If you’ve got a spare moment, you may want to pray. Barack Obama will be America’s next President and the Bible says straight out we should pray for our leaders. So whether you are a conservative, moderate or liberal Evangelical, surely we can all agree to pray for him right? Maybe you need to pray your anger away or pray for inner peace. But it seems to me that we need to be praying for his family, those two young girls who are about to hit the spotlight like never before. Pray that they will be able to live as normal a life as possible and not be affected by the people who come against their "daddy." Or how about praying for his safety? The list is long without making it such a partisan affair.
C’mom. Sing Kumbya
Read below from The Boston Globe:
Churches around the city with predominantly black congregations yesterday celebrated the election victory of Barack Obama in prayer, song, and exclamations of Hallelujah.
"I want all of us to pray for him," the Rev. Arthur T. Gerald Jr. told a packed crowd of worshipers at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury. "He has a very tough road to go. The economy is crumbling in front of us as I speak. We have two different wars. This man of God is going to be in need of prayers."
Greater Love Tabernacle Church in Dorchester held a ceremony last night devoted exclusively to celebrating Obama's victory Tuesday, while other churches mentioned the president-elect during the regular services, often prompting widespread applause and standing ovations.
At a crowded Morningstar Baptist Church in Mattapan, worshipers cheered yesterday morning when a young guest preacher asked, almost apologetically, "You mind if I talk about Barack?" during a rousing sermon that otherwise focused on what the Bible promises to believers of Jesus Christ.
"When people doubt there can be change in our government, God can make the difference," said the Rev. Michael David Bailey, 23, an associate minister of First Cathedral in Bloomfield, Conn.
He said he cried Tuesday when Obama was elect ed the nation's first black president.
Last night, red, white and blue balloons and the singing of hymns greeted participants at Greater Love Tabernacle's Obama service. A projection screen featured a picture of the Obama family along with the message, "Congratulations, President-elect Barack Obama."
"This presidential election is definitely a great historic milestone for all Americans, not just black Americans," the Rev. William E. Dickerson said in an interview before the service.
Dickerson said it was also a good time to pause and consider the work ahead.
"Nothing's ever magical," he said. "People who are joyful and ebullient, they need to be also realistic as it relates to what one man can deliver."
During the evening service, the crowd of 350 people shouted along during call-and-response hymns, throwing their hands in the air and waving paper fans. Some people wiped away tears as the projection screen at the front of the church showed a slideshow featuring Obama and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
"For so many years, people have said to little black boys and little black girls, you can be anything you want to be, even president of the United States," Dickerson told the crowd. "Now they can point to a reality of a black man becoming president."
"Those of us who said it would never happen in our lifetime - guess what? It happened in our lifetime," he said.
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