia, Georgia, has shut its doors, and opponents believe it was due to the power of prayer.

Café Risqué opened six years ago, and the city lost several lawsuits to try to close it or force it to move from its location along the nearby interstate highway. The business was deemed an embarrassment to the city, but residents turned to prayer in order to shut the place down.

Larry Finger is senior pastor at First Baptist Church. "We prayed and hoped and trusted that the Lord would help us, and then eventually a situation came up where the property owner was prepared to sell, and using a third party, the city had someone buy the property," he details. "Then the city bought the property from them and closed the establishment."

Out of all the approaches to try to shut down the business, the only one that worked was prayer, says Finger. "It was a scourge on our community and we knew it, but we had come to the point where we thought we were almost hopeless outside God's miraculous help -- and we finally got the victory, and a great one it has been," says a joyful Finger.

The senior pastor is hopeful other towns with a similar problem -- perhaps that are ill-equipped to deal with the situation -- will not forget about prayer. He notes that Lavonians prayed for six years before there was a solution.

What?! You mean prayer actually WORKS?

Did you notice how long it took?

Have you ever quit before 6 years was finished?

I think that I probably added a couple prayers to theirs without knowing it on trips to Atlanta and Florida. I'm glad that place is gone... just like I'm glad Dockside Dolls in Mebane is gone. I credit prayer with that one too.

It is really amazing what the Church could accomplish if we would simply BELIEVE what the Bible says and act on that belief.