November, 2006 Newsletter

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“First, I tell you to pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to him. Pray for rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives full of worship and respect for God. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior.” [1 Timothy 2:1-3 (NCV)]

November 7 was the mid-term congressional election day across the USA. As our church facility was used as a polling place, I saw, through my office window, a steady stream of voters coming in to cast their ballot. Reports from TV and newspapers constantly sized up the situation.

On this possibly reshaping day for American politics, I couldn't help but feel for our President. In all the years that I'm aware of, I've never seen the abusive degrading comments poured upon our President as we have in recent years. One moment, our President was a hero and the next he was a zero. Opinions of the people are fickle and they shift as quickly as the unpredictable weather we are experiencing recently in NorCal. At first they are for him before they voted against him.

I can still remember on Thanksgiving Day in 2003 when President Bush paid a surprise visit to the U.S. troops in Iraq. He wanted to thank them for defending the American people from danger. Even though he was criticized for taking the trip, the President was there to boost the morale of the troops by helping serve the multitude of stunned soldiers in a mess hall at the Baghdad airport. It was reported that President Bush said, "It's got to be lonely for them. I thought it was important to send the message that we care for them."

One soldier, Captain Tyson Daniels, wrote an e-mail to his wife about experiencing the presence of the President to the cheering soldier troops: "When he stepped up to the cheering, I could clearly see tears running down his cheeks. It was the most surreal moment I've had in years… Here was this man, our President, come all the way around the world, spending 17 hours on an airplane and landing in the most dangerous airport in the world… just to spend two hours with his troops… It was a great moment, and I will never forget it."

Whatever your view of politics, let's not forget to pause and "Pray for the rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives full of worship and respect for God. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior." If we pray as much as we criticize and complain about the happenings in government, our nation will be a far better place. As we pause on this Thanksgiving Day, let us also thank God for His Son, Jesus, who "came to his own but his own did not receive him," but gave Himself to provide the lasting peace between God and us.

— Pastor Jim Sakurai

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