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 Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:58 pm
BY LEONARDO BLAIR , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER Jan 18, 2017 | 3:22 PM Mike Kinman, rector of All Saints Church, an Episcopal congregation in Pasadena, California, has announced that his congregation will no longer pray for elected leaders by name to avoid traumatizing worshipers with the name of President-elect Donald Trump. Read more at: link
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 4:51 pm
To me, that sounds both ridiculous and ineffective.
Ridiculous because I've had people physically hit me with malicious intentions before, and people psychologically abuse me over a long period of time, but I can still pray for them by name. The only time it would be difficult for a person to say a name is if there is unforgiveness and bitter feelings in one's heart against them, which we are not to have.
Mark 11:25-26 (NIV)
25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” [26] [a]
Footnotes:
a. Mark 11:26 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Matt. 6:15.
Matthew 6:15 (NIV)
15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 5:44 (NIV)
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
And removing Trump's name is ineffective because the act of removing his name, opting instead for a vague descriptive word, does not change who comes up in your mind. When you hear "president" and "vice president" you think, "who is the president? Trump. Who is the vice president? Pence". You think about them regardless of using their names or not—unless you're ascribing a different person to the title, but in such a case, you're not really praying for the real president or vice president at that point (e.g. if the person thinks Obama when said person says "president"). Same with enemies: if you say "my enemies"—those who hate you or those whom you hate—who they are pops up in your head. Even when someone uses El Shaddai or YHWH—you still think of the God of Israel. So, if someone is going to be triggered merely for thinking about a certain person, they would still react negatively whether one uses a descriptive title or their name (like certain atheists who react in hostile ways whether you say the generic title "God" or His personal Name "Yahweh"). Nothing has changed.
The only ones who would (or should) be having a bad reaction to his name are those with unregenerate and unforgiving hearts. That should not be true of believers in the church.
Having said that, the leadership in that church seems to be dead or dying, lacking spiritual discernment, and compromised with "political-correctness" (especially with that last line, though it depends on what they mean by "homophobia").
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