Starting on the Right Foot

“The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without regeneration, politics without God, Heaven without Hell.”  – General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army – circa 1890

Each year for 12 years, Concord Baptist Church in Jefferson City has sponsored a prayer breakfast for government officials and staff members. I try to attend annually and am always blessed and encouraged. During the worship portion of the morning, individuals are called upon to pray for each branch of state government. There is always a keynote speaker with a biblical message that readily applies to the upcoming session. This year, the speaker was John Stroup of Freeway Ministries in Springfield. John’s testimony and message were compelling and convicting and were perfect to begin the 2019 legislative session.

The first Thursday of each legislative session always begins at 7 a.m. with the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast.  It is typically well attended, but this year’s attendance looked to me like the largest since I have been in Jefferson City. In addition to scripture and prayer and remarks from the sitting governor, this year featured the sheriff of the City of St. Louis. This inspirational speaker gave a powerful testimony of his own faith and dependency on Jesus Christ and the Bible. He closed with three key points: Pray daily, read the Bible regularly and worship faithfully. It was obvious from the audience response that he was well-received, including a standing ovation as he closed. The governor’s remarks were also right on target as he boldly shared his own Christian faith and encouraged us all to be “directed by faith.”

Usually the first two days of session are routine and given mostly to beginning the legislative calendar and approving senate rules for the session. Thursday, however, has been unusual. A few senators are not happy with some of the rule changes and are filibustering. The topics they are discussing to hold the floor include how foolish and short-sighted they believe Missouri voters have been for rejecting a tax increase for roads and bridges. They have also discussed how “underpaid” legislators are. This is while they have spent four hours and counting, discussing everything from cars to outhouses. Somehow I don’t think anyone listening to the Senate today will believe we are underpaid or even earning the salary we are paid.

Thank you for reading this legislative report. You can contact my office at (573) 751-2108 if you have any questions. We welcome your prayers for the proper application of state government.