Longview City Mayor Don Jensen, who caved in to a self-described “very comfortable atheist” by ordering an official refrain from invoking Jesus Christ in invocations for City Council meetings, may have inadvertently coined a new phrase: “very comfortable Christians”.
“Jensen told the Kelso-Longview Ministerial Association last month that such prayers were not acceptable because they could expose the city to a lawsuit, The Daily News reported Tuesday. (The Seattle Times, March 6, 2013).
“It’s not my choice to stop this, but I don’t know how we can put our citizens at jeopardy and cost our city and our citizens a lot of money,” said Jensen, who met with the association upon the advice of the city attorney.
“If they can’t speak the name of Jesus Christ, association ministers will no longer provide the invocation, said President Mark Schmutz, pastor of Northlake Baptist Church. He called the development sad and disappointing.”
Creative, comfortable ways are there to get around “very comfortable atheists”: It’s called invoking the name of Jesus Christ privately and really meaning it.
No mayor, no atheist can stop you from invoking the name of Jesus Christ silently and doing so shuts out all possibilities of litigation.
Until last Thursday’s meeting, a Christian invocation had started Longview City Council meetings since the 1950s. For years, “very comfortable atheist” Dan L. Smith, 69, has emailed council members, saying that people of other faiths or no faith shouldn’t have to endure a Christian prayer at a government meeting.
“He didn’t want to take the case to court, even though he “would undoubtedly win” based on prior court decisions, he wrote.”(Seattle Times).
God bless all ministers willing to invoke the name of Jesus in these politically correct times, but you don’t have to be a man or woman of the cloth to call upon the Savior.
A farmer and his wife on their knees in a barn can invoke the name of Jesus as sincerely as any minister, priest or politician.
You don’t have to be at the National Prayer Breakfast to find the Creator’s ear.
Matthew 6:1-34:
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ...”
Prayer is not something bestowed by the Mayor of Longview City or any other mayor or politician. Nor is prayer something that can be effectively and permanently denied by a self-described “very proud atheist”.
Silent prayer transcends the political arena and the courtroom.
Never give up on prayer, which is needed more than ever in a day where one recently departed despot who, while his own people were starving, amassed $2-billion during his time in office, while another seemingly takes delight in inflicting pain on everyday people vulnerable to Marxist policies.
Meanwhile invoking the name of Jesus in private and meaning it is as good or better than shouting it from the rooftops.
“Very comfortable Christians” can escape the hassles of “very comfortable atheists” by making their hearts a cathedral.
Judi McLeod——Bio and Archives
-- Judi McLeod, Founder, Owner and Editor of Canada Free Press, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the print and online media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared throughout the ‘Net, including on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.
