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After reading through that prayer, I have a few questions. The first
and foremost is: do members of Christ Church really think that the
people who have expressed disagreement with the church can really be
categorized as "enemies"? From my wishy-washy liberal views on such
things, the talk of death by hanging, blindness, and such seems a bit
overkill for a simple disagreement.<br>
<br>
Wouldn't a true enemy of your god have to actually believe in your god
enough to actually oppose His true nature? I can't imagine why you
think it would be a good thing to have your god smite someone that you
have simply failed to convince of God's true nature and existence.
Since your god stays in the shadows and not out in the daylight, the
burden is on you to make us believe. Praying mean things for someone
that you have failed to convince sounds a bit arrogant to me, actually,
and I wouldn't be surprised if your god simply rolls his eyes whenever
He hears one of these prayers. I would, at a minimum. If I had even a
small sense of humor, I would smite everything asked for back on the
asker since that is basically what they are asking for themselves.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
Sue Hovey wrote:
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<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Now at this point, does Job's wife
just shake her finger at him and say, "Curse God and die?" Seems
appropriate somehow. </font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Sue Hovey</font></div>
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<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">-----
Original Message ----- </div>
<div
style="background: rgb(228, 228, 228) none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>From:</b>
<a title="news.of.christ.cult@gmail.com"
href="mailto:news.of.christ.cult@gmail.com">News of Christ Cult</a> </div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>To:</b>
<a title="Vision2020@moscow.com" href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</a>
</div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Sent:</b>
Wednesday, March 07, 2007 8:35 AM</div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Subject:</b>
[Vision2020] Fantasy vs. Reality Fourth Installment</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<font size="6"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fantasy:</span></font><br>
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target="_blank">http://www.dougwils.com/index.asp?Action=Anchor&CategoryID=1&BlogID=3162
</a><br>
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<br>
<b><font size="+1">A Prayer of Imprecation</font></b><br>
<b>Topic: </b>Liturgical Notes [Douglas Wilson]<br>
<p>One of the easiest things in the world to misunderstand (and
therefore to misrepresent) is the biblical pattern of imprecatory
prayer. It is very easy to interpret the practice as some kind of
primitive voodoo doll custom, practiced only by the petty and
vindictive. But for those who are open to a very fine treatment of the
subject, I would recommend John Day's book, <i><a
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_/102-0677873-7898543?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Crying+for+Justice&Go.x=7&Go.y=13&Go=Go"
target="_blank">Crying for Justice</a></i>. Over the last few years,
the fact that we have prayed this way has been seized on by some of our
adversaries as proof-positive that we obviously are crazed
fundamentalists. But fundamentalism is the practice of absolutizing
bits and pieces of Scripture. Liberalism is the absolutizing of other
portions. To their credit, the fundamentalists at least knew that the
death of Christ on the cross was more important than than Pharaoh
offered the Israelites full employment benefits, but the fundamentalist
vision is still truncated for all that. But what happens when we
submissively come to <i>tota et sola Scriptura</i>? Imprecation is
part of it. Below is a sample prayer of imprecation, so those who are
wondering if a biblical Christian could ever pray this way can read
through one and see for themselves. But I think that the real question
needs to be presented to those Christians who never have occasion to
pray this way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Father of Jesus Christ, our gracious God, we cry out to You in a
time of trouble. Our adversaries come at us with lies, lies that they
delight to tell, fluent lies, as their father tells them, in their
native language.</p>
<p>We pray that You would return to them seven-fold, according to
all that they have done or said or hoped for, and all according to the
promises of Your holy Word. Grant to them shame of face, <i>so that
they might turn back to You</i> and seek Your name. We would not be
like Jonah, resentful or afraid of Your grace to other sinners, even to
