On the 29th of July, I wrote about Rick Perry, the Texas Governor, who could become America’s next president. I wrote about him because of my admiration of his determination and courage in pointing out America’s spiritual sickness and their need to turn back to God for help. I mentioned he was planning to hold a prayer rally which he aptly titled ‘The Response’. He faced a lot of resistance and persecution for his decision to turn to God for help. Despite a lawsuit, Rick Perry went on to hold ‘The Response’ prayer rally on Saturday the 6th of August. Media commentators have since slammed the event and labelled it as unconstitutional, bigoted and similar to Nazi-style brainwashing! 
Governor Perry stemmed the tide of tolerance and inclusion that is the spirit of this age and stood for what he believes in unashamedly. He said, “Father, our heart breaks for America… We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government and, as a nation, we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us.”
Following the prayer rally, critics lambasted the pro-life and pro-family event as “bigoted,” primarily due to the American Family Association’s (AFA) involvement, and too exclusive of other faiths because it called for prayer to Jesus. My question is simple: if Christians are increasingly being accused of being intolerant and exclusive, isn’t it ironic that our faith is also not being tolerated? Are we not being excluded by the very same people who claim we are excluding them? State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, called the prayer event “a narrow, theocratic view … that says that people are not welcomed — that says that people are bad because of who they are.” This contrasts sharply with Governor Perry’s open invitation to all who carry a burden in their hearts for the state of the nation. He said, “Given the trials that beset our nation and world, from the global economic downturn to natural disasters, the lingering danger of terrorism and continued debasement of our culture, I believe it is time to convene the leaders from each of our United States in a day of prayer and fasting.” This hardly sounds like a man who is excluding or judging people.
Critics of the prayer rally fail to realise that the nation was built on godly foundations. In fact, 43 out of the last 44 presidents have called national days of prayer and hence is nothing new to American society. However, we live in very dark times and standing for Jesus is attracting more persecution than ever before. Governor Perry must be applauded for humbling himself before God and leading thousands of people to God, the only One who can truly cure tha ailing nation.
True Christianity is not an intolerant faith. However, our faith demands absolute loyalty to God through His Son Jesus Christ and that is what riles the ‘tolerance-junkies’ of this age. The very same people who hide behind a desire to live sinful lives guilt-free are the ones advocating the marginalisation of Christianity as an intolerant faith. On closer inspection though, one may observe that it is Christianity that is no longer being tolerated. It is almost acceptable these days to persecute Christians without expecting a backlash. What Jesus predicted about the end times is being fulfilled right before our very eyes.
I leave you with a comment posted on a popular blog by one of the event goers: “When a man, stands up and prays, in the name of Jesus, for our nation, the gates of hell come against him.It brings out the trolls,the libs and the so-called Christians spewing hate and lies. He is being true to his belief in Jesus Christ and acting out of love for our nation. There was not any political talk in this meeting. It was just people coming together to pray for our Country. IF you do not care about our Country then spew your lies and hate. You reap your rewards later. Thank God there is still a man in the government that believes in Jesus Christ.Texas is so blessed to have a man like Rick Perry as their Governor. I will stand with him proudly.If you were not there or did not watch it online… then you have no idea what happened there. It was an awesome event. Thank goodness, we can still pray in the name of Jesus in a public meeting for our nation. If you do not want the blessings of God on our great land ,then spew your hate and lies. I choose the blessings of Jesus Christ”.
In the face of a devastating media backlash and lawsuits that could potentially ruin his presidential candidacy, Governor Perry took a stand for Christ at great cost. What price are you willing to pay to represent Christ in your sphere of influence today?
Matthew 10:32-33 says, “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven. – The time is coming when we all MUST take a stand for what we believe in at great cost to our ambitions and comfort. There will be no hiding place.
Related articles
- Rick Perry: America’s Next President? (setwatchman.com)
- Rick Perry’s Religious Revival Sparks A Holy War (npr.org)
- Perry Leads Prayer Rally for ‘Nation in Crisis’ (nytimes.com)
Yeah, quite alarmingly, Christianity seems to be deemed more and more offensive by the day. It would be surprising if CHRIST hadn’t alerted us to it. It also means we may need to see how good a job we are of representing HIM. The adversary has deceived many, but do we corporately love like HIM and put up a convincing argument for the TRUTH?
It also seems to me like resetting of the global ‘social agenda’ seems to be driven by the increasingly powerful ‘pro-gay’ stance. It would seem like what started out as a simple ‘tolerate us’ plea has transformed into something quite aggressive and irritable.
On another note.. “— And then there’s John Benefiel, head of the Oklahoma-based Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network, who once said this about the Statue of Liberty: “You know where we got it from? French Freemasons. Listen, folks, that is an idol, a demonic idol right there in the middle of New York Harbor.”
That’s from one of the links you posted… never thought of it before.. but I must admit… it does raise an eyebrow….
As for Governor Perry, he’s a republican!! But there’s neither republican nor democrat in Christ…;)
Thanks Toyin! You’re so right in pointing out the increasingly anti-Christian stance coming out of the gay community. They have gone from fighting for their rights to freely express themselves to fighting against our rights to freely serve Christ as His followers. It is a very aggressive stance indeed and no one is challenging them because we are all scared of being labelled as intolerant. One church that is currently being attacked vehemently in this way is Willow Creek Church. Because they run a program that invites homosexuals to come and learn the truth that can set them free, a gay rights group has taken it upon themselves to attack this church and relentlessly frustrate their efforts. Most recently, they had the CEO of Starbucks lined up to speak at their annual leadership conference but he faced a backlash from the gay rights group and because he has sharholders to look after, he cancelled the appointment. It’s just crazy what’s going on out there. They would never treat Islam that way. Christianity is the easy target because we are constrained by the love of Christ.
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