Pastor with Guts

> This Pastor has guts!! > Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer > given in Kansas at the > opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer > still upsets some people. > When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new > session of the Kansas > Senate, everyone was expecting the usual > generalities, but this is what they > heard: > "Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask > your forgiveness and to > seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word > says, 'Woe to those who > call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have > done. We have lost our > spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. > We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute > truth of Your Word and call > it Pluralism. > We have exploited the poor and called it the > lottery. > We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. > We have killed our unborn and called it choice. > We have shot abortionists and called it > justifiable. > We have neglected to discipline our children and > called it building self > esteem. > We have abused power and called it politics. > We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and > called it ambition. > We have polluted the air with profanity and > pornography and called it > freedom of expression. > We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our > forefathers and called it > enlightenment. > Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; > cleanse us from every sin > and set us free. > Amen!" > The response was immediate. A number of legislators > walked out during the > prayer in protest.. > In 6 short weeks, Central Christian > Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more > than 5,000 phone calls with > only 47 of those calls responding negatively. > The church is now receiving international requests > for copies of this > prayer from India, Africa and Korea. > Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his > radio program, "The Rest > of the Story," and received a larger response to > this program than any other > he has ever aired. > With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over > our nation and > wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again > can be called "one nation > under God." > If possible, please pass this prayer on to your > friends. "If you don't > stand for something, you will fall for everything." > Think about this: If you forward this prayer to > everyone on your e-mail > list, in less than 30 days it would be heard by the > world

Not exactly news, here's the correct version:

Back in January of 1996, the Rev. Joe Wright, senior pastor of the 2,500-member Central Christian Church in Wichita, was invited to offer the opening prayer at a session of the Kansas House of Representatives (not the Kansas Senate, as claimed in the text), and the prayer he offered was this one (which differs somewhat from the version cited in the text above):

Heavenly Father, we come before you to ask your forgiveness. We seek your direction and your guidance. We know your word says, "Woe to those who call evil good." But that's what we've done.

We've lost our spiritual equilibrium. We have inverted our values. We have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word in the name of moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.

We've exploited the poor and called it a lottery. We've neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. In the name of choice, we have killed our unborn. In the name of right to life, we have killed abortionists.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it taxes. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, oh, God, and know our hearts today. Try us. Show us any wickedness within us. Cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of the State of Kansas, and that they have been ordained by you to govern this great state.

Grant them your wisdom to rule. May their decisions direct us to the center of your will. And, as we continue our prayer and as we come in out of the fog, give us clear minds to accomplish our goals as we begin this Legislature. For we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

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