those who have sinned grievously against us.</p>
<p>You have taught us, called us, summoned us, to love our enemies,
to bless those who curse us, to rejoice when we are mistreated by them,
and to return good for evil. We are not to return evil for evil, but
rather to overcome evil with good. We accept this and rejoice in it. We
know and understand that this is based on Your holy character and
example—You give rain and sunlight to the righteous and unrighteous
both—and that this is therefore Your standard of holiness for us, and
we gladly submit to it. We therefore seek the grace to continue to love
our enemies, asking You to save them. Not only would we be saved from
their treachery and lies, but we ask that You would save <i>them</i>
from their treachery and lies.</p>
<p>In praying this way, we ask that we would be able to distinguish
sharply between those who are our personal enemies, and those who are
our enemies for Your name's sake. We pray that we would extend nothing
but wholehearted grace to the former, and that we would commit the
terrors of strict justice, with regard to the latter, entirely and only
to You. We would not be like the disciples who, caught up in their
mistaken zeal, did not know "what spirit they were of." We would ask
nothing from You in this that Your Word does not specifically invite us
to ask. You are a God who keeps covenant to a thousand generations, and
we are asking You to keep Your covenant word. If justice falling on the
heads of our enemies is not a promise of <i>covenant</i> justice,
Lord, we don't want to ask for it. But if it is such a promise, we dare
not refuse to ask. How long, Lord, will You leave in sin those who
mistreat Your people in this way?</p>
<p>If it is not Your sovereign purpose to destroy them through
saving grace, we pray that You would humiliate them and give them shame
of face regardless. We pray that they would fall into the pit they have
purposefully dug for us. <span style="font-weight: bold;">We pray that
You would turn all their plans and purposes upside down. Like Haman, we
pray that they would be hanged on the gallows they have built for Your
people. </span>You are the judge of the whole earth; will You not do
right? How long will You delay in bringing justice to the earth?
Doesn't it <i>bother</i> You that Your name and Your people are
treated this way? We know that You are everlastingly good; why are You
silent in that goodness? We know that You have promised to justify and
vindicate Your people; rise up, Lord, and scatter Your enemies!</p>
<p>Father, we pray that You would <i>deal</i> with this situation.
If it is Your good pleasure to deal with it through saving them, then
that is what we would by far prefer, and it <i>is</i> what we ask for.
But if it is not Your good pleasure to save them, we ask that You would
cut them off in their course of sinning regardless, and that You would
not allow their iniquity to come to its full measure. Set limits to
Your judgment on them. We pray that You would set limits to that
judgment by setting limits to their lies and treachery. We pray,
Father, that You would cut them off in the midst of their sin.</p>
<p>We ask that You would deliver us from their snares in a way that
showcases Your final and ultimate vindication and justification of us,
together with all Your people. We know that we are sinners, and that
many just and righteous accusations <i>could</i> be brought against
us. For the sake of Christ, we pray that we would be justified
concerning all that we have done that is wrong and wicked. But because
Christ is our Protector as well as Savior, we pray that we would be
vindicated and justified with regard to all that we have <i>not</i>
done wrong. You chastise us for our sins, but that is not why these
evil men and women attack us—they attack us because we love what is
good, and because we trust in You.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Father, we pray that the angel
of the Lord would chase them down. We pray that You would set for them
a dark and slippery place, and that the angel of the Lord would
persecute them there. </span>They have hated us without any just cause
at all, and they have devised all their plots without any good reason.
We ask You therefore to rise up and defend us. Stand in the pass behind
us, and lower Your spear against them. Turn them back from their wicked
attacks. <i>Rout</i> them, we pray. Chase them like chaff in a stiff
wind. <span style="font-weight: bold;">We pray that You would string
Your bow, sharpen Your sword, make ready all the instruments of death.
Ordain Your arrows to fly against those who persecute the righteous.
Make their mischief to roll back on their own impudent heads.</span></p>
<p>Those who hate us without cause are more than the hairs of our
heads, and yet, Lord, we know that You have all those hairs numbered.
