Love Your Enemies is a Tough Message – Capitol Commission of Louisiana

Earlier this month I was privileged to co-lead our Louisiana delegation to the 68th Annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. On Tuesday, I was able to sit in the Senate Chamber to hear a portion of the impeachment trial debate just prior to the State of the Union Address. On Wednesday our gathering kicked-off just two hours after the historic and contentious impeachment vote in the U.S. Senate. On Thursday morning, the President, Speaker of the House, Senators, Representatives and leaders from 150 nations gathered in one room to take a meal together and hear about a Carpenter’s Son named Jesus. Amazingly, several months prior to the event, the theme for the breakfast and two day event was selected … RECONCILIATION AND FORGIVENESS!!! How timely!!!! Who would have known?? Could it be that God was up to something?

When I heard the theme, I was overwhelmed with the goodness of His sovereign orchestration of this convergence of events. But then a little sneaky thought entered my mind, “Yeah, but this is our never-ending political verbal bloodbath.” It’s easy to be become callous and think our situation is impossible. Right? Interesting … a couple of days earlier I was with an Albanian widow named Alina Prroj. She recalled the story of her husband’s chilling murder resulting from a “blood feud” between families, an ancient conflict that involved retaliatory killings. Alina chose through forgiveness to break the cycle of retaliation in the community. The never ending, generations-old blood feud was finally over. Miracles happen. Cycles can be broken. The impossible can be possible.

Yes … something is wrong with our world. Our fall from God’s original design has brought brokenness, blaming and division, but our hope is in the reconciling and bridge-building power of Jesus. I rejoice that I am part of an international family of friends who use their time and leverage their influence to promote hope to the world.

During my time in our Nation’s Capital I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears some of the best of the best in our country and some of our deepest division between leaders and people. The MC of the National Prayer Breakfast concluded the program with these words about the theme, “Love your enemies is a tough message. Not everyone gets it.”

Is there hope? I was stuck by Abraham Lincoln’s sincere words from his second inaugural address during times far worse than ours. These words are carved into the walls of the Lincoln Memorial: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

God, thank you for our nation’s enormous blessings and please help us with our great challenges.

Holy Land Trip

Join Donna and me on a Ten-Day Holy Land Tour October 8-17, 2020 … Visit Jerusalem, Sea of Galilee, Empty Tomb, have dinner in the home of a local family home, and much more!

Many have said to me over the years, “I’ll Go!” This is a once in a lifetime trip. Email me if you want a brochure and more information. Feel free to share this opportunity with others.

Governor’s Prayer Breakfast

U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black will be the keynote speaker for the 56th Annual Louisiana Governor’s Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at the Crowne Plaza Executive Center in Baton Rouge, LA. Table Sponsorship and ticket information can be found at http://www.lagpb.org. All are welcome. Join us.