Sixteen men elected President of the US were senators at one time. They
were: James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren,
William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew
Johnson, Benjamin Harrison, Warren G. Harding, Harry S. Truman, John F.
Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon and now Barack Hussein Obama.
An alarming side-note: Obama is only the fourth sitting senator to ever be
elected president. The other three were James Garfield, Warren Harding and
JFK.
They all died in office. Garfield and JFK were assassinated, and Harding
died of a heart attack.
The Bible admonishes believers to honor, pray and submit to authority. This
weekend’s serious grif.net message is to echo that duty of Christian
citizenship:
“Let every soul be in subjection to authorities over him. For there is no
authority except from God; and those authorities that exist have been
appointed by God. So that any who set themselves against the authority
resists the ordinance of God; and those who resist will receive judgment on
themselves. For these officials are not terrors to good works, but to evil
ones.
Do you desire not to fear authority? Practice the good and you will have
praise from it; for he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do evil,
fear, for he does not carry the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an
avenger for wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore, [it is]
necessary to be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of
conscience.
For on this account you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers,
attending continually to governing. Therefore, render to all what is due
them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear;
honor to whom honor.
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves others
has fulfilled the law. For, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not
murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and if [there is] any
other commandment, it is summarized in this saying: “You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.” Love does no evil to its neighbor; therefore love is
the fullness of the law.
Also this do, knowing the time, that [it is] already the hour we should be
roused out of sleep: for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed.
The night is advanced, and the day has drawn near. Therefore we should lay
aside the works of darkness and should put on the armor of light. As in the
day, we should walk properly, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in
sexual immorality and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and do not make provision for the desire of the flesh.”
[Romans 13, GET Real Bible]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin, www.grif.net
“Jesus knows me, this I love”