You number and name, and note, their hatreds. You know our foolishness;
You know our sinfulness, and You also know that our <i>sin</i> is not
why we are being attacked. Rather it is for Your sake, and our
identification with You. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Let their
table become poisonous to them, let it become a snare. Let their eyes
be darkened, and judicial blindness fall upon them.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">We pray that their eyes would
be blinded by You; strike them so that they cannot see. Father, we pray
that You would make their loins shake continuously, that they would be
seized with fear and amazement. </span>Pour out hot indignation all
over them; take hold of them tightly in Your wrathful anger. <span
style="font-weight: bold;">May their dwellings become empty and
desolate</span>—for whenever You chastise anyone <i>else</i>, they
love to pile on as though You were not there. They persecute the one
that You are disciplining, and by their talk they dismay the one who is
suffering under Your hand. Add iniquity to their iniquity; make a great
heap of their sins. Do not let them enter into Your righteousness. <span
style="font-weight: bold;">Blot them out of the book of the living.</span>
Do not record their names alongside the names of the righteous.</p>
<p>God of our praise, do not hold Your peace. The mouths of the
wicked and the mouths of the deceitful have joined in chorus together,
and they are speaking against us with lying tongue. They are
surrounding us with words of hatred, and they fight against us without
good reason. It is because we love You that they are our adversaries,
but we still give ourselves to prayer. Not only have we incurred their
hostility by loving You, but we have also loved <i>them</i>, and have
been treacherously betrayed by them. They returned evil for good, and
hatred for love, ingratitude for kindness.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Let these wicked men come under
the rule and reign of wicked men. Let Satan be continually at their
right hand, accusing them. When they come into judgment, when the trial
comes, we pray that the verdict of guilty would be rendered. When they
cry out to You, let their prayers be reckoned as sinful. When they pray
to You, let the ceiling above them remain silent. Cut short their days.
</span>When they have abused offices within Your Church, let other
faithful men rise up to take their place.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Let their children be orphaned,
cut off without a father. Let their wives be widows, and we pray that
their children would be desolate, having to beg their bread in empty
places. We pray that the extortioner would come back at them, catching
them in their plots, and taking all that they have. May strangers and
aliens pillage them and leave them with nothing. We pray that when this
happens, and Your hand is evident, that no one would show mercy, and
that no kindness would be extended to his fatherless children. Cut off
his posterity; may his name and his line come to nothing. Recall how
sinful his father was, and call up again the sins of his mother. May
their sins come before Your throne continually so that their name may
be blotted out, and remembered on the earth no more.</span></p>
<p>We ask for this because he is merciless. He loved to kick the
poor and downtrodden, and sought to kill the broken-hearted. He loved
cursing, and so give him that cursing. He detested blessing, so let
blessing remain far away from him. He would put on curses like a
comfortable coat; let those curses of his seep into him deeply. Tie
those curses around him permanently. Let this be the clothing of all
our enemies.</p>
<p>Let them curse, so long as You bless. When they get up in the
morning, and hear of the blessings You have bestowed on us, let them be
greatly ashamed. Let confusion cover over them completely, as though it
were a mantle. I pray that You stand at our right hand, and that You
would always save us from those who would condemn our souls.</p>
<p>We offer this pray to You in the righteous and holy name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and amen.</p>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="6"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reality:</span></font><br>
<br>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span
style="font-weight: bold;">Gods' Word from Matthew 5: 38 through 48</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>"You have heard that it was
said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>But I say to you, Do not
resist an evildoer.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>But if anyone strikes you on
the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you
and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you
to go one mile, go also the second mile.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Give to everyone who begs
from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>"You have heard that it was
said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>But I say to you, Love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be
children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the
evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the
unrighteous.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>For if you love those who
love you, what reward do you have? <span> </span>Do not even the tax
collectors do the same?</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>And if you greet only your
brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even
the Gentiles do the same?</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Be perfect, therefore, as
your heavenly Father is perfect".</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span></span> </p>
<p style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;"><span>Gods'
Word from Matthew 6: 4 through 8</span></p>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">"And whenever you pray, do not
be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the
synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by
others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.</span>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>But whenever you pray, go
into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in
secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>"When you are praying, do
not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they
will be heard because of their many words.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Do not be like them, for
your Father knows what you need before you ask him."</span></p>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<br>
<br>
Juanita Flores<br>
Advocate for the Truth from Jesus
<p> </p>
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