With the recent meltdown on Wall Street, and the mortgage banking industry; is it any wonder why Americans are confused, disillusioned and upset! A $700 billion dollar rescue effort of congress using tax payer's monies to bail out the Kings of Wall Street and the Mortgage banks, while the average family cannot afford the cost of gasoline, utilities, healthcare, and in some cases groceries. Now I am not sure how everyone feels about the most recent attempt but it is time that true leaders rise to the need of our nation's cries. We cannot continue to be led by the corruptible individuals who hold distinguished positions of power and influence in our country. The CEO's of these major corporations and their executives made continuous decisions that were not in the best interest of others. They sought to reward themselves with huge bonuses, and lavish rewards while they continually ignored the warnings that trouble was coming. These individuals are not ignorant of the crisis that would arise if they continued down the same path; but their desire for personal wealth, position, and power led them to the crossroads of despair. Their selfish desires coupled with the lack of genuine accountability have put our nation in serious peril. Now they want you and me to come to the rescue of saving their empire.
While congress wrestles with the most recent economic crisis it is important to point out how we got here in the first place. Historically we must realize that it takes 8 to 10 years for the economy to catch up to the administration of the executive branch of our government. We are quick to yell and scream at the President for the bad times we are experiencing without realizing that He alone is not responsible for these issues. Congress is the one that passes the laws, and not the President. In fact if you have witnessed the President signing a bill into law, you may see one or two pieces of paper. However there are perhaps hundreds if not thousands of pieces of paper behind that new law with all their clauses and conditions, and hidden nuances that promote the interest of special interest groups. These clauses are written and couched behind a bunch of other words that appear on the surface to be genuine and real, but whose real meaning is cleverly disguised. Legislators love to hear themselves talk, that is reason a majority of the members of Congress are made up of attorney's. A profession whose job entails a lot of talking, who invoke special privileges and defend the guilty, even when they know they are guilty. These special privileges have a cost, which this nation can no longer afford.
We cannot continually defend the guilty at the expense of the innocent. We must hold the offenders responsible for their actions and they must pay the consequences for their actions. In my initial reactions I wanted to see every member of the executive leadership of these companies fired, stripped of their pensions, and their "separation bonus" which are millions of dollars by the way and used as part of this "bail out". In fact these executives ought to have their assets and houses foreclosed and seized by the federal government. Perhaps then we will see what poetic justice is really served.
However, as a Christian I must say that all people including Wall Street executives or even those members serving in our government are subject to making mistakes. We need to rely on faith during this crisis and allow God to demonstrate his great power. We need to pray for our nation's leaders and those would be leaders. We need to ask God to raise up Godly men and women and promote them to the key leadership roles within private industry and in Washington. We need to pray for our leaders every day. We need to pray for the teachers who influence and shape the young minds of our future leaders tomorrow. We need to pray for the mother and fathers to set Godly examples for their children. We need to pray for those courageous men and women who serve in our nation's armed forces and their families who make many sacrifices so you and I can enjoy the benefits of living in the greatest nation in the world. We need to pray for ourselves and ask God to create in us a clean heart, and that He will renew our minds daily. We need His grace to stand strong under pressure. I will leave you with the Scripture that God has placed on my heart it comes from 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 " if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place."
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