The Protest Through Prayer Project

The Protest Through Prayer Project The idea behind The Protest Through Prayer Project is to remind the public that we are a Christian nation and in the process perform evangelism. It's a way of peacfully protesting what seems to be the 'de-christianisation' (not sure if that's actually a word, but I'm going with it) of our country. We all too often complain about the lack of prayer and so forth in public places and the seeming favoritism by our government toward other religions without actually doing something about it. Some people act like public displays of our faith have been outlawed but they haven't. People have just stopped doing it. As a part of this project, New Disciples Ministry is encouraging and even challenging Christians to go out and be seen praying and reading from the Holy Bible in public places. It can be as a simple as praying over your food in restaurants, reading your bible while you're waiting on your food, or going out to the park to read or to pray. We're just encouraging you to go out in public and do the things a Christian shouldn't be afraid to do and definitely shouldn't be ashamed to do. Each day, in the month of October, we'll be posting an update on our Facebook and Myspace pages about the project, so that everyone can comment about anything that happened to them while they were reading or praying in public. Tell everyone about anything someone said to you, good or bad, how people reacted to you, or how they treated you differently. I've actually been doing it for about a week now myself. A woman at the Uptown Grille in Lexington told me that she was so happy to see someone who wasn't afraid to read their bible in public. I've been reading at work on my breaks and have gotten other guys into doing it and we're having conversations about our faith. Also, I had a guy tell me how much he liked my t-shirt I was wearing the other day that has a verse from 1 Corinthians on the back of it. It's these simple things that we can do to remind people that we are a Christian nation and we're not afraid or ashamed to show that we are Christians. In the process of doing this peaceful protest, we may actually bring in some new believers or bring some who had gone astray back to the flock. The Protest Through Prayer Project is something that came to mind while I was working one day. I was thinking of some of the complaints Christians have about our country today. You know the arguements I'm talking about. Prayer in school, the ten commandments taken out of some of the courthouses, other religions being favored over Christians, and so forth. I'm always hearing people complain about how 'big brother' is taking God out of everything in our country and how our country is being overrun by muslims. First of all, seperation of church and state is a part of our constitution so, in some cases the government can't show the church favoritism in some aspects. I do wish children were reading the bible and praying in school, but we're facing a slippery slope when it comes to that. I think that a period of silence in school for each person to use that time for their own faith related activities would be a good alternative to nothing at all. Also, remember that if we instill God in the hearts of our children, God's still in the schools anyway! As for the Ten Commandments statues being removed from some of the courtrooms around the country? Most people don't realize that a lot of those were given by Paramount Pictures and director Cecil B. Demille to promote their 1956 movie 'The Ten Commandments', not donated by churches or built by our government. Again, I don't like to see them removed, but we should ask ourselves if they were there for the right purpose to start with? Afterall, when anyone takes the stand inside the courtroom, guess what there gonna be asked? That's right "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?". He's still there! Of course, there are some Americans who take the opposite stand and try to claim that we're not a Christian nation at all anyway. They even try to convince us that the signers of The Declaration of Independence were mostly atheists, when several of them were actually ministers! For an example, here are a couple of paragraphs from some very important documents that form our nation's foundation. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Bill of Rights) Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances So congress will make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of religion. This means that congress cannot make a law favoring one religion over another. So, why do we as Christians feel like the law is favoring other religions over Christianity? Is it really the government's fault or the fault of Christians?They haven't made any law prohibiting us from public prayer or publicly reading our Holy Bible while allowing other faiths to do so. So, why aren't we? I think we have too many people 'playing' Christian instead of living as a Christian. That's the problem! It's time to step up and walk the walk instead of just talking the talk. 　 From The Declaration Of Independence IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Hmmmm... The words Laws of Nature and of Nature's God used in one of the most important documents in American history. No, that doesn't sound like a Christian nation at all. Well, I hope I haven't rambled too much and lost you somewhere along the way. In short though, we may think that our own government has shunned Christianity or treated it unfairly. For the most part, we only have ourselves to blame for not standing up for our faith. It's time we take a stand and proclaim our faith to our fellow countrymen. We must remind them that we are Christians and that this great nation of ours was based on Christian values. It's time to remind everyone that The United States of America IS a Christian nation and nothing is going to change that. God bless you all my friends. Your brother in Christ, Pete. Pete 9-26-10