Simon

I pray for our governments now as I did before, that God would give them
wisdom to know what is right, courage to do it and success in their
endeavours.  The current crisis causes me to ask Him to spare many and cause
this crisis to make them consider their latter end.

Dave rightly reminds us that America too is wicked and cannot assume God
will bless her efforts.  That applies to my nation (U.K.) also.

But we must make some judgement as to the justness of the war, as that will
enable our prayers and influence in politics to be directed aright.  If we
think our nation is waging an unjust war, we will pray for our rulers to
repent of this evil.  We will add our condemnation to the public debate.

For me, it has been helpful to dispense with the ancillary issue: liberating
the Iraqi people.  We are not called to be the policemen of the world.  God
has given every nation their own sphere, and they are not to meddle with all
of the world's problems, just those that affect their own affairs.  We may
make treaties with others that oblige us to defend them, but it is foolish
to overthrow one corrupt regime only for it to be replaced by another.

The key questions that relate to the justness of this war are:
1. Does Saddam have weapons of mass destruction?
2. If so, is he likely to supply them to terrorists?
3. Is war the only way of disarming him?

A negative to any of these would make the war unjust.  Our governments could
simply be mistaken in thinking that Yes is the answer to each of these.  Or
the desire for control of oil could motivate them.  Or real conspiracy
theory has it that this war is to bring in the New World Order of a cabal of
the rich and powerful.  That is worth bearing in mind, given the god of this
world who influences the unsaved rulers and masses.

But I believe the answers to the three questions are:
1. He certainly had them and there is no indication that he no longer has
them.
2. Given his ambitions, especially regarding Israel, I believe blackmail of
the U.S.A by such means is likely.
3. 12 years have not done it, and it only requires a short time until a
nuclear capability is reached, so Now is the time to act. Talking and
sanctions have failed and show no prospect of success.  Force is the only
safe alternative.

There IS another alternative, I believe, but it is much more risky for both
the U.S.A. and U.K., and for the Muslim world.  That is to make clear that
the first strategic hit we receive will be responded to by the nuclear
annihilation of 'axis of evil' countries.  The risk is that it will not be
believed and will one day have to be proved.  War now seems a kinder action.

In Him

Ian


----- Original Message -----
From: <simonpeter@...>
To: <soundofgrace@...>
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 12:24 AM
Subject: [soundofgrace] Prayer


>
>
> Dear Sounders,
>
>     I'm curious how you serious saints out there have framed your prayers
for
> the combatants in the Middle East.
>
>     Do those of you from the states pray as if God is on your side as if
this
> war is a "just" war or do you pray with some sense of being neutral?
>
>    Simon
>
> PS,
>  I figured I might as well start utilizing associate.com (welovegod.org)
seeing
> that the moderators seem to have made their decision to leave InJesus.